About CHIN - Timeline

The following timeline highlights key accomplishments in the history of the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN).

1970 – UNESCO Convention on Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

1972 – National Museums Policy proposes an inventory of public collections.
– Government of Canada creates the National Inventory Programme.

1982 – National Inventory Programme becomes the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN).

1987 – Conservation Information Network data, along with other databases, become accessible via dial–up.

1991 – CHIN's streetscape logo is adopted, following a call for submissions from CHIN member institutions.

1995 – CHIN's website for heritage professionals and volunteers is launched at chin.gc.ca
– CHIN produces its first virtual exhibit, an international collaboration titled Christmas Traditions in France and Canada.

1999 – National Inventories are re–designed for the Web, becoming Artefacts Canada.

2001 – Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC) portal for the general public launched at virtualmuseum.ca
– VMC Investments issues its first call for proposals.

2002 – Community Memories issues its first call for proposals.

2003 – Community Memories section in the VMC is launched.

2004 – CHIN membership surpasses 1000 not–for–profit heritage institutions across Canada.

2006 – The Knowledge Exchange section is added to the CHIN Web site.

2007 – The Agora section (now the VMC Teachers’ Centre) in the VMC is launched as a pilot project.

2009 – CHIN relaunches its Web properties, incorporating the latest approaches and technologies.
– The Knowledge Exchange, now titled the Professional Exchange, becomes a stand–alone website.

2009 – A semantic search engine is added across all of CHIN’s websites.

For the full story about CHIN, please view narrative history.