British Columbia Virtual Museum Association Update

The BCVMA has received approximately 3000 images from its members institutions. These images, now stored on the NSM Jukebox at ACT, include art and artifacts from the early history of Vancouver, First Nations artifacts, works by Emily Carr, and important items from the members' permanent collections. In the coming weeks, these images will be linked to the national museums database, the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), using ACT's CINEMAGE® series of client/server software.

Images and data are currently available only to members of the consortium, but are expected to be given wider dissemination in the coming months. Information in the Virtual Museum will be available as an archival resource, for distance education and outreach, as an aid in collections management, and for the research and development of British Columbia's rich cultural heritage. In addition, the BCVMA will be linked through the VISEUM Virtual Museums International project to museums and galleries in the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

The BCVMA will contribute as a content provider to provincial and national initiatives aimed at increasing public access to information and information services. The BCVMA shares with these initiatives the goal of providing educational opportunities and increasing access to resources through improved telecommunications and other new media technologies.

Members of the BCVMA now include the UBC Museum of Anthropology, the Vancouver Museum, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Simon Fraser University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the U'Mista Cultural Centre, Kodak Canada, and ACT.