Editing NIC handle (section)

A '''NIC handle''' ('''Network Information Centre handle''') is a unique [[alphanumeric]] character sequence that represents an entry in the databases maintained by [[Network Information Centre]]s. When a new [[domain name]] is registered with a [[domain name registrar]], a NIC handle is assigned by the registrar to the particular set of information associated with that domain name (such as who registered it and a contact e-mail address). Once a domain name has been registered, its NIC handle can be used to search for that record in the [[database]].<ref name="RFC954">{{cite web | url=https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc954.txt
| title= RFC 954: NICNAME/WHOIS
| publisher=Network Information Center, SRI International
| accessdate= 2016-06-07}}</ref>
<ref name="RFC1032">{{cite web | url=https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1032.txt
| title= RFC 1032: DOMAIN ADMINISTRATORS GUIDE
| publisher=Network Information Center, SRI International
| accessdate= 2016-06-07}}</ref>

The NIC handle was developed in 1982 by Ken Harrenstien and Vic White working at the early Network Information Center at [[SRI International]].<ref name="RFC812">{{cite web 
| url=https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0812.txt 
| title=RFC-812: NICNAME/WHOIS 
| publisher=Network Information Center, SRI International 
| accessdate= 2016-06-07}}</ref>