The Lake Country Heritage and Cultural Society is excited to announce that the Museum and Archives has been awarded funding to complete two separate, major projects in 2011-2012.
The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) has awarded exhibition development funding and software to the Lake Country Museum to develop an online exhibition for the Virtual Museum of Canada. The Japanese Canadian Pioneers of Lake Country will tell the story of the first Japanese Canadian pioneers of our community and their experiences during the period from 1899 to pre-World War II (1939). The core theme of the exhibition will be courage, perseverance, and resilience, with stories and histories to highlight this. The exhibition and chosen stories will come from the perspective of the present Japanese Canadian community, and the Lake Country Museum is working in partnership with community members to develop this historic exhibition.
Mme Carrier of the Virtual Museum of Canada states, “This is the beginning of a new project in your community and we hope that this experience will renew alliances and create new ones that will enrich your institution’s collections and ensure transmission of your region’s stories. The Virtual Museum of Canada will be proud to present your exhibit and share it with its visitors when it is completed.” The Virtual Museum of Canada presents online exhibitions from museums across Canada, exploring the country’s rich history and culture through exhibits and interactive learning resources. Local history exhibitions capture exciting Canadian community memories, drawn from the collections of small museums and local memories and treasures.
The Lake Country Museum and Archives has also received funding through the prestigious Irving K. Barber Learning Centre’s British Columbia History Digitization Program, administered through the University of British Columbia Archives. Over the next year, the Lake Country Museum and Archives will digitize forty-seven original manuscripts which describe various aspects of Lake Country’s history from the late 1800s to the 1950s. The manuscripts will be accompanied by previously digitized archival photographs and will be available to the public at no charge through the museum’s website. They will use text-searchable software to allow people to easily research Lake Country’s history by topic and name.
This significant project will create a database of electronic text records of Lake Country’s history, while reducing physical contact and possible damage of the original manuscripts. It will increase the accessibility of the Museum’s archival collections to the greater community as a valuable research and reference tool and provide access to primary source material for the staff and students of the University of BC- Okanagan (UBCO) History and Education Departments, as well as to researchers across the province.