Event Description

CHIN's Digital Heritage Symposium

Making the Connection: Museums, Visitors & New Technologies

New technologies are bringing institutions and their audiences together in new and exciting ways. From social media to wearable computing, recent technological advancements have offered the public a fresh perspective of Canadian heritage content – in the classroom, in the museum, in communities, and online.

Timed to precede the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, CHIN's Digital Heritage symposium examined the opportunities and challenges confronting heritage institutions in today’s global digital environment. Presented by the Canadian Heritage Information Network in collaboration with the 2010 Cultural Olympiad and its digital edition (CODE), the symposium was held at the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology on February 4 and 5, 2010.

The symposium was organized under four main topics:

• Connecting in the Museum How can innovative technologies enhance interpretation? What opportunities can they offer visitors to personalize their visits, interact with the collections and engage each other? (wearable computing, mobile technologies, alternative interaction devices).
• Connecting in CommunitiesHow are heritage institutions connecting with groups to enable digital distribution of information on dispersed collections? Can digital preservation strengthen the long-term connections between contemporary new media artists and their museum works? How do provenance research projects use technology to make collection research widely available? (provenance, new media and preservation).
• Connecting in Education New media are changing the face of education, and museums are taking advantage of new technological opportunities. How can museums use technology to further encourage use of digital heritage information in online learning? (online learning, educational games).
• Connecting OnlineHow do social media allow museums to engage new audiences, and expand their online communities? What are the advantages and pitfalls of these approaches, particularly in reaching today’s youth? (social media and museums/youth).