The REMUNERE initiative was undertaken to provide a neutral point of entry into a shared registry of museum network resources. It was primarily intended to serve as an authoritative information repository upon which otherwise independent and more elaborate portal services might be based.

The first concrete action taken by the project was in response to a proposed expansion of top level domain space on the Internet. REMUNERE was an early signatory to the Generic Top Level Domain Memorandum of Understanding, which was one of the first attempts at providing an organizational basis for the introduction of new top-level domains. (Information about initial aspects of the domain name process will be found at that site.)

It was clear from the outset that this matter was going to be one of significant political intricacy. By virtue of the brevity of its existence, REMUNERE provided an unencumbered channel through which the museum establishment could contribute to the discussion. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) explicitly charged REMUNERE to speak on its behalf and endorsed in advance any statements that REMUNERE might make towards articulating the attitudes and needs of the museum community as the domain name process advanced. (With a warning about its now being significantly outdated, a formal draft was submitted deliniating Museum and Heritage Sector Interests in the iTLD Delegation Process).

This action was, however, brought to an effective stand-still during the course of debate of an unanticipated scope. REMUNERE had, by that point, concentrated all its attention on domain name issues and its own further development was long in abeyance as a result. Activity towards creating new top level domains has since been reinitiated. The interested reader is referred to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - Preliminary Report, Meeting of the ICANN Board in Yokohama, 16 July 2000. This has now resulted in the submission of a series of proposals for the creation of new top-level domains and decisive action is expected before the end of November. The status of the process at any time may be determined by following the material provided by ICANN.

In response to the opening of this ICANN call for proposals, ICOM together with the J. Paul Getty Trust formed the Museum Domain Management Association (MuseDoma). The purpose of this action was the preparation and submission of an application for the creation of a top-level domain restricted for use by museums. The underlying premise is that both the public and the museum community will benefit if a strong identity for the museum sector is established and maintained on the Internet.

At present, anyone can acquire a domain name containing the letters "museum" without this providing any information, whatsoever, about the nature of the activity conducted in that domain. A bona fide museum and a scurrilous imposter may operate in domains that are perplexingly similar even to the most erudite user. The potential for such confusion will only increase as new top-level domains are created in which further "museumsomethingorothers" can be registered.

Having a reserved .museum domain, with a distinctly worded charter that indicates the standards conformed to by all registrants, could provide a good deal of relief from this situation. Although perhaps of more limited utility, having a clearly labelled museum domain might enhance the value of the Domain Name System (DNS) in the resource location process. (The persevering reader will note that the legacy documents linked to below place greater emphasis on this latter value than currently appears justified.)

A more certain means towards abetting resource discovery lies in the improvement of the popular Internet directory services. REMUNERE was initially intended to play a role in such activity. Although this was not taken further, a fundamental component of any top-level domain is the database containing information about the organizations that have registered in it. This "registry" has potential for feeding information into the DNS, the domain's own directory, and non-specific broader directory services.

The material listed below consists primarily of background documents prepared early in the Internet top-level domain name process. Specific references to the nominal details of a changing Internet domain structure and the timetable for its implementation are completely outdated, with current information being updated almost daily on the ICANN site. The basic discussion of the domain name issue in the legacy documents retains most of its relevance from the museum perspective. The reader should, however, note that some listings of available network services are no longer complete. Further, the discussion of network directory protocols does not anticipate subsequent development in that area, nor does it foresee the mandated directory level requirements for the creation of a .museum registry. Finally, perspectives on the semantic significance of the DNS have shifted since the material was prepared.