CHLAVM Public Policy Manual

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1. Purpose

This document defines the Collections Management Policies for the Canadian Hispanic-Latin American Virtual Museum (CHLAVM).

These policies set out the requirements for acquiring, documenting, managing, preserving, and presenting digital collections. They establish the standards and responsibilities for the stewardship of cultural heritage assets accessible through CHLAVM’s digital platforms.

2. Scope

These policies apply to:

• • Digital collection assets held or managed by CHLAVM
  • Digitized materials derived from physical or analog sources
  • Born-digital materials
  • Immersive and interactive experiences, including WebXR environments
  • Associated metadata and descriptive records

These policies govern all collection management activities, including acquisition, publication, rotation, preservation, and long-term stewardship.

3. Guiding Principles

CHLAVM is committed to:

• • Responsible cultural stewardship
  • Respect for rights holders and communities of origin
  • Accessibility and inclusive design
  • Transparency in governance and decision-making
  • Sustainable digital preservation practices
  • Professional standards aligned with recognized museum best practices

Public-facing policies are published in English, French, and Spanish. Digital content is developed to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards.

4. Policy Structure

This publication contains the following policies:

• • CHLAVM-POL-ACQ-01 — Acquisition Policy
  • CHLAVM-POL-DIG-01 — Digitization Policy
  • CHLAVM-POL-MET-01 — Metadata Policy
  • CHLAVM-POL-ACC-01 — Accessibility Policy
  • CHLAVM-POL-PRE-01 — Preservation, Conservation, Storage and Backup Policy
  • CHLAVM-POL-ROT-01 — Rotation Policy
  • CHLAVM-POL-XR-01 — WebXR and Immersive Experiences Policy

Each policy includes:

• • Purpose
  • Scope
  • Requirements
  • Roles and responsibilities
  • Governance and review information

Together, these policies form CHLAVM’s public Collections Management Framework.

5. Governance and Review

These policies are approved by CHLAVM leadership and are reviewed on a regular cycle to ensure they remain relevant, accurate, and aligned with professional standards and current technologies.

Questions about these policies should be directed to CHLAVM using the official contact channels.

Part 1 — Policy Manual and Public Policy Set

This section includes the Policy Manual (A1) and the public-facing collections management policy set prepared for publication by CHLAVM. These policies define the museum’s operational standards for acquisition, digitization, metadata, accessibility, conservation, preservation, rotation, and WebXR presentation. These public policies are available in English, French, and Spanish.

A1 — Policy Manual (umbrella)

Purpose

The Policy Manual defines a unified framework for managing CHLAVM collections and digital assets. It establishes governance requirements, publication standards, and the principles guiding CHLAVM’s collections management policies.

Scope

This manual defines the requirements for maintaining, reviewing, and updating CHLAVM’s public collections management policies. It applies to all published policies within the collections management framework.

Principles and commitments

CHLAVM’s collections management policies follow these commitments:

• • Accountability and traceability: All decisions and updates are recorded, versioned, and linked to supporting evidence as required.
  • Rights and permissions: Collection assets are managed with clearly defined permissions, restrictions, and attribution requirements.
  • Respectful representation and community context: Descriptions and interpretive texts prioritize accuracy, cultural sensitivity, and community-preferred terminology.
  • Accessibility by design: Public-facing outputs are designed to meet accessibility standards, including readable structure, tagged documents, and provision of alternative formats as needed.
  • Preservation and sustainability: Storage, backup, fixity, and preservation readiness are established as core operational requirements for all assets.
  • Consistency across the publication: Policies, procedures, forms, and case studies use standardized terms, identifiers, and references.

Publication standards for public-facing policies

All public-facing policies in Part 1 are prepared for publication on the CHLAVM website or as accessible documents. Publication standards include:

• • Languages: The public policies are available in English, French, and Spanish.
  • Accessibility: Public policies are designed to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements.
  • Accessible documents: When a policy is exported to PDF for distribution, it is produced as an accessible, tagged PDF.
  • Stable identifiers and titles: Each policy maintains a stable Document_ID and title to support consistent referencing and long-term maintenance.

Governance, ownership, and approvals

• • Owner (role): Each policy is assigned to a designated owner who is responsible for ensuring that the policy remains current and in alignment with CHLAVM’s governance requirements.
  • Interim Role Assignment: If a listed role is vacant, the Executive Director assigns a staff member or contractor to fulfill the responsibilities until CHLAVM confirms a permanent assignment.
  • Standard role titles used throughout this manual: Executive Director, Collections Manager, Acquisition Lead, Digitization Coordinator, Digital Asset Manager, Quality Assurance Reviewer, Rights Coordinator, Rights Reviewer, and Web Publisher.
  • Document steward: CHLAVM is responsible for the long-term stewardship and maintenance of these policies.
  • Approvals: Final Policy approvals are conducted through the Executive Director and Board governance workflow.
  • Review cycle: Policies are subject to regular review and will be updated as required to reflect significant operational changes.
  • Change traceability: Material updates are documented through CHLAVM’s internal governance process.

Policy set overview

The public-facing policy set in Part 1 includes the following documents:

• • CHLAVM-POL-ACQ-01 — Acquisition Policy
    Defines CHLAVM’s process for evaluating, accepting, documenting, and recording acquisitions with a focus on ethical considerations and rights verification.
  • CHLAVM-POL-DIG-01 — Digitization Policy
    Defines the standards and processes for capturing and processing both physical and born-digital materials, including quality standards, expected outputs, and documentation requirements.
  • CHLAVM-POL-MET-01 — Metadata Policy
    Specifies the minimum metadata fields required to support discovery, rights management, and long-term management, including consistency rules and use of controlled terms.
  • CHLAVM-POL-ACC-01 — Accessibility Policy
    Establishes that all public-facing content, documents, and media meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards.
  • CHLAVM-POL-PRE-01 — Conservation, Preservation, Storage and Backup Policy
    Describes CHLAVM’s approach to protecting collection materials and digital assets, including requirements for storage, backup, fixity, and preservation readiness.
  • CHLAVM-POL-ROT-01 — Rotation Policy
    Establishes the criteria and scheduling procedures for rotating exhibits and featured materials.
  • CHLAVM-POL-XR-01 — WebXR and Immersive Experiences Policy
    Establishes standards for immersive experiences, including requirements for performance, compatibility, and rights management. 

   

   

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