Digital object identifiers and their role in the implementation of electronic publishing

The major scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishers have developed the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system that will potentially offer improved order and reliability for the discovery and access of information on the global network. However, the system, as it is currently envisioned, does not meet the needs of all types of publishers, commands unknown overhead costs, is vague in application, and has features that potentially hinder access rather than facilitate it. The DOI development will need the input of not just publishers, but librarians, scholarly societies, and researchers to be effectively implemented on a worldwide scale and attract the system participants and users it will need to prevail.