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Museum on the Net

Jessica Gray
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 21/06) - Although the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre will be closed this summer, people will still be able to use its resources.

That's thanks to a new addition to the museum's website. Launched in February, the Northwest Territories Historical Timeline is an online resource which documents more than 100 different moments of importance, events and people on the Internet.

The "mini-exhibits" use pictures, newspaper clippings and soon-to-be-added audio and video clips to illustrate the vibrant history of the NWT.

Project organizers say this will make it possible to organize museum information more efficiently.

"The problem is that sources and information are scattered all over the place," said Randy Freeman, history consultant and writer for the website.

"This information is too big for an exhibit. Putting it on the Internet seems natural."

Project organizers worked for three years with $100,000 in funding from Heritage Canada, which was matched by the museum.

Organizers are hoping the timeline will get people interested in the Heritage Centre. They say the museum is an underutilized resource.

"The NWT is so big and people can't be here to see the artifacts," said museum archival technician Robin Weber.

The mini-exhibits of the timeline were chosen based on what artifacts and media were available.

Sir John Franklin student Aven Elsen, 15, was one of the first people to try the website at the launch.

"It was well laid out and it gave me a lot of options to see what I wanted," said Elsen.

Summer renovations are forcing the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (PWNHC) to close from June 1 to the first week of August.

During the closure, some exhibits will be moved to the Northern Frontier Visitor's Centre.