Media related to Virtual Museum of Canada at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website (in English)
- Official website (in French)
Former name | Virtual Museum of Canada |
|---|---|
| Established | 2001 (VMC) c. 2021 (DMC) |
| Type | Investment Program |
| Director | Leah Resnick[1] |
| Owner | Canadian Museum of History corporation |
| Website | www.digitalmuseums.ca/ |
| Canadian Museum of History Corporation network | |
The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; French: Musées numériques Canada, MNC) is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity.[2]
Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) with the financial support of the Government of Canada, DMC provides investments of CA$15,000 to $250,000 for audience-engaging online projects by Canadian museums and heritage organizations.[2][3]
In 2021, Digital Museums Canada took the place of the Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC).
Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC) was a national virtual museum that existed from 2001 to 2021. It was replaced by Digital Museums Canada as of 2021. VMC was administered by the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) from 2001 to 2014, and then transferred to Canadian Museum of History (CMH) in 2014. Its content was created by Canadian museums.[4][5]
The VMC included virtual exhibits,[4] educational resources for teachers (in both French and English),[6] and over 900,000 images.[7] With a directory of over 3,000 Canadian heritage institutions and a database of over 600 virtual exhibits, VMC's site was scheduled to discontinue hosting exhibits past 30 June 2021.[4]
Launched by the Canadian Heritage Information Network of the Department of Canadian Heritage in 2001, VMC was designed as a major collaborative online initiative to allow Canadian museums and heritage organizations to connect with online visitors.[8] In February 2014, the Government of Canada announced its intention to transfer VMC and the Online Works of Reference to CMH. Bill C-31, an Act to implement certain provisions of the budget and other measures, soon after received royal assent confirming that the CMH would assume responsibility for these two programs.[8][9]
The VMC Investment Programs was created to invest in Canadian museums to create online exhibitions. The Virtual Exhibits Investment Program was geared to medium- to large-sized institutions.[10] The other offerings were the Community Memories Program, an investment program designed for smaller Canadian community museums, to allow them to create online exhibits about their history.[10]
