Institutional information websites and the presence on social networks of Andalusian heritage

Abstract

Recent studies by the Spanish Tourism Institute points to the internet as a "clear driver of the sector" and as a potential source for promoting and selling regional heritage. However, the advantages that the Web and various Web 2.0 tools offer have not been exploited by a large number of buildings in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, and its presence on the networks is rather scarce. Bearing in mind that the Web 2.0 helps disseminate information amongst an ever-growing audience, this paper aims to identify and evaluate the specific 2.0 tools that the organisms responsible use to promote buildings included in the General Catalogue of Andalusian Historical Heritage. To do so, the presence on the internet and the main social networks (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel) of each of the 3913 catalogued buildings were identified, analysed and categorised. The results show that there is still a long way to go. In the majority of cases, the information regarding the various buildings published on these media is limited to a small description of it on the tourism page of the corresponding Provincial Council for the municipality or, in the majority of cases, of the City Council itself. Those that have their own website account for a negligible number of the buildings. Furthermore, as regards social networks, the buildings analysed are in an even worse situation, with a very low percentage that have an up-to-date and active profile on these networks. The presence of these resources in English and French was also analysed, and the figures are astonishingly low.This research has been carried out within the framework of the project HAR2012-38562 Platform of Analysis and Access to multilingual web information about the historic and cultural building and sites of Spain, financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness