Wilde, W. David (author / Swinburne University of Technology) and Swatman, Paul A. (author / Swinburne University of Technology)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
1997
Published:
Australia
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 147 Document Number: C23538
Notes:
19 p., The farming community, in many parts of Australia, is widely dispersed and heavily dependent upon communication both within the community and outside. In this preliminary paper, we explore the information needs and information flows of the rural sector and consider the farm as the potential focus of a virtual community. A virtual community may form a basis both for electronic commerce, in the traditional sense, and for rich telecommunications-mediated social activity. We describe factors apparently inhibiting the implementation of rural virtual communities in Australia and finally, we introduce a research project that will evaluate a model of inhibiting factors for the development of virtual communities within a real-world rural setting.
