2002 - Canadian Museum of Civilization

The Corporate PlanCanadian Heritage Portfolio,in offering services to thegeneral public throughgovernment-wide initiativessuch as Government On-line.The Safeguard andPromotion of Canada’sHeritageThe stated objective in this area is“to conduct research and developthe Corporation’s nationalcollections and share the relatedknowledge.” In its planning for2001–2002, the CMCC set out thefollowing areas of activity in orderto meet this objective:• Carrying out developmentalresearch. In its planning forthe current fiscal year, theCorporation noted the valueof developmental research tothe institution and toCanadians. Research of thistype is usually carried outthrough fieldwork andresearch into the collections.Although developmentalresearch does not alwaysbegin with a final end productin mind, exhibitions,publications and programmesusually result from thesescholarly endeavours.During the past year,39 developmental researchprojects were underway.In addition, the Corporationmaintains a ResearchAssociates programme, whichenables non-employeescholars, curators,museologists and others tocontribute, on a freelancebasis, to the CMCC’sknowledge base. In the pastyear, 27 research associatescontributed approximately1,800 hours.• Developing and managingthe collections. In itsplanning for the current fiscalyear, the CMCC stated thatthe maintenance anddevelopment of its collectionsremain at the heart of itsmandate. In the past year, theCorporation continued toapply high standards ofexpertise to its collectionsfunctions. It also continued touse new technologies torecord, catalogue and makethe collections accessible to awider constituency, throughsuch initiatives as the CMCCdigitization project, whichprocesses an average of20,000 objects per year.A collections plan, approvedin 2000–2001, identifiedstrengths and gaps in theCorporation’s collections, aswell as areas requiringdevelopment. It was alsonoted that there is a backlogof material to be catalogued.This task is tackled on anongoing basis, withoccasional assistance providedby donors in order to facilitatetheir cataloguing.In addition, the CWMcontinues to work with itsown collection developmentplan, and has been reviewingacquisitions from the 1970sand 1980s. Significantduplication has been found,resulting in the deaccession ofsurplus material. There is anincreased focus on updatingthe CWM collection data andrelated information inpreparation for the move tothe new CWM facility.• Collections Repatriation.The CMCC remains activelyinvolved in repatriationnegotiations with FirstNations, both in the context ofcomprehensive claims andself-government negotiations,and in bilateral discussionsoutside these processes. InNovember 2001, theCorporation concluded aCustodial ArrangementsAgreement with the Nisga’aof northwestern BritishColumbia. A sub-agreementof the Nisga’a FinalAgreement, the Custodial14