Where Are These New Domain Names Coming From?

 

Domain Names? Image of a puzzled figure pointing in all directions.

chart of domain names

 

New Domain Names

The Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN ) oversees all domain name registration. You may have noticed a few new domain names popping up, like .k12.il.us, .ca, .ac.uk, and .au. These are country codes: k-12 schools in the state of Illinois, the United States of America; Canada; academic institutions in the United Kingdom; and Australia respectively. Many other countries publish pages in English or have them automatically translated into English for you.

Three new domain names are .museum, .info, and .biz. A domain just for children .kids, has also just been created. While the idea has been implemented, Internet content providers have been slow to adopt this new for of child safe domain,

 

Domain names can tell you a lot about the publishers of a website.

It is important to note that most popular domain names can be acquired by anyone who is willing to pay a registrar. A domain name should not automatically inspire trust. However, those domains that are 'reserved' are more likely to be trustworthy.

The content association for each domain has become difficult to determine. Non-profit organizations and educational institutions are often registered under .com and .net domains. Anyone can register for a .org, .net, or .com domain. Many helpful social science pages are under the .gov domain.

The requirements for.edu registrations was, until recently, so restrictive that it was difficult to determine who published pages of interest to educators.

How can I keep up with all the changes?

  1. Make a habit of interpreting URLs of the sites you visit. Compare the information you see on the page with the naming conventions of the web address.

  2. Visit the Internet frequently. Even if you only visit your favorite ten or twenty web sites you will notice the changes taking place.

  3. Pay attention to the sites your friends visit. Follow up on URLs they recommend or cite in their reports. Make sure you know what they are using as reference material. They may be the first to pick up on the winds of change.

  4. Key into web savvy acquaintances. Recruit these people to gather annotated webliographies on all your favorite topics. It will save you tons of time and keep you in the Internet loop.

(For information on how to create an annotated webliography, see the IMSA Micro Module on Annotated Lists.)

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Authored by Lora K. Kaisler and Dennis O'Connor 2003 - 2005