The SchoolNet Digital Collections Project:
Building a Knowledge Base on the Web

The Digital Collections Program is unique in that it provides both a learning experience for teams of student developers and a product which promises to have value for schools. In addition, the project makes available on the World Wide Web Canadian Heritage materials that are otherwise inaccessible. This paper will describe the process and mechanisms that were in place for developing and coordinating projects across the country. The program included a distance learning component for development teams, some of whom were not initially familiar with the Internet. During the summer phase, the program also included low skill teams, some of whom had not previously used a computer. This paper will look at some of the challenges faced by individual development teams. It will also look at the kinds of materials that were developed by project teams. The Digital Collections Projects range from sites which profile archival and heritage collections (e.g. Native artifacts, architectural history, a community history of the "original information highway", Transatlantic Cable in Canso Nova Scotia) to resources about writers, (e.g. Earle Birney, Pauline Johnson,Yves Thˇriault ). An assessment of the kinds of projects that are likely to provide a valuable knowledge base for schools, and of issues that can interfere with the effectiveness of both the project development experience and/or reduce the ultimate usefulness of the material to schools. Finally, the paper will consider just how an initiative such as the Digital Collections Program ties to distance learning and to the broader issue of educational applications on the World Wide Web. Conference attendees will be invited to share their views.

Linda Stilborne is the presenter. She has been involved with the Digital Collections Program from its inception as a coordinator for development teams, and as the primary person responsible for developing the online learning materials. She is a teacher and a coordinator for the Ottawa Distance Learning Group and co-author of The Teachers Complete & Easy Guide to the Internet, published by Trifolium Publications.