Extending a Real-World Community
Integrating a Centuries-Old Community with Web Technology
By Bart Marable and Raymond Simmons
Much has been made of the Web's role in virtual communities, those entities that facilitate relationships and a sense of fellowship among individuals who share a common interest, regardless of their geographic location. But the Web also plays a role in strengthening real-life communities that have existed for decades, or even centuries.
A case in point is a recent project our firm developed for the
Diocese of Alexandria, the division of the Roman Catholic Church that oversees the activities of the churches, missions, and schools throughout a large portion of central Louisiana; see
Figure 1. The Diocese has been building community among widely scattered organizations in central and south Louisiana since the seventeenth century, and wanted to use the Internet to extend its mission of religious and social involvement in the lives of its parishioners. For example, one goal was for each of its 80 organizations to have its own Web site, where it would promote its activities to local residents.
In our discussions with the Diocese leadership, we identified three groups within the target audience: Catholics within central and south Louisiana who want to know more about their Diocese, non-Catholics in that area who may not know how the Diocese can and does impact their lives, and Diocesan staff members who want to communicate online.<>
