CNRI Handle Extension for Firefox embeds a handle/DOI name resolver in the browser. It finds handles and DOI names used as references in web pages, in a variety of formats, sends them directly to the Handle System for resolution, and gets back current information about the identified entity, e.g., current location. The results of that handle resolution are used to determine browser behavior, e.g., display the current version of a document even if it has been moved since the creation of the reference.

After installing this extension in your Firefox browser, you will be able to directly access handle URIs like

hdl:4263537/4000

or Digital Object Identifier URIs like

doi:10.1000/1

by typing them into the address bar, clicking on links with such references, or even having one as the source of an image.

Your browser will resolve these handles using the native Handle System protocol. What's more, if you do follow a link to a web-to-handle proxy server (e.g., http://hdl.handle.net/4263537/4000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1000/1), your browser will recognize this and use the native Handle System protocol instead.

The extension will automatically detect if a firewall prevents direct handle resolution and will fall back to using a web-to-handle proxy server in that case.

A configuration option can turn off redirecting to URLs embedded in the handle values, allowing you to examine the structure of the handle record.