What's in a Name? Selecting Your Address in Cyberspace

by F. Warren Benton, Ph.D.
Copyright Corrections Managers' Report, February-March 1998
Web sites are identified by Universal Resource Locators (URLs), which are internet addresses. A URL has a standard format, standing with "http://" and followed by a series of names separated by dots and slashes. URLs are aliases--artificial names--for IP numbers, which function like internet telephone numbers.

It is not necessary for users to understand many aspects of the technical side of the Internet. However, the format of a URL tells us a great deal about the site that it can take us to. Furthermore, if we understand the format of URLs for a particular field, we can often locate web sites based on what the URL should be, even if we do not know exactly what it is.

Standard Web Addresses for Government Agencies

For government agencies in the United States, there is a standard policy and procedure for URLs, called the US Domain. The US Domain covers a wide range of types of agencies. For example, schools, libraries, and state agencies are registered in the US Domain with names of these general forms: There is a much more complete explanation of the US Domain name system available on the internet at U.S. Domain. In Canada, there is a similar domain that can be reached at several sites, such as CA Domain.

Why Your Agency Address Should Follow the Standard

From the user perspective, all URLs work the same way. A ".com" or a ".net" or a ".us" URL is entered into the web browser in the same way. However, for correctional agencies, there are several advantages to following the standard domain procedure. The first advantage is cost: Registration with the US Domain is free, while registering under other domain formats incurs initial and ongoing costs. The second advantage is that the US Domain is official, so that users can ascertain that a web site is the official web site of a particular agency. The third advantage is that the US Domain is standardized, so that a user can guess with reasonable certainty what the URL is for a particular agency.

Today, URLs for correctional agencies are a mess. As a profession, we need to assert leadership in structuring how our agency web sites are named, and then we need to do it. If we look at some of the URLs for state correctional agencies, the need for a structure is apparent:

In the above list, California, Florida, and North Carolina have URLs that follow the standard US Domain format. However, the expression for a correctional agency is not standardized. Connecticut, Maryland, and Tennessee are using the standard form, but are appending a file name to a registered US Domain address that covers a broad range of agencies. However, since more specific standardized addresses are free under the US Domain, they might consider registering for one. Indiana and Washington are using names that are outside of the US Domain.

Avoiding Problems When Changing Your Web Address

The are normally two immediate concerns that webmasters raise about changing a URL. One concern is that people who use the web site will be confused by the name change, and the second is that the web site name is part of the official naming structure of an entire government or agency system, and therefore cannot be changed unilaterally.

There is a simple solution to both problems: Use two names.

A real site can be associated with several URLs, which are address "aliases" for the IP number of the real site. Thus, your agency can be known as a subsidiary of a greater superagency, and it can be known as the official state corrections agency under the US Domain. People can reach the agency under the old familiar URL, as well as the new one. You may eventually want to standardize on one URL, but maintaining several URLs during a transition period can be good strategy.

URL Policy Decisions for the Corrections Profession

However, in order to standardize our naming conventions under the US Domain hierarchy, there are policy decisions that we must make as a professional field. While the US Domain provides a format for standardized naming, some aspects of the content of the naming conventions must be decided by users.
  • Deciding Who Decides. The first issue is to identify who should make the decision. A policy should be adopted after wide review within the corrections profession, including state and local corrections, facilities and non- institutional programs, public and private entities, from the US and from other interested nations. The obvious organization to lead this effort is the American Correctional Association, with the active involvement and leadership of the Association of State Correctional Administrators, the American Jail Association, the Council of Juvenile Correction Administrators, and other related organizations.

  • Choosing Standard Corrections Codes. We must decide on some standard codes to include within URLs to signify various types of correctional agencies. The following are some suggestions as an illustration and starting point. The result can be a standard set of domain name formats for the various types of correctional agencies. See the box on this page for some examples of formats, followed by sample addresses using those formats.

    Proposed URL Standard Formats

    Type of Agency Format Pattern Example
    State Department of Corrections dc.STATE.[state-code].US www.dc.state.fl.us
    State Prison [prison].dc.STATE.[state-code].US www.majormax.dc.state.fl.us or www.dc.state.fl.us/majormax
    Program in Department of Corrections [program].dc.State.[state-code].US www.probation.dc.state.co.us or w.dc.state.co.us/probation
    State Parole Board ap.STATE.[state-code].US www.ap.ma.state.us
    State Juvenile Corrections Agency jjc.STATE.[state-code].US www.jjc.ct.state.us
    Juvenile Corrections in a State Department of Corrections jjc.dc.STATE.[state-code].US www.jjc.dc.state.fl.us or www.dc.state.fl.us/jjc
    Sheriff's Department sheriff.CO.[county-code].[state-code].US www.sheriff.green.az.us
    Jail in a Sheriff's Department .sheriff.CO.[county-code].[state-code].US www.mainjail.sheriff.green.az.us or www.sheriff.green.az.us/mainjail

    Bottom Line

    The Internet is developing rapidly. While naming is a technical problem, the structure of our professional names and addresses provide cues about the structure of our profession. If we do not act, then others will eventually act for us. Will they understand that probation and parole are important and distinct components of our field? Will they recognize the distinct types of programs and facilities in juvenile justice? Will they understand the important distinctions in organization structure and legal role in local corrections? We have the responsibility to ourselves and our profession to act.