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The following questions were raised during the application period and in our Open Forum and have been revised to reflect subsequent developments.
What is .museum?
It's a new top-level domain name for the museum community. It is the only official registry for .museum names on the Internet.
Why have a .museum domain?
The short answer is that we believe that the utility of the Internet will increase if museums are provided with a clearly identifiable area for their Net based activities. Museums exist as public institutions, providing access for society to the rich histories of evidence of people and their environments. As permanent institutions, museums are dedicated to the acquisition, conservation and research of this evidence, and to communication and education about it. The results of these activities form the primary contribution of museums to awareness of our past and to the understanding of our present.
One of the primary goals of the .museum registry effort is to eliminate this two tier system by putting all museums, regardless of subject matter expertise, size of collections or the level of funding, on equal footing for their identities and opportunities in cyberspace.
The parameters that are proposed for a restricted museum domain and the policies attendant to them are intended to support and to further the missions of the worldwide museum community. This community is understood to include bona fide museums as well as their general and professional audiences, their representative associations from a regional to an international level, the professional organizations that support their activities, and all of their respective employees. The establishment of the .museum domain immediately supports and further the missions of museums by simply making them easier to recognize -- if not find -- among the denizens of Internet users and will provide new means of addressing some other issues such as intellectual property and provision of the suite of services in support of getting, and keeping, museums on the web.
When did .museum start?
MuseDoma's application for .museum was approved in November 2000, when ICANN's Board chose seven new generic top-level domain names out of forty-seven competing applications, amongst which .museum was one.
Is the .museum domain reserved specifically and only for museums?
Yes, according to the ICOM definition of museum, which is broad and inclusive also of certain professional organizations and consortia that serve museums.
Where do virtual museums fit into this? The ICOM definition ignores them completely.
The ICOM definition is a dynamic document and is currently being revised to encompass intangible cultural heritage. It is not entirely clear how a niche for virtual museums might best be established within .museum. This is one of the many issues under current consideration and the public forum referred to at the outset of this FAQ is intended to provide a basis for the open discussion of such matters. Should the domain come into full operation, the MuseDoma membership will have formal means for the development of policies relating to both the tangible and virtual agencies that conduct activity relevant to it.
Who besides museums can register in .museum?
Only those organizations closely related to or representative of museums according to the ICOM definition of a museum.
The word "museum" is not used in all languages. Will museums in such areas be able to register names their immediate audiences more easily recognize?
We hope so. One of the most pressing technical issues in the on-going development of the Domain Name System is providing for the use of characters outside the 26-letter Latin alphabet. The MuseDoma application proposes that designations equivalent to "museum" be admitted as soon as the underlying technical means for doing so have been devised.
We have several registered names now. Why would we want to change that?
At least initially, we suggest that no institution consider giving up any domains they currently hold. We believe that the value of names in the .museum domain will increase as the domain establishes itself and expect that museums will individually reach a point in time where the value and comfort of their .museum domain designations outweigh all others. In the interim, significant value may be derived from using names in the .museum domain as aliases for pre-existing domain names.
What is MuseDoma's role in .museum?
MuseDoma is the sponsor of .museum. It maintains .museum policies, operates the second-level domains as well as provide eligibility and name-selection services.
Is .museum different from other top-level domains such as .com?
Yes, because it is the first of the so-called sponsored top-level domains, which have strict policies on what they are for. For example, .museum is for the museum community.
Who decides on the .museum domain name policy and naming conventions?
MuseDoma provides the skeleton but it is up to the museum community as well as its users to develop the policies and conventions.
Why is it restricted?
The .museum domain is restricted by mandate. It was proposed as such, created as such and must be operated as such.
When will .museum be available?
It's already started and our schedule is explained in our Start-Up Timetable. Full operations will be before July 2002.
How and when do I register a new .museum name?
We will begin accepting further preliminary names November 21, 2001. Please note that these are not formal registrations. To do this, follow the instructions at Name Requests.
Can I modify my preliminary request?
Yes it's fine. Please just send another request by following the instructions in Name Requests.
How do I subscribe to MUSEDOMA-DISCUSS general e-mail list?
Send an e-mail to listserv@musedoma.org
How can I contact you with more specific questions?
Send them to our Open Forum discussion page.
Why is there a separate DOTMUSEUM-DEMO list?
It is intended exclusively to convey information to applicants about their applications.
If you are for example an outside consultant and need to keep track of an application you can join this list by sending an e-mail message to contact@musedoma.museum
What is the difference between preliminary name requests and formal registrations?
Preliminary requests are for expression of interest, testing, and for developing the naming conventions.
Formal registrations are actual request that will be for the organisations to use in the ordinary way on the Internet.
Can I register my domain name directly with MuseDoma?
MuseDoma is a sponsoring organization of the .museum registry. As a registry, it does not provide registration services directly. The MuseDoma agreement with ICANN mandates that that registration services of .museum top level domain are carried out by ICANN-accredited registrars.
Several organizations are offering .museum pre-registrations. Will those pre-registrations currently offered by other commercial entities be registered in .museum registry?
Musedoma is the only official .museum registry. Neither of of these registration activities have not been authorized by either ICANN or MuseDoma. There is no basis for assuming that any of these self-proclaimed registrars will be accredited for .museum when the formal process reaches the stage. In any case, no preferential treatment whatsoever, will be given to requests submitted via them.
