These seven parts can be accessed from all the pages: from the top menu you are able to go to the index of another section. Each page has several links to:

• the home page (clicking on the logo)
• the credits: list of people involved in the project
• this site map
• the search page: it allows to perform a search on the site, i.e. look for one or several keyword(s)

Also, the site supports four languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. Each page offers the possibility to pass from one language to another by clicking on the icons placed in the upper right corner.

The home page (http://funredes.org/mistica/) by which one enters the site is, by default, common to all the seven sections and to all the four languages.

Homepage

Page in four languages that gives access to the seven previously mentioned sections, as well as to three other pages: the credits (it lists people involved in the project), this site map, and the search page.

Project Overview

The page gives access to the documents (some of them being currently available in Spanish only) which allow to understand better what MISTICA is; descriptions of the documents are provided, as well as reading suggestions, according to several criteria:

• Classical articles (texts):
  • "The Mystic of Collaborative Work in the Internet With Social Ends"
  • "Collaborating For the Social Impact of the Internet in Latin America and the Caribbean"
  • "The Mistica of Social Oriented and Collaborative Work with the Internet"
  • Papers by the participants (Spanish)
  • Official Project Document (download the zip file)
• Graphical supports, illustrated presentations:
  • Diagram (Flash document in Spanish)
  • Animated Presentation (Flash document)
  • MISTICA at a glance (download the RTF file)
• Web documents:
  • Web Navigation
  • Doc-Samaná

Introduction

This section is divided in five main parts that give access to several types of information about the MISTICA project. The navigation principle is double:

• the menu of the left allows free navigation
• the indications under each page ("next"): navigation that allows to understand the project in a pedagogic progression.

This page gives access to the presentation of the four components of the project:

• Methodology
• Social Impact
• Information and Communication Technologies
• America (Latin America and the Caribbean)

Project Overview

Partial presentation of the project document, with four components:

• Project justification
• Objectives
• Products
• Organization and Schedule

Full Project Presentation

This page, the last one in the process of discovery of the project, has two parts:

• Complete summary of the presentation document
• Possibility to download this file.

Presentation of Our Sponsors

The two sponsors and the coordinator:

• IDRC (sponsor)
• FPH (sponsor)
• FUNREDES (coordinator)

Glossary

Definition of some terms used in the presentation of the project.

Virtual Community (VC)

One of the MISTICA strongest components is the "virtual community" ("VC") in which the members communicate through the <[email protected]> mailing list. This section is dedicated to this group of people (researchers, grassroots operators, academic staff, members of international organisations, etc.) and their discussions. While the homepage gives access to statistics about the VC (in Spanish), the section itself it divided into five distinct parts.

Subscribe/Unsubscribe VC

All that has to do with subscription and unsubscription:

• an invitation message, sent to several lists in February, 1999
• an invitation letter, distributed to potential participants in February, 1999 (written in Spanish)
• a presentation letter and invitation, published on the website in February, 1999
• the subscribing form: to subscribe to the list and become a member of the project Virtual Community
• the unsubscribing procedure: if, for anyone reason (change of electronic address, vacation, etc.), one wants to leave the discussion list, (s)he can find the relevant information on this page

VC Rules

This part presents the "constitution" of the MISTICA list, that is to say the rules to which all participants have to conform. It discusses several aspects:

• the general process
• the procedures
• the underlying philosophy
• also, a tentative agenda for the VC debates

CV Members

Information on the participants:

• the directory of all the partners who accept to be mentioned (be as it may, the name and last name will always appear, as the non publication concerns only some personal data, for example age, sex or telephone number)
• personal pages: additional informations about the members, as well as answers to the presentation questions (Who am I? Why am I interested to the topic? What do I expect from this experiment?)

EMEC Support Documents

The EMEC methodology allows a better management of the electronic conferences. First, it solves the problem of the informational "overload". Moreover, it facilitates and encourages the communication inside virtual communities, especially as the multilinguism is its prominent element. The section dedicated to methodology has various parts:

• presentation:
  • presentation document
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  • EMEC explained to the VC (in Spanish)
• access to the archived messages - available from the beginning of the discussion list, including before the EMEC methodology started

VC Production

The section gives access to all the messages sent to the list since it opened. The contributions are divided into 5 categories, according to the project phase:

• The initial phase: the first discussions in the Virtual Community (from February 18 to March 19, 1999)
• The Samaná phase: meeting sessions' archives (from April 11 to April 18, 1999)
• The after-Samaná phase: picking up the discussion again (from April 22 to September 10, 1999)
• The EMEC phase: EMEC Methodology application (from September 10, 1999 to July 28, 2000
• The final phase: end of EMEC methodology (from July 28, 2000)

Pilot Projects

The pilot applications (that took the name of "yanapanako" during the Samaná meeting) are parts of the MISTICA project: they aim to help collaborative work of the VC with seed funds. The documents are currently available in Spanish only:

• the records of the first call for proposals, launched on August 1st, 1999
• the information on the second call for proposals (October and November 1999): updated call, results, etc.
• all the documents related to the follow up

MISTICA Clearinghouse

In the framework of the MISTICA project, a clearinghouse has been realized. It is a reference website on the topic of the social impact of the Internet (in other words, on society-ICT relations, i.e. on the social aspects of the information society). The clearinghouse is currently available in Spanish only.

Events

The MISTICA project plans to organize several events. A regional meeting already took place in Samaná (in the Dominican Republic) from the 11th to the 16th of April 1999. The website which was created on that occasion (with various sections: Practical Data, Agenda, Participants, Work Documents, Photo Album, etc.) is available only in Spanish.

Project Evaluations

MISTICA aims at making evaluations after each stage of the project. The page thus gives access to these evaluations (questionnaire, and commented results), in Spanish or in English:

• an intermediary evaluation, after the first stage of the discussion inside the VC (from the 20/03/99) - Spanish
• the Samana meeting evaluation, done by the participants (16/04/99) - Spanish
• the Samaná meeting evaluation, done by the "PADistas", i.e. the remote participants (from the month of June 99) - Spanish
• the evaluation of the MISTICA project after one year (early 2000) - Spanish
• the evaluation of the EMEC project (May-June 2000) - English

Cyberlibrary

• Support Documents
  Documents describing the project (pedagogy, graphics, etc.)
• Work Documents
  Documents inspiring the MISTICA Project
  • Doc-INO: Social appropriation on the New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT)
  • Doc-COORD: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) - The Management of a Positive Social Impact
  • Doc-CV: Summary Document of Virtual Community Discussions
  • Doc-SAM: Letter to Emilio or the Dream Account of the Meeting in Samaná
• Documents of the Participants of the Virtual Community
  
• Document Index
  
  • index by title
  • index by author
  • index by date
  • index by language

Moreover, a list of bibliographical references on ICT for equitable and sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean can be found in the Spanish section of the website. The page in English gives access to the document: "Catálogo Bibliográfico de Tecnologías de la información y la comunicación para fomentar el desarrollo equitativo y sustentable de América Latina".