Romanization.org has a history that predates the current website. This page explains the domain’s earlier public function, its association with Korean McCune–Reischauer romanization, and the relationship—or lack of institutional continuity—between that historical resource and the present publication.
The Historical Function of Romanization.org
Historical academic and library references identify Romanization.org as the location of an online resource known as the Korean McCune–Reischauer Romanization Dictionary.
The earlier website appears to have been used as a reference tool for finding or verifying Korean terms represented through the McCune–Reischauer system. It was cited by librarians, researchers, educators, and other users working with Korean-language materials.
A 2017 article published through the Journal of East Asian Libraries cited the Korean McCune–Reischauer Romanization Dictionary at romanization.org/main.php and recorded that the resource had been accessed in June 2017.
The domain was also identified as an online Korean McCune–Reischauer dictionary in materials prepared for a Korean romanization revision project associated with East Asian library cataloging.
A 2011 publication from the University of Tübingen similarly referred to the website as an online McCune–Reischauer dictionary used in work involving the transcription and cataloging of Korean-language books.
These references provide evidence of the domain’s former role as a practical Korean romanization resource. They do not, by themselves, establish the complete ownership history, technical structure, database contents, licensing terms, or organizational relationships of the earlier website.
Historical Focus on McCune–Reischauer
The former Romanization.org resource focused primarily on Korean and, more specifically, on the McCune–Reischauer romanization system.
McCune–Reischauer was introduced in 1939 by George M. McCune and Edwin O. Reischauer, with contributions and consultation from Korean linguists. The system was designed largely to represent Korean pronunciation in Roman letters rather than provide a strictly character-by-character replacement for Hangul.
McCune–Reischauer became particularly important in Korean studies, historical scholarship, geographic naming, and library cataloging. Modified forms of the system have been used for different institutional and national purposes.
South Korea later adopted Revised Romanization as its official system in 2000, while McCune–Reischauer and related variants continued to appear in academic publications, library records, historical works, and North Korean romanization practices.
Because older books and catalogs frequently use McCune–Reischauer spellings, a searchable dictionary could help users identify names and terms whose Roman-letter forms differ from those produced by newer systems.
The Present Romanization.org
The current Romanization.org is a new and independent publication.
It is being developed as a reference and tool platform for understanding how non-Latin writing systems are represented with Roman letters. Its planned scope extends beyond Korean to include Chinese, Japanese, Cyrillic, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Indic scripts, and other writing systems.
The new site may publish:
- Introductions to romanization and transliteration
- Guides to established romanization systems
- Character and syllable tables
- Comparisons between competing standards
- Tools for converting selected scripts into Roman letters
- Guides for personal names and geographic names
- Resources about Unicode and multilingual data
- Explanations of diacritics, pronunciation, transcription, and reversibility
- References for librarians, researchers, students, editors, and developers
The historical Korean focus remains relevant to the identity of the domain. Korean romanization—including McCune–Reischauer, Revised Romanization, Yale, and library-specific practices—will therefore remain an important subject within the new publication.
However, Korean romanization is now one part of a broader cross-language reference project.
No Claim of Organizational Continuity
The current Romanization.org does not claim to be the official continuation of any former organization, institution, research project, dictionary team, database publisher, or individual previously associated with the domain.
Ownership or use of the domain name does not transfer:
- Institutional identity
- Editorial endorsement
- Academic affiliation
- Copyright ownership
- Database ownership
- Software ownership
- Contributor relationships
- Licenses granted to a previous operator
- Rights to previously published materials
Unless a page expressly states otherwise and provides supporting documentation, readers should not assume that the present site is operated by the creators or administrators of the former Korean McCune–Reischauer Romanization Dictionary.
References to the historical website are provided to explain the documented public use of the domain, not to imply endorsement or continuity.
No Claim to the Former Database
The current publication does not claim to possess, control, or own the database that may have powered the earlier Romanization.org website.
We do not represent any newly created converter, dictionary, table, or dataset as a restoration of the former database unless its provenance and licensing can be independently documented.
If the new site provides Korean romanization data, that material will be created or obtained through appropriate methods, which may include:
- Publicly documented romanization rules
- Official standards
- Properly licensed datasets
- Original editorial research
- Independently developed conversion logic
- Open-source software used under its applicable license
- Public-domain materials
- Contributions submitted with permission
Similarity between an output produced by the new website and an output once shown by the former website does not indicate that the historical database has been copied. Established romanization rules can naturally produce the same spelling when applied correctly to the same Korean term.
Respect for Copyright and Database Rights
Romanization.org does not knowingly reproduce the former website’s database, documentation, interface, source code, written explanations, downloadable files, or other protected material without permission or a valid license.
Archived availability does not automatically place a work in the public domain. A page preserved by a web archive may still be protected by copyright, database rights, contractual restrictions, or other applicable laws.
For that reason, historical copies may be consulted for research into the domain’s public history, but they will not be treated as unrestricted sources for republication.
Where information from an older publication is discussed, the new site will aim to:
- Identify the source
- Summarize rather than reproduce protected material
- Quote only when appropriate
- Provide attribution
- Link to the available record
- Respect applicable licenses and usage restrictions
- Remove or correct material when a legitimate rights concern is established
Anyone who believes that material on the current website improperly reproduces protected content may contact us with the relevant URL, a description of the work, and evidence of ownership or authorization.
Historical References and Archives
The following sources help document the former public role of Romanization.org:
Journal of East Asian Libraries
The article Korean Rŏmaniz’atiŏn: Is It Finally Time for the Library of Congress to Stop Promoting McCune–Reischauer and Adopt the Revised Romanization Scheme? includes a reference to the Korean McCune–Reischauer Romanization Dictionary hosted at Romanization.org.
East Asian Library Romanization Materials
Presentation materials concerning Korean romanization revision identified Romanization.org as an online Korean McCune–Reischauer Romanization Dictionary and included it among suggested reference resources.
University of Tübingen Library Publication
A university library publication from 2011 referred to the online McCune–Reischauer dictionary at Romanization.org in the context of cataloging and transcribing Korean-language materials.
Other Educational References
Additional educational and terminology resources cited the former website as an online McCune–Reischauer Romanization Dictionary, showing that it was used outside a single institution or publication.
Web Archives
Readers researching the historical appearance of the domain may also search for saved versions through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. Archived copies should be viewed as historical records rather than as content licensed for unrestricted reuse. The Internet Archive provides tools for searching preserved webpages and capture records.
The availability and completeness of archived pages can vary. Some functions, searches, databases, images, and server-side features may not have been preserved.
A Broader Direction
The historical Romanization.org served a focused and useful purpose: helping users work with Korean terms represented through McCune–Reischauer romanization.
The new Romanization.org builds on the relevance of that subject without claiming ownership of the earlier project. Its mission is broader: to help readers understand the standards, choices, limitations, and consequences involved whenever a language written in a non-Latin script is represented with Roman letters.
The rebuilt website will place different systems side by side, identify the authority or methodology behind each result, explain why spellings differ, and distinguish automated conversion from official or personally preferred forms.
This direction allows Romanization.org to honor the documented subject of its past while developing a new, transparent, and independent resource for romanization across languages and writing systems.
Our Commitment
As the project grows, Romanization.org will aim to maintain a clear distinction between:
- Historical documentation and present-day publication
- Established standards and editorial recommendations
- Automated output and legally recognized names
- Original content and third-party resources
- Publicly documented rules and proprietary datasets
- Historical association and institutional affiliation
This page may be revised when reliable additional information about the domain’s history becomes available. Material changes will be made cautiously and supported by sources wherever possible.