About CHIN – Digital Heritage Content

CHIN supports the development, presentation and promotion of digital heritage content.

Building on its centre of excellence activities (leading collaborative networks and providing skills development, CHIN nurtures a Web presence for Canadian heritage institutions and their content.

CHIN also ensures that Canadians and worldwide audiences can access and use digital heritage content. This content brings to life Canada’s rich culture and history. It weaves together local and national stories for the benefit of all Canadians.

Read More About CHIN’s Digital Heritage Content Strategy

Services to Support Digital Heritage Content
Presenting Digital Heritage Content
Helping Museums Promote Digital Heritage Content

Services to Support Digital Heritage Content

CHIN provides support for the development of digital heritage content by museum network members and their public, and private partners.

Support services include:

• contracts issued to museum network members through VMC Investments;
• technical support to museums for developing or maintaining digital heritage content associated with the VMC initiative.

VMC Investments

Canadian museums of all sizes and disciplines conceive and create content produced through the Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC) Investments.

VMC Investments has two components: Virtual Exhibits and Community Memories. The Virtual Exhibits component is dedicated to innovative, bilingual online productions. The Community Memories component enables smaller museums with no more than five full-time employees to produce online exhibits about their communities’ history.

In total, approximately 50 new productions are undertaken on a yearly basis. As a result, the VMC covers a wide variety of themes and subjects, from humanities to sciences. Content is local, national and often international in scope.

Presenting Digital Heritage Content

CHIN also provides online properties that present digital heritage content developed by museum network members. These online destinations are bilingual, free, accessible and available.

Our online properties include:

• Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC) portal
• Artefacts Canada the national inventory of museum objects

Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC)

The Virtual Museum of Canada, Canada’s national virtual museum, enables museums to collaborate in the development of an important and visible online presence. Launched in 2001, the VMC provides freely-available content. This includes virtual exhibits, interactive and educational resources, images and records of museum treasures. It also includes information on more than 2,500 heritage attractions and their offerings.

In 2008, CHIN unveiled a new addition to the VMC. An interactive Teachers’ Centre allowing teachers and students to collaborate and use multimedia learning resources developed by museums in a secure online environment.

Artefacts Canada

Artefacts Canada is Canada’s national inventory of museum objects, containing nearly 4,000,000 objects and over 600,000 images. These are used to showcase museum collections in the VMC’s Image Gallery. Artefacts Canada is a vital research and reference resource for heritage professionals.

Helping Museums Promote Digital Heritage Content

CHIN also provides marketing products and services that promote digital heritage content to public audiences.

These marketing products and services include:

• sophisticated search engine marketing initiatives that ensure greater visibility for online museum content;
• presence at public events targeting specific audiences (e.g. educators, youth) or Canadians at large;
• mutually beneficial and promotional partnerships with public and private sector organizations;
• a mix of traditional and online marketing products, ranging from printed brochures to online viral campaigns.

CHIN’s marketing strategies are designed not only to drive online users to the VMC and associated content. They are also designed to highlight the collective wealth and diversity of Canada’s museums. CHIN’s marketing strategies are intended to lead audiences at home, at school and abroad, to discover, online and in-person, individual institutions and collections that might not have been otherwise showcased.