Establishing and maintaining cultural e-Communities

Issues of spatial distribution, allocation and access to resources prevail when establishing a long-term and viable e-community within the cultural sector. While e-communities have multiplied in commercial environments, cultural institutions are still challenged by appropriate ways to support collaboration, the nature of institutional messages and the technical infrastructure required. As a guide for institutions in the formation and maintenance of cultural e-communities, this paper introduces the field of Digital Cultural Communication, a new field which examines co-creative relationships between cultural institutions, communities and audiences. By focusing on institutional strategies, community programs and distribution strategies, Digital Cultural Communication can be used by institutions to structure the development of cultural e-communities by providing methods and tools for curators and designers to structure communication and build creative interactive artifacts. This research draws on two existing successful e-communities to illustrate the potential for cultural institutions to develop e-communities where co-created community content can be published in order to extend audience access and interaction.