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   The latest happenings from zero one design:

»12.16.05 – Zero One Design is pleased to be working with the Nanaimo District Museum and the Snuneymuxw First Nations to create a Virtual Museum of Canada exhibition on the Voices of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

"Our Elders say that the old people are speaking to us through the stones and bones they left behind long ago. It is time to listen and hear their story."

Today the old voices of the Snuneymuxw First Nation Elders grow faint and there are now fewer than six Elders who are fluent in the Hul'qumi'num lanquage. The virtual exhibition will tell the story of the Coast Salish people, who have occupied the eastern shores of south-central Vancouver Island for more than 5,000 years, through the voices of the Elders.

The Snuneymuxw First Nation recognizes that their culture is constantly changing but with change comes the dual responsibilities of control and decision-making that will have lasting positive effects upon their future. The opportunity to digitally record the Elders who are fluent in their native language and incorporate their powerful memories and insights into a virtual exhibition represents a timely opportunity to preserve what might otherwise be lost.

Due to the history of acculturation and colonization Snuneymuxw cultural material is limited in museums in Canada. However, through the medium of a virtual exhibit the cultural resources that are contained in significant museum collections around the world will be drawn together to show the artistic and spiritual wealth of the Snuneymuxw. Cultural materials are found in collections in the Museum of Civilization, Royal British Columbia Museum, Vancouver City Museum, Museum of Anthropology, Burke Museum in Washington, Voklerkunde Museum in Berlin, British Museum in London, Chicago Field Museum and the American Indian Museum in New York. The exhibition will feature digital images of the significant artifacts held in these museum collections, which include house posts, masks, rattles, headpieces, and spindle whorls among others.

The virtual exhibition will tell the story of the Snuneymuxw First Nation's unique history in a rich and compelling manner. Aspects of the story will include an examination of their exclusive traditional territory, comprised of more than 98,000 hectares north of Neck Point to Boat Harbour in the south, Gabriola Island and other small islands to the east and the western reaches of the Nanaimo River watershed. The Snuneymuxw territory also shared an additional 104,000 hectares with other First Nations including seasonal villages, fishing villages and resource areas in Qualicum, Chemainus and on the Fraser River. With their central location on Vancouver Island, the Snuneymuxw enjoyed extensive cross-cultural exchange and intermarriage with other First Nations bordering on their traditional territory. This will be explored through the examination of a Chinuk Wawa text told by a "Cowichan" person about a century ago. Aspects of this history have not previously been acknowledged and will serve as one of the focal points for the virtual exhibit.

This virtual exhibition will be launched in October of 2006.



l-r: Jonathan, Michael, David
refueling at the BCMA conference in Kelowna, 2005

larger version

»12.05.05 Zero One Design now offers RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds which alert you to new information on the site and allow you to read through our updates at your own convenience. See our "Everything About RSS" resource article for more details on the power of RSS technology.

»12.05.05 Angela Anderson has written an article on addressing the writing and organization of museum websites.

»10.22.05 - Zero One presents a workshop on usability and accessiblity at the B.C. Museums' Association Conference in Kelowna. Click here for our session notes.

»10.22.05 - Zero One welcomes our newest team member Stuart Bowness. Read about our favorite super heros here.

»07.24.05 - The BC Museum of Mining is restoring the historical mill building, an early step towards the ultimate Britannia Project. The Britannia Project will transform Britannia Beach into a compelling world-class innovation and interpretive destination, which demonstrates history, regeneration and sustainability on a world stage. As a means of raising the funds necessary to restore the site, the museum is asking for a little community support. Help them by supporting one or several windows (each valued at $250), or support one or more panes (each valued at $25). All window contributions of $250 or more will be permanently honoured within an artistic credit panel.

Zero One is supporting a window and we encourage our clients and visitors to do the same. Visit the Museum of Mining website for more information on how you can help them reach their goal.

»07.04.05 - Zero One Design is pleased to be working on two new, exciting Virtual Museum of Canada projects this summer. We have partnered with the British Columbia Museum of Mining to create a 3D virtual walk through of the Concentrator. The Concentrator, a National Historic Site and British Columbia Provincial Landmark, is one of the most imposing structures on the Sea to Sky Highway. Its size and magnitude is matched by its historical importance. Highly innovative at the time of its construction in 1922, the Concentrator, Mill #3, was key to Britannia Mines being one of the largest copper producing mines in the British Commonwealth throughout the 1920s and a major mine into the 1970s.

The second VMC we have been awarded is a virtual exhibit that looks at the voyages of discovery along the northwest edge of the New World. The exhibit will examine these voyages and the spirit of exploration as an endeavour driven by economic, scientific, religious, and political needs and desires. This project will be developed in partnership with The Maritime Museum of British Columbia, the Alexandro Malaspina Research Center, Queen Mary, University of London, The Vancouver Spanish Pacific Historical Society, the University of British Columbia, the Washington State Historical Society and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

»07.01.05 - Check out our latest article for the Round Up Magazine in our resources section. The article, written by Jonathan Lathigee features the Pachyderm Project, an open source tool to develop interactive multimedia presentations, virtual exhibits, kiosks, cd roms and other modules by uploading media files to a server, filling out simple web forms, and clicking a "publish" button.

