Digital Heritage in Practice: Managing Content in Sharjah’s (United Arab Emirates) Cultural Institutions

The purpose of this study is to chart the landscape of digital content management processes in heritage institutions in the United Arab Emirates to determine their state, characteristics, and the roles they play in strengthening the presence of heritage in the digital world. It also aims to investigate policies, plans, systems, and projects required before presenting recommendations to rectify any lacunae. To perform this investigation, this study uses the descriptive analytical approach with a checklist as the main data collection instrument. This study’s conclusions revealed the need for clear, written strategies for content management. Most of the institutions do not have written policies, and they operate following tacit unwritten policies leading to a negative impact on their communication processes, performance, operations, goals, plans, services, and sustainability of their work. Therefore, the study recommends the need for institutions to formulate a clear, written strategy for digital content management, to develop policies related to content management, and to conduct periodic evaluations of the existing system using indicators, statistics, feedback, and surveys of stakeholders. The significance of this study lies in being the first to address digital content management in heritage institutions in the United Arab Emirates. It is therefore likely to influence digital content management practices as well as inform future policies, strategies and plans thereof.