Tuesday 18 December 2012

Beyond the Physical Space

Some of our supporters and other museum aficionados might have noticed recently that the Workers History Museum is featured in the current edition of Muse which is the official publication of the Canadian Museums Association.

This is a great accomplishment for our little museum and we are so pleased to have national coverage from such a respected magazine.

Virtual Museums: Trend or Evolution?

The feature article entitled, ''Beyond the Physical Space:Virtual Museums in the Trend'' was written by Anastasia Philopoulos and discusses how the internet and digital technologies have changed how people interact and communicate in the world and how the museum community is adapting to this Digital Age.


Combining technologies, the Internet, and museums is not a novelty.
-- Philopoulos, Muse, CMA

In the article Philopoulos talks with WHM President, Robert Hatfield to discuss the challenges and benefits of physical spaces and how the internet can help museum organizers wishing to open up a new institution. 

The Workers History Museum continues to strive to one day have our own physical space for a permanent museum in the City of Ottawa-- an office, an exhibition hall, a collections storage facility and a gift shop to call our very own. In the meantime we are pleased to be part of this online phenomenon and if you are reading this blog it is probably because you liked, favourited or subscribed to our Facebook, Twitter, Blog and YouTube pages. We use these tools to get the word out to the public about upcoming events and heritage projects being run by our museum in the City of Ottawa.

There's no cost...and there's no travel, you can just sit down at your computer at work, or in the evening at home and you can access our museum from anywhere in the world.
-- Robert Hatfield, qtd. in Muse, CMA


Read it NOW (need Flash Player)



So where is this great website I keep hearing so much about?

Now as soon as you read this steller article you will no doubt immediately try to visit our website at www.workershistorymuseum.ca only to be met with a splash page telling you that our website is ''Coming Soon.''

We are sad to report that our website, which launched just last June was hacked into last October and has since been dismantled, however, we are pleased to announce that a new website is currently in development with a great design team committed to making it even more visually stimulating and interactive than the previous version. 

Look for it in the new year!

While we may not necessarily be a virtual museum at the present moment, we are most definitely a remote and mobile museum. Instead of asking you, our dear patrons to visit us, we bring our exhibits to you! We produce physical exhibits which we tour around to various venues, office buildings and museums in Ottawa and across Ontario. 

Our exhibit, The Struggle for Family Leave has been making the rounds almost non-stop since it opened last March and will continue to be on display in office buildings around Ottawa in 2013 with bookings right up to March 2013.

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