| Abstract: Online forums help in stimulating debates and reflection on a wide
range of cultural topics, as well as providing answers for museum
professionals working in specialised areas. The main objective of this paper
is to concentrate on the relevance of individuals interacting virtually
within an informal knowledge setting, from which to judge the value of
Web-based discussion groups. However, little is known about how
museum-related forums target their audience and which subjects are of real
interest to them. Arising from the statistical results of an international
survey of users of online museum forums, the authors have investigated the
users' socio-demographic profile, their content preference, and favourite
Web-based discussions (e.g. e-mail lists, newsgroups, forums). The outcome
of the collected data should be useful in further binding together the
worldwide museum community, as there is great scope for enlivening
interactions and empowering individual knowledge in various fields of
expertise.
Keywords: Virtual Organizations; Electronic Mail; Knowledge Management;
National Cultures; Museums; Information Media
Prof Jonathan Bowen, Professor of Computing
Institute for Computing Research, London South Bank University
Faculty of BCIM, Borough Road, London SE1 0AA, UK
Email: jonathan.bowen@lsbu.ac.uk URL: www.jpbowen.com
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