URI (universal resource identifier) is the generic
name for a class of identifying tags or labels. One tag is the URL
(universal resource locators), essentially an internet
address for the given file or group of files on a given server,
and URNs (universal resource names), an identifying tag
for files independent of server location. URNs don't really exist yet,
but they are under discussion. Implementing URNs could solve several of
the knotty problems of about e-document versions -- instead of giving the
address to a particular version on a particular machine, the URN would
point to the e-document itself. In a way, URNs might become the
equivalent of ISBN (international standard book numbers) in the bibliographic
world -- a unique, discrete number for each intellectual unit on the Net.
So, what does a URL look like; what are its components, and what do
they represent? Here's the URL for what you're reading now:
If you wanted to cite this particular part of the Electronic
Style...the Final Frontier webpage, you would need to include all
of the information above. But if you wanted to cite the
Electronic Style...the Final Frontier webpage as a
whole, you would want to cite the title or first page -- it has a
different URL! (see
Elements of
Citation for a fuller discussion of this point.
The following links guide you to more information about these resource identifiers.