|
Ottawa -
Representatives of Veterans Affairs Canada, the National Archives of
Canada and Industry Canada today launched two online initiatives
making significant information about Canada’s war experience
available on the Internet and creating a venue for Canadians to
contribute memorabilia of family members and friends who gave their
lives for their country. The event, which took place at the National
Archives of Canada, was part of National Veterans’ Week activities.
Canadian Virtual
War Memorial
The Canadian
Virtual War Memorial (CVWM) allows anyone, anywhere in the world, with
access to the Internet to learn about and honour the men and women who
gave their lives fighting for peace and freedom. It is a permanent
tribute that will play an important role in remembering those who
died, and in teaching all Canadians about the people to whom they owe
their freedom.
A project of
Veterans Affairs Canada, the Canadian
Virtual War Memorial is a searchable database and a permanent
tribute to the more than 116,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders who
have lost their lives in major conflicts since 1884. The site contains
information such as an individual’s service number, age and date of
death, citations, honours and awards, and burial information.
In addition,
each individual’s name is directly linked to the commemorative
inscriptions in the electronic version of Canada’s Books of
Remembrance, and may also be linked to a picture collection. Canadians
are able to help build the Canadian Virtual War Memorial by
contributing digitized photos, letters, postcards, medals, and other
memorabilia of family members and friends who lost their lives in
Canada’s war efforts.
Canada and the
First World War
Canada
and the First World War is
the newest product of the National Archives’ Canadian Memory
project, created to connect Canadians to their history and memories.
The site presents stories of individuals who lived during the Great
War, contributed to the war effort and died for our country. It also
provides links to other sites, such as the CVWM, which contain related
information or make use of National Archives databases, like the one
of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
Canada
and the First World War
is by far the most ambitious initiative to date within the Canadian
Memory project. It illustrates the war experience through
photos, journals and letters of some of those who were there;
highlights its major repercussions on the home front, such as income
tax; and enhances the virtual visitors’ knowledge of the Great War.
Canada’s
Digital Collections
Young Canadians
have been a key component of the development of these online programs.
Through Canada’s Digital Collections, an Industry Canada program,
teams of youth had employment opportunities working with Veterans
Affairs’ and National Archives’ staff in digitization and Web site
development, among other initiatives. In the process, they learned
about Canadians’ war efforts which began more than a century ago.
The Digital
Collections program gives young people age 15 to 30
entrepreneurial and technology-based job experience. Their works,
gathered together on the Digital
Collections Web site [http://collections.ic.gc.ca], are popular among Canadian educators,
students, researchers and the general public. Some two million pages
are downloaded from the Digital Collections site each month, making
Digital Collections one of the largest sources of Canadiana on the
Internet.
To highlight the
launch of these Web sites, director/writer/actor R.H. Thomson
delivered a personal testimonial as a Canadian whose uncles fought and
died for Canada in the First World War. Mr. Thomson was also present
to discuss the importance of remembering and preserving the memories
of this turbulent time in Canada's history.
-
30 -
Visit the Canadian
Virtual War Memorial at http://www.virtualmemorial.gc.ca
Visit Canada
and the First World War at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/firstworldwar/index-e.html
Visit Canada’s
Digital Collections at http://collections.ic.gc.ca
 View
the Multimedia Event of November 10 on the Veterans Affairs Canada Site.
For more
information contact:
Janice Summerby
Communications,
Veterans Affairs Canada
Telephone: (613) 992-7468
E-mail: jmsummer@vac-acc.gc.ca
Pauline Portelance
Media Relations Officer
Telephone: (613) 996-6128
E-mail: media@lac-bac.gc.ca
Jovan Matic
Communications,
Industry Canada
Telephone: (613) 946-9600
E-mail: matic.jovan@ic.gc.ca
|
