Virtual Exhibits Investment Program – Proposal Form Tips

October 2008

Consult these tips to help you complete the proposal form for the Virtual Exhibits Investment Program.

Part A IDENTIFICATION OF THE LEAD INSTITUTION

Question 3. a) Is the lead institution a member of the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN)?

If your institution is currently a member museum¹ of the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), you are eligible to submit a proposal to the Virtual Exhibits Investment Program. To be a member, you must have submitted your membership form and signed agreement, and completed your Guide entry, including at least one event. Once all the steps required to be a CHIN member² have been completed, a letter is sent welcoming your institution as a new member.

Should you have any questions about your membership status, please contact CHIN Member Services at 1 800 520-2446 / (819) 994-1200.

Question 8. In the event your proposal is approved,

1. please provide your institution's legal description

The legal description for your institution should be similar to the following examples:

1)  THE (NAME OF YOUR MUSEUM), legally registered as a non profit institution on (month, day, year) and established under the (your province) Society Act number (number), (number, street, city, province, postal code), G.S.T. Number: (number)

OR

2)  THE (NAME OF YOUR UNIVERSITY), a university continued under the University Act, R.S.B.C. (year), as an entity, as represented by its (name of your Museum), (number, street, city, province, postal code), G.S.T. Number: (number)

Part B DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED ONLINE EXHIBIT OR GAME

Question 3. Description of proposed production (maximum 750 words).

Please note that the information provided here will form the basis of your contractual obligations, if the proposed product is approved. Information provided should, therefore, clearly identify the content to be explored as well as its treatment.

The description should help the VMC Editorial Board members visualize the ultimate product. When describing your production, remember that the Editorial Board is reading about your project for the first time. Therefore, it is useful to provide an overview of the project, in addition to one or two concrete examples of content that may be included.  It is also recommended that a mock-up or demo, available through the World Wide Web, be included in the description.

Depending on the subject matter, information related to gender and regional balance may be relevant. As well, when describing the proposed production, keep the target audience in mind. The Editorial Board is interested in knowing what content will be included, as well as how that content will be presented. While details regarding the use of the medium should be provided in your response to question 4, it is worthwhile to provide some information in the description about how the technology will be used in the presentation of the content.

Please remember that the description should be no more than 750 words.

The response to this question is key in that it assists the Board in determining the level to which your proposal meets one of the primary criteria, specifically whether the proposed production demonstrates a dynamic exploration of Canada's diverse heritage in ways that encourage enjoyment and learning. Therefore, it is important to share your vision of the proposed production in your description. It should be further noted that the information provided in Questions 3 and 4 will be used to form the basis of your contractual obligations if your proposal is approved.

Question 4. Please identify the technologies to be used in the production, including details as to HOW these technologies will be used with the content described above.

Please note that the information provided here will be used with the specifics of Question 3 (project description) to form the basis of your contractual obligations, if the proposed product is approved. Information provided should therefore clearly identify the new media technologies AND HOW they will be used with the content.

The VMC Editorial Board encourages all CHIN members to include detailed descriptions about the planned use of innovative new technologies (wikis, blogs etc) in the proposed productions to explore the subject matter materials.

Question 6. Audiences and evaluation a) Identify target audience(s) for the production.  b) How will the target audience's interest be assessed in relation to the concept and content proposed? c) Identify specific measures to conduct audience evaluations during the development process.

Two mandatory criteria are the identification of the target audience and specific measures to conduct audience evaluations. The proposed content may appeal to a large audience and, therefore, the general public may be identified as the target audience. However, on-line content is often more effective when it responds to a need for information, as well as when it is geared towards a specific clientele in terms of various elements, such as language level and visuals. Target audiences are defined by various characteristics, including age, gender, education level and interest.

The audience evaluation can be formal or informal, but must include the target audience, be conducted during development (as opposed to post-development), and must provide sufficient information to determine the product's ability to meet the needs of the target audience and goals of the project.

Question 7. What are the communication objectives of the proposed production and how will they be achieved through the use of the technologies identified in Question B 4?

Your response to this question will contribute to the Board's ability to evaluate your proposal with respect to one of the primary criteria, specifically whether it exploits the digital medium to create experiences that are not feasible in physical space or analogue media. Therefore, it is important to provide information that will allow the Board to envisage how the use of technology will enhance the audience's understanding / appreciation of the content.

Part C CATEGORIES AND SUB-CATEGORIES

Question 2. a) Identify the type of production that is being proposed. If the production contains a component that corresponds to another type, please select a secondary type as well.

Curricular Resource - A production that contains educational information on a specific curriculum-related topic

Game(s) - Interactive games, quizzes, on- and off-line activities.

Resource - A production that provides educational information.

Virtual Exhibition - A production with a thematic approach to the content.

