Minister Moore Launches Renewed virtualmuseum.ca

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Jun 01 (MARKET WIRE) --
Editors Note: There are 4 photos and 1 video associated with this Press
Release

The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official
Languages, today launched the completely revamped virtualmuseum.ca
website.

"The revamped virtualmuseum.ca is a unique and exciting example of what
art and culture can look like in the digital age. Easy access, customized
content, diversity, and lots of great Canadian and international content
will appeal to a wide audience," said Minister Moore.

To take advantage of new Web technologies (Web 2.0), a specialized team
at the Department of Canadian Heritage significantly redesigned the
website. The goal was to expand programs and services and encourage more
people to take part in learning about Canada's heritage.

New features at virtualmuseum.ca include:

- the Teachers' Centre to help educators bring museums into their
classrooms with customized content that draws on texts, images,
audio/video clips, and flash animations;

- online boutiques from Canadian museums presented through a partnership
with the Canadian Museums Association;

- a new and powerful internal search engine with faceted browsing that
will help users easily find what they want through information retrieval
that seamlessly blends query results from multiple data sources; and

- a bilingual source of information and news about museums and
exploratory projects.

Another key feature at virtualmuseum.ca is "My VMC," where visitors can
create their own personal online museums by linking to virtual exhibits
and interactive activities and then adding their own comments.

virtualmuseum.ca is designed for Canadians of all stripes: women and men
of all ages, students and educators, heritage professionals, and those
who are simply interested in our cultural heritage.

This interactive space highlights more than 500 virtual exhibits and an
impressive image gallery, the result of cooperation between the
Department of Canadian Heritage and its 1,300 museum-community members.
Museums add new content every month.

Explore your Canadian museum space! Visit virtualmuseum.ca

CORE FACTS:

- Completely revamped website for virtualmuseum.ca

- The site offers new features and a powerful new search engine

- Check out more than 500 virtual exhibits featuring collections and
artifacts from museums across Canada

- Create your own personal museum online with "My VMC"

QUOTES:

- I invite all Canadians to explore virtualmuseum.ca, the most visible
example of how our Government is helping museums reach and interact with
audiences through the use of innovative technologies.

- The revamped virtualmuseum.ca is a unique and exciting place where
visitors can enjoy and learn about Canada's rich and diverse cultural
heritage collections and artefacts and even create their own personal
museums online at "My VMC."

- With new technology and multiple platforms, the cultural landscape is
changing, and we're proud to be leading the way with the revamped Virtual
Museum of Canada.

ABOUT:

The Honourable James Moore

http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/moore/biograph-eng.cfm

Canadian Heritage (PCH)

http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/index-eng.cfm

Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN)

The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) allows Canadian museums
to engage their audiences through the use of innovative technologies. As
a centre of excellence, CHIN offers investment programs and highlights
Canadian museum collections and activities in its image-based website
virtualmuseum.ca and in Professional Exchange. News, collaborative
projects, as well as resources for professionals and for the public at
large, await you.

Virtualmuseum.ca

As an endless source of discoveries, virtualmuseum.ca is a unique
interactive space that brings together Canadian museum collections and
riches in a variety of thought-provoking and instructive contents. The
result of a strong partnership between Canada's vast museum community and
the Department of Canadian Heritage, it's your window on current museum
news and your reference guide to plan your next outing. Enter your
Canadian museum space.

WEBSITE LINKS:

Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) website

http://www.chin.gc.ca

www.virtualmuseum.ca website

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/

Canadian Heritage website

http://www.pch.gc.ca/index-eng.cfm

The Honourable James Moore website section

http://www.jamesmoore.org

This news release is available on the Internet at
www.canadianheritage.gc.ca under Media Room.

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the
following links:

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20090529-Eng-home_800.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20090529-Moore_J-Exhibits_800.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20090529-Moore_J-museum_800.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20090529-moorej_s_Quebec_800.jpg

To view the video associated with this press release, please visit the
following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrpjv8DaGec

Contacts:
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
and Official Languages
Deirdra McCracken
Director of Communications
819-997-7788
deirdra.mccracken@pch.gc.ca

Canadian Heritage
Media Relations
819-994-9101
1-866-569-6155
www.canadianheritage.gc.ca

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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