Plans For the Break

My first goal over winter break is to put finishing touches on my literature review. I know I will receive feedback with my final submission and I am hoping to revise and complete an almost finished section before going into next semester. I would also like to take any critiques towards my outline and refine or change the groupings/name to better fit my thesis. I want to get the majority of my project done during winter break, focusing on my online platform which means:

1. Creating an Outline: How I want the platform to be set up. What information I would like to include and how these themes could be grouped.
2. Writing the Script: Writing the various parts for my sections, ensuring that all of the information is correct and having a base that I can continue to edit throughout the first part of the spring semester.
3. Choosing Visuals: Choosing what visuals I would like to include on the platform I am creating.  Also examining what steps I need to take in putting them on the site. I would love to include photographs, letters, audio, and if possible some video. I think this would add to the visitor experience and allow them to engage with the material presented.

I've found that this semester my time management skills have not been the best. I think I really need to sit down before winter breaks starts and make a goal sheets, that has specific dates when I need to have certain steps of my project complete. This will help me focus on what needs to be completed, and also stay on track instead of working on multiple things at the same time. Hopefully I will accomplish all of these tasks and come back in spring semester, with an almost completed project!

Revised Topic Discussion

Research Question: Through the use of interactivity, can online guided tours create a meaningful experience and allow participants to easily move about the digital space?

To promote interconnectivity I would like to introduce an online guided tour for the 100th year anniversary of Camp Kawanhee, connecting those who cannot be at the reunion to the camp, and promoting the historic milestone that the area is celebrating. The online guided tour would be centered on a map, providing a useful way for individuals to move about the space, and recognize areas from the past. The map would enable the experiencer to be taken through a digital tour, that allows visitors to look through photographs, audio, and archival material in the hopes of simulating an experience that reminds them of camp life. The map would look at both the past and present in an effort to replicate changes made over time. My research question centers on how these interactives play a role in digital tourism, and how the material presented makes a strong personal connection between the “visitor” and the digital space, creating a more authentic and impactful experience. 

By utilizing ArcGIS, I will create an interface, where participants are able to easily review various mediums, while also remembering and reflecting on the camp site. Reviewing where past activities were and where they are now, and listening to well known individuals at camp discuss their own memories, allowing for nostalgia and wistfulness to take hold. Connecting individuals to a place that they are not able to visit at that time. 

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Sources: 

1. Benyon, David, Aaron Quigley, Brian O’Keefe, and Giuseppe Riva. “Presence and Digital Tourism.” Ai & Society 29, no. 4. 2013: 521–29.
1. This reading provides insight on how digital tourism blends with physical material, and provides a definition and introduction to what the authors define as digital tourism. 
2. "Digital Huntsville, AL, History Tour Offers 24/7 Online, Guided Tour of City Center." PRWeb Newswire 6 Oct. 2014. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 21 Sept. 2019.
1. This is a great example of a project that is similar to the one I would like to do. The tour is guided and includes photographs and other archival material. 
3. Grau, Oliver, ed. Museum and Archive on the Move : Changing Cultural Institutions in the Digital Era. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, Inc, 2017. 
1. This article reviews how the digital space has impacted cultural heritage. I thought it would be interesting to note the different thoughts about digitization of archival material and other artifacts for my thesis. 
4. Kennedy, Michael. “Introducing Geographic Information Systems with ArcGIS: a Workbook Approach to Learning GIS. Hoboken.” NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
1. This will help to guide my work in ArcGIS. The source provides information on the system and explains different features that users are able to access. 
5. Schoenau-Fog, Henrik. Interactive Storytelling 8th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, ICIDS 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 30 - December 4, 2015 ; Proceedings. Cham: Springer, 2015.
1. This reading had a number of articles that spoke to the topic of interactive storytelling, which I think might be an important part of my own thesis. Individuals can connect with the story and be able to share their own thoughts.