Virtual Tour - A production that provides a tour of a physical space/site, such as a historical site or a physical exhibition.

Exchange - A production that allows users to exchange information, share stories, etc.

Part D DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED LEARNING OBJECT COLLECTION AND LESSON PLAN(S)

Question 1. Title of the Learning Object Collection

The title of the Learning Object Collection (LOC) and its related lesson plan(s) should clearly reflect the content found within it. As such the title does not need to be exactly the same as the title of the related virtual exhibit or game.

Question 3. Identify the target school user group for the proposed production.

The answer to this question should clearly indicate the age and level of the group for which the LOC is intended.

Question 4. Please provide a brief overview of the proposed Learning Object Collection and Lesson Plan(s). (Maximum 250 words.)

Please note that the information provided here will form the basis of your contractual obligations, if the proposed product is approved. Information provided should therefore clearly identify:

• the learning objectives;
• the curricular linkages;
• the educational outcomes for the lesson plan(s); as well as,
• the type and number of digital assets to be used for each learning object.

Part E PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

Question 2. Partner(s)

All partners must commit to their participation by means of a signed partnership letter, which must clearly specify what the partner will be contributing to the project. The signed partnership letter will:

• establish the duration of the partnership;
• confirm the amount of any cash contribution;
• describe any in-kind support and confirm its value;
• identify the specific content/collection(s) that they are providing access to and/or explain the expertise or services that will be provided.

NOTE: For the purposes of the VMC Virtual Exhibits Program, partnership is defined as meaning shared risk and ownership, through contribution of expertise and/or collections.

Part F SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Question 1. a) Will there be a skills development component for staff and/or volunteers of the institution in this production?

The objective of this question is to determine whether those who work at the institution(s) (whether staff members or volunteers) will be involved in formal training, or any other activities, that will lead to skills development.

Part G QUALITY CONTROL

The aim of this section is to demonstrate to the Editorial Board that sufficient measures are in place to ensure the quality of the production. Generally, quality control measures should include verification by outside sources.

NOTE: Productions which do not adhere to the VMC Technical Specifications may be subject to financial penalty or loss of future funding opportunities.

Part H PRODUCTION PLAN

Question 1. a) Provide a clearly developed production plan, including project milestones and timetable for the production.

Providing a clearly developed production plan is a mandatory criterion. The production plan should outline all steps required to produce the on-line product, as well as indicate the timeframe needed to complete each stage of development. Elements in the production plan should include (but are not limited to): research, negotiating copyright licenses, content development / writing, Web site design, digitization of content, multimedia development, translation, testing/evaluation during and after production and launch.

The production plan should clearly indicate an awareness of all the steps necessary for the successful completion of the proposed production, and a realistic approach to the time and resources required.

It is highly recommended that those who will be working on the multimedia development of the product be consulted in the creation of the production plan and that the technical specifications document be thoroughly reviewed to ensure that appropriate time is allocated

Additionally, special time allowances for school breaks, etc. may need to be taken into consideration for the testing of the proposed materials to ensure that sufficient time is allocated for this exercise and that school is in session.

NOTE: It takes approximately four months from the proposal deadline date for the completion of the evaluation process and notification of results. Please reflect this timeline in your production plan.

Part I BUDGET

Provide the members of the Editorial Board with budget details for each component within the proposed production, as well as budget details for "shared" items in the overall production.

The budget information provided should include footnotes to explain the basis of all calculations. One of the primary criteria relates to whether the proposed production provides value for money. Therefore, it is important to provide details to explain the basis of calculations, and provide any other supporting documentation to illustrate that the items in the budget have been included with fiscal responsibility in mind.

Categories and items in which the budget information should be divided:

Budget information format as presented once entered in the form:

Given that compliance with Priority 1 and Priority 2 Checkpoints of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (May 5, 1999) is mandatory for all VMC content, the costs associated with compliance are eligible expenses and, therefore, should be included in the proposed budget.

It is recommended that those who will be working on the multimedia development of the production be thoroughly familiar with the VMC Technical Specifications to ensure that appropriate budgetary allowances are made to ensure compliance with W3C accessibility requirements (e.g. creation of transcripts for audio clips in both languages).

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¹ not-for-profit permanent establishments, exempt from federal and provincial government income taxes, open to the public and administered in the public interest, for the primary purpose of conserving and preserving, studying, interpreting, assembling and exhibiting to the public, for its instruction and enjoyment, objects and specimens of educational and cultural value, including artistic, scientific (whether animate or inanimate), historical, and technological material. Museums thus defined include art galleries, art exhibit centres, botanical gardens, zoological parks, aquaria, planetaria, historical society museums and historical houses, preservation projects, and sites which meet the requirements set forth in the preceding sentence.

²CHIN members are those who have met their contractual obligations, including regularly updating their Museums & Events information.