Information Literacy

One of the things you may have noticed in your research is that some sources have long URLs associated with the retrieval information while others only have a series of numbers. These numbers, known as Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) which is a unique alphanumeric string specifically assigned to that article assigned by a registration agency known as the International DOI Foundation. The purpose is to clearly and directly identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the Internet. This resolves a specific problem caused by those long URL strings. Because you were logged into the database when you did the searching, the link works for you, but anyone else who tries to use it finds themselves at a logon page or an error page. The question for us to pursue in this week's discussion is why is it so important to link the reader directly to the source being presented? In a well-developed response of 150 words or more, make the case for the DOI and its ability to give the reader instant access to the exact same information you are using to inform or persuade them.