PURLs and Pearls


A Bit About PURLs

Ed Summers | inkdroid | 16th December 2021

Former metadata librarian reminisces about an early building block of online cataloguing: the PURL or "Persistent Uniform Resource Locator". This is a system that allows individual links to change without breaking an entire library catalogue. Created in 1995, this method is "a great example of how exposed pipes are useful when building applications that are meant to be infrastructure" (1,834 words)


The Best Books On Sri Lanka

Sophie Roell | Five Books | 2nd January 2022

Interview with a Sri Lankan political economist, who left the country at the age of 12 and has slowly rediscovered his birthplace as an adult. Each book recommended as part of this conversation is a surprise: a contemporary history, a 17C memoir, a 20C biography, a political novel and "a thinly fictionalised novella". The key thing to understand about Sri Lanka? Its "baffling complexity" (5,380 words)


BROWSER CLASSIFIEDS:

Your screenshots aren’t photos. Until now. Screenstab lets you turn your screenshots into stunning image assets. Upload a screenshot, transform it into a photo-realistic 3D rendering, and export clean, high definition images that are perfect for sharing.

Reach 60k+ smart, curious readers every day: Advertise in the Browser


Help support independent journalism and join the loveliest community on the internet:

Join The Browser

Caroline Crampton, Editor-In-Chief; Robert Cottrell, Founding Editor; Jodi Ettenberg, Associate Editor; Uri Bram, CEO & Publisher; Al Breach, Founding Director

Editorial comments and letters to the editor: editor@thebrowser.com
Technical issues and support requests: support@thebrowser.com
Or write at any time to the publisher: uri@thebrowser.com

Proudly published with Ghost, the fiercely independent website and newsletter platform

Join 150,000+ curious readers who grow with us every day

No spam. No nonsense. Unsubscribe anytime.

Great! Check your inbox and click the link to confirm your subscription
Please enter a valid email address!
You've successfully subscribed to The Browser
Welcome back! You've successfully signed in
Could not sign in! Login link expired. Click here to retry
Cookies must be enabled in your browser to sign in
search