Ottawa Museums and City Archives go virtual with their collections

Accessing information about Ottawa’s history just got easier with the launch of the Ottawa Museums and Archives virtual Collections Catalogue.

Deputy Mayor Mark Taylor, Councillor Diane Deans, Chair of the Community and Protective Services Committee and Kathryn Jamieson, Chair of the Board, Ottawa Museum Network, today unveiled the Collections Catalogue at the City’s James K. Bartleman Central Archives.

“This collaborative initiative between the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Museum Network is an amazing online tool that lets users easily discover the history of our city at their fingertips,” said Deputy Mayor Taylor.

The virtual catalogue includes digitized records and artefacts from the City Archives, City Museums, and the following community museums: Bytown Museum, Diefenbunker, Canada’s Cold War Museum, Goulbourn Museum, Muséoparc Vanier Museopark and the Osgoode Township Museum.

“This project was a massive undertaking by many community partners,” stated Chair Deans. “Not only is it a great resource for our residents, it will also benefit researchers who are looking for specific period pieces or studying a particular time period”.

“At present we have over 34,000 records active on the website, and as we continue to digitize more records and artefacts they will be added to the growing collection,” said Ms. Jamieson.

Each entry in the catalogue provides a description, which may include the time period in which the record or object was created; a digital copy of a photo or image of the artifact; the name of the manufacturer, and other information. The site is presented in both official languages and is fully accessible.

The Museums and Archives Collections Catalogue was part of the City’s 20/20 Heritage Plan, which called for a city-wide collections data base.

You can check out the Collections Catalogue at ottawa.minisisinc.com .