Online Museum Communities- Challenges and Possibilities

The objective of this study is to determine how museums might incorporatethe use of online publishing and communication technologies as a tool toinitiate and foster connections with their audiences. This research is designedwith the expectation that it will contribute to knowledge regarding how suchcommunication technologies are understood and received. The ultimate goalis to help museums and cultural institutions develop comparable interactivecapacities that encourage dialogue and more deeply engage the communitiesthey serve. In this study a review of literature and extant online communitieswill be used to inform the development of a prototype online museumcommunity that demonstrates how such an interface might extend aninstitution's education public relations and community outreach capabilities.A refined online museum community prototype based on this research maybe of use to museums and cultural organizations aiming to construct anonline community environment that both reflects the institution's characterand furthers its educational objectives.