Call for Proposals for the Virtual Museum of Canada and Community Memories Investment Programs
The VMC Investment Programs Secretariat is issuing a concurrent call for proposals for both its Virtual Exhibits and Community Memories programs.
A new element in the Virtual Exhibits Investment Program is the requirement of accompanying 'learning objects' which will facilitate educational outreach through on-line interaction, and help teachers and museum educators share lesson plans and scenarios, and will facilitate students' access to these learning resources.
Eligible CHIN member institutions are invited to submit their proposals between now and the December 15th, 2009 deadline. Obtain the proposal forms and information regarding eligibility, requirements and other details in the Virtual Exhibits and Community Memories programs sub-sections of the Funding section of the CHIN
Prior to completing any of the forms, please confirm your CHIN membership status by identifying your institution on the member list or by contacting Member Services at 1 800-520-2446.You can also confirm via email (service@chin.gc.ca).
The Parks Canada Descriptive and Visual Dictionary of Objects now online
In cooperation with Parks Canada, we can now offer to both the international and Canadian museum community an online and free access to the Parks Canada Descriptive and Visual Dictionary of Objects (DVDO). This product is an imperative and an important addition to CHIN’s Knowledge Exchange, just before the revealing of its new website this upcoming spring.
The DVDO is:
-A work based on Parks Canada’s collections that contain over 500,000 objects.
-An illustrated and bilingual terminology standardization tool (French and English) of over 6,000 terms, organized in 10 categories and 103 classes.
-A must that is accessible online and among the most used in North America for the description and classification of historical objects.
-A significant addition to CHIN’s numerous online professional resources.
The DVDO gives you access to:
-A consistent vocabulary to name and classify historical collection objects.
-concepts that cover a rather vast reality, useful to numerous museum institutions with historical collections.
-An illustrated referential database that has been developed by a team of experts.
-Comprehensive equivalents between French and English terms, as well as their definitions.
-A database that is regularly updated.
The Virtual Museum of Canada Featured on Radio-Canada
Canadian museums occupied centre-stage in Radio-Canada’s French television program "C’est ça la vie", featuring the Virtual Museum of Canada. Daniel Feeny, CHIN Business Development and Marketing Manager, was invited to explain the site’s goal, and how this initiative contributed to the development of small communities throughout the country. This program was broadcast live on Radio-Canada’s French national network. Watch the interview (available in French only).
A 3D Interactive Station is Made Possible Through CHIN
The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) introduces an exciting and innovative initiative, in collaboration with the McCord Museum: a “touchless” interactive station that presents 3D content with a historical theme. This one-of-a kind experience allows visitors to manipulate and examine objects from the McCord’s collections without touching them at all. A simple move of the hand is all that’s required. This initiative is a first in Canada!
Entitled Air, Land, Sea: A Story About Exploration!, the interactive station is accessible to all visitors, at the McCord Museum, in Montreal. This initiative is part of a pilot project jointly carried out by the McCord Museum and CHIN. A Web project is currently being produced by CHIN and will be available at www.virtualmuseum.ca in the spring of 2009. Furthermore, results of an experiment will also be shared with the Canadian museum community as a whole, through the Knowledge Exchange website.
The 3D station was built through a collaborative effort with a number of other invaluable Canadian partners, all leaders in their respective fields, such as the National Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Quebec firm, Simbioz.
View a clip that presents this project at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCoLwv8TmgA.
To read the news release, click here http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/pdf/PR/PR_Borne_3D_EN.pdf
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Case Study: Search Engine Optimization impact on Museum’s Websites
Propose your museum by November 12th 2008!
The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) is looking for three museums to take part in a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) case study. To propose your museum, simply send an e-mail with your museum’s name and website address, a contact name and a contact phone number to thierry_arsenault@pch.gc.ca by November 12th, 2008.
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process that aims to increase the visibility of a website in important search engines like Google. SEO works by modifying the content, the layout, and the architecture of Web pages, in addition to using community building techniques to enhance the popularity of a Web site.
Project Description
CHIN wishes to investigate the hypothesis that implementing a few simple and inexpensive Search Engine Optimization techniques can increase a museum’s Web visibility and significantly boost traffic to the museum’s website.
CHIN will undertake case studies on Search Engine Optimization in collaboration with three Canadian museums. Specifically, CHIN is looking for one small museum (5 employees or less), one medium museum (50 employees or less) and one large museum (more than 50 employees).
A CHIN SEO expert will evaluate each museum’s current website and recommend changes to optimize it for search engines. CHIN will also track and record the museum’s current Web traffic. The museum will then implement the recommended changes. CHIN will then track and record the museum’s website traffic after the changes are made.
The changes that the museums will make to their websites will vary, but could involve changes to website architecture, coding and content. Some outreach activities, such as link building and use of social media, may also be performed. CHIN will only coach the museum’s mandated person to make the required changes; CHIN’s expert will not perform the work, since one of the key points of this project is to investigate whether museums can perform SEO with minimum budget and time allocation.
Heritage News Focus