Docns

Docns, short for Document Name Service, is a conceptual framework and protocol set for binding human-readable document identifiers to location references or metadata in distributed systems. Unlike DNS, which maps domain names to IP addresses, docns focuses on documents, datasets, or scholarly works, enabling durable referencing as storage locations evolve. Core ideas include a stable naming space, a resolution mechanism across registries, and security features such as digital signatures and revocation.

In typical architectures, a docns namespace is managed by registries or registry networks. Documents acquire docns names that may encode provenance, version, or format. Resolution can be performed via queries to registries, with clients caching results to improve performance. Some designs support offline or peer-to-peer resolution to reduce central points of failure. Bridges or adapters often translate docns queries into storage addresses or metadata lookups to ensure interoperability with existing systems.

Applications include academic repositories, data catalogs, and decentralized content networks where stable identifiers support citability, attribution, and long-term access. Use in publishing workflows, digital libraries, and archival services is envisioned to improve durability and resilience against link rot.

Challenges include scalability, namespace governance, privacy, versioning, and lifecycle management of documents, as well as ensuring authenticity and preventing spoofing.

See also DNS, IPFS, content-addressable storage, scholarly identifiers.