The PURL incorporates the Internet address of a particular resolver, in this case the resolver run by OCLC. A PURL is a URL, recognizable by today's browsers, and any other software that interprets URLs
The long-term goal is to be able to use "URN:hdl:ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP/abcdefghijklm" anywhere a URL might be used today. However, the hdl: or URN: schemes are not currently recognized by WWW browsers unless the browser is modified by installing a handle-resolver extension. For users with regular browsers, handles must currently be used through some sort of "proxy" client rather than directly by a browser
These "proxy URNs" are roughly equivalent to PURLs
The handle client software has been incorporated into OCLC's PURL resolver software, so that PURL resolvers act as proxy handle servers. All handles corresponding to URLs can be resolved via any PURL resolver
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