Towards an Amazigh Geo-cultural Information system
Towards an Amazigh Geo-cultural Information system
Ali Rachidi1, Mustapha Eddahibi2
1Equipe de recherché TISED, Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion, Agadir, Maroc
2 Equipe de recherché TISED, Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion, Agadir, Maroc
Abstract
In this paper we will give a short overview of the work that has been started for the conception and the implementation of a new Amazigh geo-cultural information system “AGCIS”. This system has the objectives of providing information about Moroccan Amazigh culture in its various aspects, and to preserve the cultural heritage, and to promote Amazigh language and culture. At this initial stage, we wish to find support amongst organisms that holds the official information about Amazigh culture.
1.Introduction
A Geo-cultural information system is a computer platform that allows creating, displaying, searching, processing and storing cultural resources by geographical areas. AGCIS associates spatial data with cultural resources. It will be used to produce cultural documents, maps and every kind of information useful in touristic field, culture promotion, discovery, and to promote the dissemination of cultural information on Moroccan Amazighs throughout the world. This cultural information in its various forms is structured according to rules and laws as established by custom and tradition (Azref, customary law) [Stephen Jackson, 2011].
2.The Amazigh Geo-cultural information system Architecture
The Amazigh Geo-cultural information system is computer-based system that will be able to provide the desired functionalities in terms of[Kappos, Antonio, 2008]:
- Capturing Amazigh geo-cultural data for Morocco’s different regions in a digital format;
- Data storage and management in a data base;
- Data processing and data querying to respond to every request;
- Formatting, visualization, printing and exporting data, depending on the need;
- Representing the real Amazigh world and without abstraction;
- Anticipating Amazigh cultural new development in Morocco.
- Therefore, the architecture of AGCIS system can be presented as follows in figure1.
Figure 1: Amazigh geo-cultural information system architecture
Indeed, two categories of data can be entered in the AGCIS’s data base:
- Spatial data using geographical maps for different Morocco’s regions. These maps are based on satellite images available in the web or from governmental institutions as the High Commissioner for the Plan, urban authorities’ cadaster service, etc.
- Amazigh cultural data describing different aspects of Amazigh culture for each region. Cultural data would be strongly bound to their related geographical data. All data are available in the culture ministry, the ministry of tourism, IRCAM, etc.
3.Amazigh Culture and its aspects
Morocco’s Amazighs have their own culture; their particular language, their own history, their specific traditions and customs that characterize them and distinguish them from other social groups. Through ongoing contact with nearby communities and through the process of acculturation, they have been directly involved in the advancement of the Moroccan human civilization. In deed, Most social scientists today view culture as consisting primarily of the symbolic, ideational, and intangible aspects of human societies. The essence of a culture is not its artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements but how the members of the group interpret, use, and perceive them. It is the values, symbols, interpretations, and perspectives that distinguish one people from another in modernized societies; it is not material objects and other tangible aspects of human societies. People within a culture usually interpret the meaning of symbols, artifacts, and behaviors in the same or in similar ways. Culture includes every aspect of life: know-how, technical knowledge, customs of food and dress, religion, mentality, values, language, symbols, socio-political and economic behavior, indigenous methods of taking decisions and exercising power, methods of production and economic relations, and so on.
This culture can be decomposed by audience (individual or group) and / or by type (subjective or objective). The table 1 presents the decomposition adopted by our work.
TopicSubjective / Objective
Audience / Individual / Intention
- Values
- Attitudes
- Commitment
- Responsability
- Plans
- Actions
- Decision
- Performance
Group / Culture
- Shared Values
- Ethics
- Morals
- Organizational structures
- Work Process
- Polices
- Procedures
- Contracts
Table 1: Culture presentation model
A data base of Culture is presented in the section of development.
4.Development and implementation
To realize our system, it is necessary first of all to develop the cultural database. Initially, we adopted entities – relationships model. The result model is developed with MS Access. It is expected, in the course of our work, to migrate this database to MYSQL system. Figure 2 and 3 presents the model obtained.
Figure 2: database of Amazigh geo-cultural information system
For the development and the implementation of the Amazigh geo-cultural information system we are using theOpen Source Geographic Information SystemQGIS that operates within open Spatial Data Infrastructure. It provides toshare and edit geospatial data.
Up to now, we are using only one format for the storage of geospatial data which are shapefiles. A shapefile is a digital vector storage format for storing geometric location and associated attribute information. Shapefiles describe spatially vector features like points, lines, and polygons. A table of records is used to store properties for each shape in the shapefile. Associating shapes with data attributes creates many representations about geographic data. To publish Shapefiles with QGIS, we first create a workspace for this shapefile. The workspace is a container used to group similar layers together. Then we create data store that tells QGIS how to connect to the database. Finally, we create a Layer by defining the Data publishing parameters. Layer’s bounding boxes are then computed from native data. A figure 3 presents a shapefile developed in QGIS.
Figure 3: Shapefile of AGCIS
5.Conclusion
In this paper, we have presented an Amzigh geo-cultural information system that we have initiated in the research team TISED. This system would ensure Amazigh cultural information storage for each region and location in Morocco. Therefore, it would contribute to the conservation of Amazigh culture, to promote it and overall this tool will be free, open source and available on the web to be widely exploited by the world wide community for noble purposes and for major interest vocation in Morocco such as tourism, etc.
References
[Chafik mohamed, 1989],Lamha âan thalatha wa thalathine qarnan min tarikh alamazighyine(Aperçu sur trente-trois siècles de l’histoire des Amazighs), 1989
[Stephen Jackson, 2011], Organizational culture and information systems adoption: A three-perspective approach, Information and Organization, Volume 21, Issue 2, April 2011, Pages 57–83
[Kappos, Antonio and Rivard, Suzanne, 2008], "A Three-Perspective Model of Culture, Information Systems, and Their Development and Use," MIS Quarterly, (32: 3) pp.601-634.