Structure of the URN

Canonical URN

Each section of the Canonical URN is separated by a “:” (colon). Within the ID section the Maintainable ID and Object ID are separated by a “.” (dot).

urn:ddi:agency[.sub-agency]:ID:Version

If the scopeOfUniqueness equals “Agency” the ID is the ID of the object.

Example: Canonical URN with uniqueness scoped to the Agency.

Object V321 version 2 within the Minnesota Population Center (us.mpc)

urn:ddi:us.mpc:V321:2

Object V321 version 2 within the Minnesota Population Center, Project IPUMS (listed as a sub-agency within us.mpc)

urn:ddi:us.mpc.ipums:V321:2

If the scopeOfUniqueness equals “Maintainable” the ID of a non-Maintainable object is structured as follows:

urn:ddi:agency[.sub-agency]:MaintainableID.ObjectID:Version

Example: Canonical URN with uniqueness scoped to the Maintainable.

Variable V321 version 2 within VariableScheme VS1 at the Minnesota Population Center (us.mpc)

urn:ddi:us.mpc:VS1.V321:2

Variable V321 version 2 within VariableScheme VS1 at the Minnesota Population Center, Project IPUMS (listed as a sub-agency within us.mpc)

urn:ddi:us.mpc.ipums:VS1.V321:2

Deprecated URN

Each section of the Deprecated URN is separated by a “:” (colon).

If the object itself is Maintainable the information on the parent maintainable is not included:

urn:ddi:agency[.sub-agency]: ObjectType:ObjectID:ObjectVersion

If the scopeOfUniqueness equals “Agency” the ID is the ID of the object.

Example: Deprecated URN with uniqueness scoped to the Agency.

Object V321 version 2 within the Minnesota Population Center (us.mpc)

urn:ddi:us.mpc:Variable:V321:2

Object V321 version 2 within the Minnesota Population Center, Project IPUMS (listed as a sub-agency within us.mpc)

urn:ddi:us.mpc.ipums:Variable:V321:2

If the scopeOfUniqueness equals “Maintainable” the ID of a non-Maintainable object is structured as follows:

urn:ddi:agency[.subagency]:MaintainableObjectType:MaintainableID:ObjectType:ObjectID:ObjectVersion

Example: Deprecated URN with uniqueness scoped to the Maintainable.

Variable V321 version 2 within VariableScheme VS1 at the Minnesota Population Center (us.mpc)

urn:ddi:us.mpc:VariableScheme:VS1:Variable:V321:2

Variable V321 version 2 within VariableScheme VS1 at the Minnesota Population Center, Project IPUMS (listed as a sub-agency within us.mpc)

urn:ddi:us.mpc.ipums:VariableScheme:VS1:Variable:V321:2