The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

"dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the

Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage ...

(CMH) with the financial support of the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

, DMC provides investments of

CA$ The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style g ...

15,000 to $250,000 for audience-engaging online projects by Canadian museums and heritage organizations. As of 2021, Digital Museums Canada took the place of the Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC), a national

virtual museum A virtual museum is a digital entity that draws on the characteristics of a museum, in order to complement, enhance, or augment the museum experience through personalization, interactivity, and richness of content. Virtual museums can perform as t ...

. With a directory of over 3,000 Canadian heritage institutions and a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

of over 600 virtual exhibits, VMC's site was scheduled to discontinue hosting exhibits after 30 June 2021.

Virtual Museum of Canada

Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC) was a national

that was replaced by Digital Museums Canada as of 2021. VMC was administered by the

(CMH), and its content was created by Canadian museums. The VMC included virtual exhibits, educational resources for teachers (in both French and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

), and over 900,000

images An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

. 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. Launched by the

Department of Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (french: Patrimoine canadien), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity ...

in 2001, VMC was designed as a major collaborative online initiative to allow Canadian museums and heritage organizations to connect with online visitors. In February 2014, the

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 Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

confirming that the CMH would assume responsibility for these two programs. 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. 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.

References

External links

* * {{authority control

Museums established in 2001 2001 establishments in Canada Canadian Museum of History Corporation Grants (money) Museum organizations Funding bodies of Canada