Virtual Exhibits Investment Program - Artefacts Canada Contribution Procedure for VMC/CHIN Project Partners

May 3, 2010

Essential information

As specified in your VMC Contract, you will need to submit collections records and images to Artefacts Canada. This will make it possible for them to be shared with other museum professionals and with the public through the VMC Image Gallery and Artefacts Canada. You are encouraged to send as many of your collections records and images as possible, even if they are not featured in your VMC exhibit. All of the collections records you submit will be visible in Artefacts Canada, and those records that include images will also be visible in the VMC Image Gallery.

All the information you need to contribute to Artefacts Canada can be found in the Members Only section of the CHIN website at:
http://www.rcip-chin.gc.ca/adhesion-membership/acces-login/artefacts-artefacts-eng.jsp.

You must have an automated collections management system of some sort in order to send data. Anything from an Excel spreadsheet to a commercially available collections management software package will work.

It's usually a good idea to inform your collections manager/registrar of the requirement to contribute to Artefacts Canada at the beginning of the project.

Help is always available to you. Please feel free to call the CHIN Help Desk at 1-800-520-2446, or e-mail us at service@chin.gc.ca.

Step 1. Sign the CHIN Agreement with Contributing Members

Your institution will already have become a CHIN member before submitting a proposal to the VMC Investment Program or before signing your contract. Please print, complete and sign the CHIN Agreement with Contributing Members and return it to CHIN by mail or fax. You will find information about the Contribution agreement at the following web page:
http://www.rcip-chin.gc.ca/adhesion-membership/information/demande-apply/contributeurs-contributors-eng.jsp.

Step 2. Register to contribute

Fill out the online registration form at:
http://daryl.chin.gc.ca:8080/cgi-bin/register.

Once you fill out this on-line form and submit it, you will receive an email containing your user ID and password for contributing to Artefacts Canada.

Step 3. Review the Contributor Documentation

The Contribution Guidelines will outline what is required and guide you through the steps of your initial on-line contribution. This document is available on the CHIN website at:
http://www.rcip-chin.gc.ca/docs/e_contributor.pdf.

Please note the following image specifications:

Thumbnail images

125 - 150 pixels (maximum) along longest dimension
File format: JPEG
8-bit greyscale or 24-bit colour
File size: less than 5 K.

Display (or full-size) images

500-800 pixels (maximum) along longest dimension
File format: JPEG
8-bit greyscale or 24-bit colour
File size: less than 50 K.

Image files may be located on CHIN's server or any other server identified by your Institution.

Please consult the Contributor Guidelines for information on data specifications, including a list of mandatory fields.

Step 4. Match your fields to CHIN's fields and send a test file

To begin the contribution process you must first map the fields from your collections management system to CHIN’s fields. Use the mapping table web interface accessible by clicking on “Add or Update records” on the following page:
http://www.rcip-chin.gc.ca/adhesion-membership/acces-login/artefacts-artefacts-eng.jsp.

You will be asked to log in using the user name and password supplied in Step 2.

Click on the button that says, "Modify mapping". You will then see a table that you can use to match the fields in your database to CHIN's fields. For help with field mapping, you may wish to refer to the CHIN Data Dictionaries, available on the Professional Exchange website (http://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/index-eng.jsp). Once you have completed mapping your fields to CHIN's fields, the table will be saved so that you will not have to do this again unless you wish to make a change. You are now ready to "upload" (send) a test file to Artefacts Canada. Click on the "upload file" button, and you will be able to "browse" your local system to find the file that you wish to upload.

Step 5. Verify your test data, and send the final file to CHIN

After waiting 24 hours, you can view your test data to make sure that the records are appearing as you expected. Use the links provided on the following page to view your data in the appropriate test database:
http://www.rcip-chin.gc.ca/adhesion-membership/acces-login/artefacts-artefacts-eng.jsp.

If there are problems, you may need to make changes to the mapping table. When you are satisfied with the way your records look, contact CHIN to let us know that your testing is complete, and that you are ready to send your final file. You can then send the final file using the same procedure that you used to send the test file. For more information about any step of this process please consult the Contributor Guidelines at:
http://www.rcip-chin.gc.ca/docs/e_contributor.pdf.