Will MuseDoma verify the eligibility of our organization and will there be a verification fee?
As as long as the requested names are placed into .museum zone file for demonstration purposes, there will be no charge for the Eligibility and Name-Selection Services. (ENS). Once the naming conventions have become sufficiently stable and developed MuseDoma will start charging for the provision of verification services.
Is the verification fee a separate fee from the registration one and if so, how much will the registration service cost?
The verification service fee is separate from the registration charge. As part of ENS services, MuseDoma will ensure that your name complies with the naming conventions and policy as well as verify that your organization conforms to ICOM's definition of a museum. Registration charges will be determined by the registrars themselves and are likely to vary from one to another. MuseDoma is not in a position to control or dictate the price of registration fees.
Can I register a new .museum name and keep it temporarily hidden, as all our marketing material has the old name?
Yes, you can. You don't need to activate it instantly if you don't wish to. However, better solution is to point the old name automatically to the new name so that your users get to know your new address. They would not be required to type in your new name.
What is the Musedoma's directory service going to do? Will it be maintained separately?
MuseDoma envisions to be able to use an index of the shared second-level labels to support future directory service.
If my museum does not already have a web site, is this going to help me set one up?
After the proof of concept period, the management of the domain is required to spend any income not necessary for maintaining essential domain services on the support of the museum community on-line. Among other services that might be provided to individual museums are basic Web hosting, e-mail services, and tools for Web maintenance.
If I get a .museum address, how can I sure I will be sharing .museum with only legitimate museums?
The value of a top level domain for museums rests nearly entirely on the notion that it is restricted to museums. This is fundamental to the management of the domain and to ICOM's founding role in attempting to bring the museum domain into existence.
Can our museum be a member of the Museum Domain Management Association?
Yes, any interested institution or individual may become a member of MuseDoma. Membership in MuseDoma is completely separate from registering a name in the museum domain. Registration in the domain is restricted to museums according to the ICOM definition of a museum. Membership in MuseDoma is completely open, although bodies not included in the ICOM definition may only join as non-voting members.
Why would my museum want to be a member of MuseDoma?
MuseDoma expects to be able to provide on-line services for the museum community. The Board of Directors of MuseDoma and the membership will help set policy for these activities. Two of the six board seats of MuseDoma were elected from the membership qualified to stand for the offices. In addition to direction from the Board, the membership itself will help set policy for MuseDoma at annual meetings.
Where is MuseDoma located? Does it have a staff? How is it financed?
MuseDoma does not currently have permanent offices. These will be established if, when and where they are needed. For office services and other needs to support start-up process, MuseDoma currently relies on the goodwill of the institutions and individual staff of ICOM in Paris, of the Swedish Natural History Museum in Stockholm and of the Getty in Los Angeles.
Does the museum have to be a member of ICOM to register an address in the museum domain?
No. The institution must meet the ICOM definition of museum to register, but need not be an ICOM member.
What is the ICOM definition of a museum?
The essential definition is "A museum is a non-profit making, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, and open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and their environment."
The full definition is in ICOM Statutes Article 2, and has various inclusions and exclusions.
Can I join MuseDoma if I am not a museum? What other organizations and individuals are eligible?
Any individual or organization with an interest in the museum domain may join MuseDoma. Only those institutions that qualify as museums may join as voting members with eligibility to serve as directors.
How can .museum address the problem of the digital divide among museums?
This will be done on several levels. As a conceptual issue, many museums without access to networking infrastructure perceive the Internet as an alien territory. They are simply not allied to notions of .com, .net or .org and may be located in countries where the national domain similarly provides no clear sense of relevance. A domain dedicated to the museum community can help overcome this barrier.
As a more concrete further step, special assistance will be provided to organizations that wish to establish identities in the museum domain prior to their gaining access to standard e-mail and Web based services. This includes a number of devices ranging from harnessing wireless modes of Internet access, to the provision of special tools for the creation and maintenance of Web presences.
Why the designation "museum" which is unilingual and verbose? Shortening to .mus or .muse would be more representational of other languages' words for museum (such as French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese) and would be more in line with the brevity of URLs often sought by web users.
The MuseDoma proposal lists considered: .mus, .muse, .musea, .museum, and .museums. as candidate domain names. The final .museum choice was ICANN's. (There is already a .mu.) The preferred form .museum was chosen for a variety of reasons. It is a Latin term and is recognized over a wide area of the world. The requirements of languages which do not use it are to be accomodated by alias designations without any restriction on their number.
The 213 proposed name strings submitted in response to the present call vary in length from one to eleven characters. There is nothing the least bit unusual about six-letter strings.
My museum is a non-profit organization and would have no trouble qualifying for registration in .museum. We do, however, conduct a good deal of income-generating business and intend energetically to cultivate that aspect of our activities. If we are really successful would we jeopardize the basis for our registration?
There is likely to be a good deal of discussion about borderline situations as .museum policy is finalized.. The activity conducted by qualified registrants is not a direct concern of MuseDoma short of its becoming overtly exploitative of the cultural heritage.
Placing price tags on pictures of pre-Columbian statues should not create any difficulty. Placing price tags on the actual statues most likely would.
08 November 2001 - 1020 UTC