Digital Object Identifier and Role of the Librarian

DOI is an acronym for "digital object identifier", meaning a "digital identifier of an object" rather than an identifier of a digital object. “The DOI system was initiated by the International DOI Foundation in 1998, and initially developed with the collaboration of some participants in ISO/TC46/SC9. DOI system is a managed system for persistent identification of content on digital networks. It can be used to identify physical, digital, or abstract entities. The DOI system provides identifiers which are persistent, unique, resolvable, and interoperable and so useful for management of content on digital networks in automated and controlled ways. Role of the Librarian is to make academic community aware of a DOI Registration Agency (RA) as RAs collect metadata, assign DOI names, and offer other services such as reference linking or metadata lookup. Librarian also needs to spread more awareness about DOI and its effective usage among students ‘community in academic institutions.”