Welcome to Sylvie’s web site!

This web site was originally my own personal web site. It is now used mainly and foremost as a site that features all the case studies of the guide book "Le Guide des Destinations Indigènes" and provides general information on aboriginal tourism around the world.

- To view all the case studies, click on the red pins located on the Google map above or use the menu "Aboriginal Destinations"
-To have access to some additional information on Indigenous Tourism, download reports, articles, contact other consultants click on "Other links & consultants"
-To look at workshops and conferences annoucement & proceedings click on "Workshops & Conferences"
-To participate to the Forum of discussion, click on "Forum of Discussion"
-To view my personal information, click on "Sylvie’s references"
-To know more about how this site was designed and is currently being maintained click on ? (cf below)

For the authors of the Aboriginal Destinations case studies:
-To submit a new case study, or to update your existing one, please contact Sylvie Blangy.
-All the authors are kindly requested to fill in the web based survey. If you have not yet, please contact Sylvie Blangy. Then you will be given a login and a password to access the private area.

The Guide book on Aboriginal Destinations was published in April 2006. There are 183 case studies from 60 different countries that were selected and compiled into the guide book. This book was very well received by the French press. To date, 2000 copies of the book have been sold. While very satisfied with the final printed project, we admitted that we wanted to reach a much broader audience, update the case studies and connect the communities. It was then determined that a quick, efficient, and less expensive method was to have a web-based project.

We are currently converting the whole book into an online resource for connecting communities represented in the guidebook so that they can exchange information and describe the many lessons that were learned, as well as to promote them as tourist destinations to people searching for places to visit. We are in the process of uploading all the english versions which were originally provided to us in 2005.

The website was created with the help and guidance of Olivier Pessin, a computer scientist, who used a Content Management Systems such as SPIP (spip.net) as the core engine of the website and implemented a variety of integrated technologies; either from existing software, or the creation of new web-based products.

Google Maps™ was integrated to provide a visual connection for readers interested in the geographic placement of the communities. A web-based survey was developed in order to produce dynamic statistical data that could be interpreted in order to assess trends amongst the communities and translate the information provided in the narratives into statistical data. The map was combined with the survey to produce a visual guide for displaying similarities and differences between the many locations. The integrated forum of discussions (native SPIP feature) allows the contributors to add their thoughts and comments under a specific article.

We are currently in the process of finalizing the web based survey, which we will then send to all the case studies’ authors and we will soon launch the forum of discussion.

All the authors of the case studies are encouraged to fill-in the online form about their own case study. The purpose of this survey is to expand upon the book and make this information available to all the authors. Comments may be added when they answer a question. These comments will be used to spark community interest and to develop a forum of discussion. The results appear alongside the case studies page.

Once the authors have answered the survey, they are given a login and a password to access the private area and they are able to update their case study and take part in the forum.

This development is made possible because of a continuous dialog between the researcher and the webmaster, Olivier and all of this works towards the end goal, which is to exploit the information provided in the guidebook with research purposes in mind in a collaborative approach.

This web site is a collaborative effort. Dana Sallouha and Katherine Valcov-Kwiatkowski, undergrad students at Carleton, enrolled in the Environmental studies program, are in charge of the uploading and updating of the case studies as part of their practicum. Nicholas Ochoski, an undergrad from the Geomatics program, spent part of his summer writting an article about the whole device set up by Olivier Pessin our web master. Sylvie Crossman, the editor of Indigène Editions, the publisher company, was the one who initiated the book project and who patiently translated and edited all the case studies in French. Nancy Doubleday has been instrumental in hosting me and the integrated collaborative research web site project here at the Geography Department & Environmental Studies, at Carleton University in Ottawa. The researcher, Sylvie Blangy, is being funded on a European Marie Curie research fellowship for 3 years.

Without Olivier, his dedication and continuous support, this project would not have been possible. We owe him constant gratitude.

If you have suggestions about improving the survey (adding new questions, reformulating the responses) or the web site, please let us know. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have not received the web based survey form by Email and consequently your personal login and password.

We are thanking you in advance for your active contribution.

Sylvie Blangy

The guide was released in April 2006

LE GUIDE DES DESTINATIONS INDIGENES

For more information, to order the book, see the article about the book