Zero One Design partner
Jonathan Lathigee
introducing
Camp to Community



»05.26.05 - Camp to Community was officially launched today in a media event that included 25 grade four students from a Vancouver Island School. Partners in the project were: The BC Forest Discovery Centre, the Cowichan Valley Museum, the Kaatza Station Museum, United Steelworkers Local 1-80 (formerly the International Woodworkers of America, IWA), the Quw'utsun' Cultural and Conference Centre, the Royal British Columbia Museum and the men and women of the Cowichan that offered their experiences for this virtual exhibition. Making accessible the stories of men and women who worked and lived in the forest of the Cowichan and Chemainus Valleys.



Grade Four students navigating the site

"This virtual site provides for educational and recreational access to important aspects of our past," says BC Forest Discovery Centre"s Manager/Curator Rick Duckles. "From Camp to Community gives public access to important collections documenting forest history from our local and regional museums" The Camp to Community project was made possible by funding from The Canadian Heritage Information Network"s (CHIN) Virtual Museum of Canada Investment Program. CHIN is the federal government agency that launched The Virtual Museum of Canada in March of 2001 to significantly increase the presence of Canadian museums on the Internet.

Also special thanks to Norm Chan from Microteck computers who provided hardware and the class of Bench Elementary School in Cobble Hill who provided ample entertainment.

»05.22.05 - Zero One Design has chosen the Buffalo Nations Museum in Banff, Alberta to partner with in our Sponsor a Museum offer. We received over 40 applications from museums across Canada, narrowed it down to four Alberta and British Columbia institutions and finally decided on the Buffalo Nations Museum. The museum met our criteria of being small enough to need our services but has a big vision for redevelopment. We are looking forward to showcasing the exciting results from this partnership.

In the process of deciding to donate our resources to the Buffalo Nations Museum we came to the conclusion that there is a tremendous need in the cultural community of Canada for assistance with technology and the web. We have decided that our Sponsor a Museum offer will continue and hope to offer the same donation to another institute in 2006 or 2007. We will post information as soon as we finalize our plans, but if you have questions please email us at zeroone@zeroonedesign.com.

»04.20.05 - Zero One Design is looking for a museum or gallery ...

Zero One Design is a web/database design company based out of Victoria, BC. We work exclusively with culture - primarily museums and galleries and count some of the best of these in the province as our clients. We are firm believers in giving back to our community and donate often to a number of institutions locally. We have decided that what we really want to do, what really puts fire in our belly, is to form a tight partnership with a small museum or gallery and help them out with their technological and web needs. We run across too many smaller institutions that have amazing collections, but no money, staff or technological skills to present them in the online world.

What we will offer a museum:
- advice, skills, grunt work to help you either improve or create a website
- assistance with technological issues
- communications assistance if required (we have an MA in Communications on staff)
- the breadth and depth of our knowledge of museums and galleries and technology gathered over eight years of working in the field, attending and presenting at conferences aimed at culture and technology, reading about culture and often just geeking out about it.
- our charming personalities

What we want:
- no money
- an institution who will work with us to improve what they have
- an institution that is open minded and willing to be cutting edge
- an institution that has passion for technology or will allow our passion for the field to rub off
- any benefits that you offer current sponsors
- We prefer an institution on Vancouver Island or the Lower Mainland so we can meet in person, but are open to other ideas as well. As a company we aren't limited by geography, so this relationship shouldn't be.
- We also prefer a smaller institution, we most definitely don't want to put any IT people or contractors out of business and we would prefer to offer our assistance to a museum or gallery that may not already have a website (or at least a good website)
- we would prefer a longer term relationship with the institution - not forever but more than a year

So, if you think you might be the right fit for us and your head is filling with ideas as you read this, send us an email to zeroone@zeroonedesign.com outlining the following:

- why we should choose you - what is in your collection
- what your current technology situation is like
- what is cool about your institution
- because we are also pragmatic, what you can offer us in return (again, no money please!)

»04.18.05 - Zero One Design spent an enjoyable week learning more about museums and technology, met some nice and very talented people and demonstrated Graveyard of the Pacific: the Shipwrecks of Vancouver Island to adoring fans at Museums and the Web 2005. Unfortunately we didn't win Best of the Web but it was nice to be listed among the top museum websites in the world.

»01.11.05 - Zero One and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC launch an interactive timeline to commemorate the Institute's centenary. Who said accountants were boring!

01.07.05
- Zero One has been chosen to demonstrate Graveyard of the Pacific: the Shipwrecks of Vancouver Island at the 2005 Museums and the Web Conference in Vancouver. See you there!

»01.01.05- Zero One Design, in partnership with the BC Forest Discovery Centre, the Cowichan Valley Museum, the Kaatza Station Museum and the Quw'utsun' Cultural and Conference Centre launch the latest Virtual Museum of Canada exhibit - From Camp to Community: Cowichan Forestry Life

Check out what happened to us in 2004