The development of networked information requires reliable ways to name resources on networks.
URNs are globally unique, persistent, and accessible over the network.
The concept of universal names has been warmly embraced by the networking and library communities, but convergence on the details proved difficult until recently. During fall 1995, however, members of the principal groups that are actively working in the field reached outline agreement on most of the major topics. The main characteristics of this agreement are described in this paper. The catalyst for the recent progress was a meeting in October 1995 hosted by Keith Moore at the University of Tennessee. Invitations were sent to every group that had a current Internet draft on this subject.