Thursday, July 06, 2006
URIs and the Myth of Resource Identity
URIs and the Myth of Resource Identity: "6. Identifying Versus Describing: Distinguishing One Resource from All Others
On the other hand, even if it is not possible to completely describe a resource, it may be possible to unambiguously identify that resource, in the sense of conveying what resource it is, as distinct from all other possible resources.
For example, if I provide descriptive information telling you that the URI http://t-d-b.org?http://dbooth.org/2005/dbooth/ identifies all-and-only the actual, living person with email address dbooth@hp.com as of 1-Jan-2005, that is sufficient to unambiguously identify me, distinct from all other possible resources. There is a finite number of actual, living people and only one with that email address on that date. Assuming we have a shared understanding of what an 'actual, living person' means, this information allows you to understand exactly which resource I meant in the universe of all possible resources. "
On the other hand, even if it is not possible to completely describe a resource, it may be possible to unambiguously identify that resource, in the sense of conveying what resource it is, as distinct from all other possible resources.
For example, if I provide descriptive information telling you that the URI http://t-d-b.org?http://dbooth.org/2005/dbooth/ identifies all-and-only the actual, living person with email address dbooth@hp.com as of 1-Jan-2005, that is sufficient to unambiguously identify me, distinct from all other possible resources. There is a finite number of actual, living people and only one with that email address on that date. Assuming we have a shared understanding of what an 'actual, living person' means, this information allows you to understand exactly which resource I meant in the universe of all possible resources. "
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