PURLs are managed by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC).
Short for persistent URL, a type of URL that acts as an intermediary for a real URL of a Web resource. When you enter a PURL in a browser, the browser sends the page request to a PURL server which then returns the real URL of the page. PURLs are persistent because once a PURL is established, it never needs to change. The real address of the web page may change but the PURL remains the same.
