Major museums such as the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum are, by definition, centres of learning. They have an obligation to undertake research and to stimulate research on their own collections and relevant to their purposes. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is heir to a tradition of research and collecting that extends back to the Geological Survey of Canada (1842), while the Canadian War Museum dates from an unofficial initiative in 1880 on the part of the militia officers of the Ottawa Garrison. Researchers who have been associated with the museums since those times have given the museums an international reputation and made enduring contributions to Canadian studies.
The Scholars section of Civilization.ca is intended to provide convenient access to selected information and knowledge resources that are the outcome of the institutions’ research activity or are tools designed to assist the research process (e.g. bibliographies). Most of these resources are aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at a scholarly audience. The four menu choices given above will lead to the different kinds of resources available on this site. Further sources of information useful to researchers will be found under the “Explore by Subject” menu.