Association of Nova Scotia Museums
Unlocking Community Museum Collections
In 2022, ANSM received a federal grant to develop a digitization strategy for cultural collections. Many community museums in Nova Scotia contain objects associated with Nova Scotia’s four founding cultures: Mi’kmaq, African Nova Scotians, Acadians, and Gaels. The management of these objects most often follows historical (colonial) methods, and as a result, disassociates these objects from their cultural context.
ANSM’s intent with the Unlocking strategy was to work towards improved and culturally appropriate information on CollectiveAccess, the open-source database used by ANSM’s Advisory Service members, as well as 100+ museums across Canada. A digitization strategy would lead to these objects becoming accessible on NovaMuse.ca, ANSM’s collections portal, which would increase cultural groups’ access to these collections.
Nine Unlocking sessions were held across the province, which brought museums and cultural communities together to discuss how museums can better serve these communities. However, these conversations extended far beyond digitization and collections, and resulted in many calls to action for ANSM and museums. With help from our community partners, we have distilled key messages and calls to action which highlight the Unlocking work underway with the Acadian, African Nova Scotian, Gaelic and Mi’kmaq communities. Click any of the links below to learn more.
