Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and DOI Services: An Overview

Abstract In the establishing anniversary of the two biggest Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration agencies all over the world, Crossref and DataCite, the paper intends to provide an overview of the development and approaches and of DOI and DOI services, from which scholarly communication has benefited greatly. At first, the author explores the initiation of DOI and differences of DOI from other persistent identifiers. After that, DOIs for different kinds of objects and DOIs’ value in enhancing scholarly communication is discussed; then, in the second part, DOI services at different levels in a pyramid and those particularly in Germany are described. The active involvement of the library world are also introduced here; finally, the current situation and prospects as well as some issues dealing with DOIs and DOI services are investigated in the last part of the paper.