Uniform Resource Name

What Does Uniform Resource Name Mean?

A uniform resource name (URN) is an Internet resource with a static name that remains valid even if its data is moved to another location. Unlike a uniform resource locator (URL), which cannot work if the content is moved, a URN is always able to track the resource of certain data on the Web, hence resolving a frequent issue of moving of data.

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Techopedia Explains Uniform Resource Name

URN and URL are sometimes wrongly used interchangeably, but in case of a URL, the user must know the location of a specific resource, but the URN only has to know the name of the resource. The user does not have to know if the resource has been moved or still resides at the same location. Both URL and URN are parts of a uniform resource identifier, but differ in syntax and functionality. URNs were primarily conceptualized in the 1990s to be a constituent of a three-part information architecture for the Internet; the other two parts being URLs and Uniform Resource Characteristics (URCs), which is a metadata framework.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…