The new Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia website, jewishmuseum.ca.
The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia has launched its revamped website, unveiling a new look for the organization, simplifying navigation and making it easier for users to engage with the museum’s diverse programming and to access the holdings of the B.C. Jewish community archives.
The website, jewishmuseum.ca, features a contemporary design. Implementing the archives database system Access to Memory (AtoM), the new site gives researchers access to thousands of documents, photos, audio and video items documenting the 150-year history of Jews in British Columbia.
“For the first time in the history of the JMABC, we have the capability of providing online access to the treasures in the archives, while at the same time adhering to important archival standards,” said archivist Jennifer Yuhasz. “We are excited to join the vast community of professional archives already using AtoM, including UNESCO, World Bank Group Archives, Library and Archives Canada, and most of the provincial, municipal and university archives and libraries across B.C.”
Selections from this archival collection are presented in the form of online exhibits recounting specific themes and events in community history. Exhibits will be added each year.
The production of the new site was made possible through the support of the Betty Averbach Foundation, the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Vancouver, numerous private donors and the more than 100 contributors to the JMABC’s 2014 Indiegogo campaign. Its launch follows the introduction of a new graphic identity for the museum and archives, designed by local graphic design firm Adria Consulting, which also redesigned the website.
Important elements of JMABC’s new look include a new wordmark, new typography, a palette of vibrant colors and a suite of facet shapes drawn from the Star of David. Together, these elements celebrate the diversity of B.C. Jewish history and the innovative spirit of JMABC, and they will be implemented throughout all of JMABC’s print and online materials, unifying the organization’s public presence as never before. The public were given their first taste of the new identity at the recent JMABC exhibit, Fred Schiffer: Lives in Photos, presented this spring as part of the Capture Photography Festival.
“Our new look reflects the exciting work we are doing, always seeking new ways to share our community’s rich history with everyone,” said Michael Schwartz, JMABC’s coordinator of programs and development. “Adria understood this immediately and devised an identity that boldly conveys our core principles.”
JMABC is dedicated to the collection and sharing of community memories of Jewish life in British Columbia. With 300 linear metres of textual records, 300,000 photographs and 725 oral history interviews, it chronicles all facets of the community’s history.