• provide young Canadians in all parts of Canada with initial work experience in the multimedia sector;
• promote the development of the Canadian multimedia industry and, in particular, position new youth­run enterprises for success in the marketplace;
• provide wider access to Canadian material of public interest via the Information Highway;
• demonstrate the productivity enhancement benefits of digitization.

Industry Canada is interested in supporting projects which extend the range of Canadian subject matter in the public domain available on the Information Highway, as well as projects which demonstrate new and effective ways of matching the skills of young people with the opportunities of the multimedia industry throughout Canada.

Industry Canada's CDC Technical Support Group provides contractors with on­line technical assistance and advice. It also advises Industry Canada on the technical feasibility of CDC project proposals and on the technical merits of final products.

Industry Canada manages Canada's Digital Collections program. The Department makes final decisions on proposals, monitors performance of contracts through its reporting process and works with contractors on product launch and media relations. Digital collections supported by the program must be available for viewing on the Canada's Digital Collections server for such period as Industry Canada deems to be appropriate. Potential contractors should be aware that Industry Canada may invite sponsors to help underwrite digital conversion and display costs and to place their logo on the collections. This will be done in consultation with owners of copyright in the collections and, where possible, with the contractors.

Examples of collections created to date can be viewed at the Canada's Digital Collections website featured.html. This site includes a number of documents which prospective contractors are expected to consult before submitting their on-line proposal: Model Proposals, CDC Project Development Guide, CDC Design Guidelines, CDC Projects for Libraries and Archives, CDC: The Community Dimension, CDC: A Typical Project Cycle, Event Planning and Media Relations Guide for Canada's Digital Collections Contractors.

In its role as depository institution for Canada, the National Library of Canada acquires, archives and catalogues all completed digital collections to ensure their long­term availability.

Proposals may be submitted by custodians of material to be digitized or by third parties acting in partnership with custodians. These third parties may include firms, organizations, public and private institutions and individuals.

Custodians must clearly understand the requirement that the collection be displayed on the Canada's Digital Collections server for such period as Industry Canada deems to be appropriate. Custodians may request permission from Industry Canada to update the collection from time to time. Custodians will hold copyright to the digital versions of their collections displayed on the Canada's Digital Collections website.

The level of support and funding which custodians or other partners contribute to the projects will be considered in the selection of projects to be supported. Major institutions and other organizations will be expected to contribute in proportion to their scope of operation and resources.

• Material to be digitized should be of significant local, regional or national interest, and be suitable for presentation on the World Wide Web at the Canada's Digital Collections website. No more than 10% of the portion of project time paid for out of a contract with Industry Canada may be devoted to preparing and organizing material for digitization. The material should be organized so as to allow the intended audience to navigate the site easily to find content of interest. Careful attention must be paid to presentation and multimedia elements to make the product work effectively. Contractors who are qualified to do so are encouraged to create teaching and learning materials as part of their project. These resources will be searchable through the CDC website.
• Collections or groups of items to be digitized may include material in graphic, text or sound form. Collections of video image sequences, especially large ones, are not recommended, since they are difficult to transmit electronically at the present time.
• Potential contractors may propose that their development teams create more than one digital collection, simultaneously or sequentially, as part of the same proposal. In some cases, large collections of material may be divided so they can be digitized in stages or by more than one team. In such cases Industry Canada will not normally provide more than 50% of the total wages of the youth involved.
• To the extent allowed by the content of the collection, contractors must create websites that are accessible to print-challenged users.

Applicants are encouraged to establish public- or private-sector partnerships to cover costs not eligible for support under this program and to quantify such contributions in cash and in kind in their proposals.

• Members of digitization teams will be paid $8.00 per hour.
• Young people with significant previous experience who are hired to manage projects and provide technical support to digitization teams will be paid up to $12.00 per hour. Only one such senior youth may be hired per contract.
• Youth may only, as a rule, work on a single CDC project. Consideration may be given to allowing senior youth mentioned in the previous paragraph to work on more than one project, but only where no other qualified person is available

Measures of support from non-CDC sources should include all expenses directly related to the CDC project, including the cost of maintaining the source material for one year prior to the date of application and the cost of preparing the source material for digitization. The estimates should include costs, such as:

• equipment (hardware and software);
• salaries for staff who collect and organize the material, plan for the project and submit the proposal, obtain copyright, train and mentor the youth, and manage the project; 
• technical and administrative costs (internet access, telephone/fax lines, work space).

The value of any volunteer labour contributed to the preparation and maintenance of the source material or to the digitization project should be taken into consideration. Services provided by volunteers should be valued at their cost on the labour market.

Contractors may be expected to submit final measures of contributions and support upon completion of the project.

The proposal submission form can be found at the Canada's Digital Collections home page proposal.htm . Prospective contractors must submit their proposals electronically through this website, following the instructions that appear on the site.

All prospective contractors must also provide letters confirming submission of their proposals at the time of submission. These letters, on the contractor's letterhead, must be signed by an officer delegated by the firm, institution or other organization to make contractual commitments. In the case where the custodian of a collection and another organization are collaborating on a proposal, the letter should be signed by representatives of both organizations, and it should specify to which of the partners the contract should be issued.

The letter must also include certifications stating that

• the contractor is a Canadian government, institution or organization, or a corporation, firm or other organization, the majority of whose shareholders or members are Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada;
• the contractor is not receiving funding for team members to be employed under the contract from any federal program other than Canada's Digital Collections;
• the contractor owns copyright in the underlying works selected for digitization and/or has secured all necessary consents from copyright owners, establishing a clear claim of title to the materials in the collection and permission for Industry Canada to post the digital collection on the Canada's Digital Collections server.

Copyright does not apply to the title of a song, an idea for a plot, facts in an article or a work in the public domain. For more information about copyright, contractors should consult the web site of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office http://cipo.gc.ca, under the heading Products and Services.

The work plan must set aside at least ten full days of project time (75–80 hours of each team member's work plan) for final edit and quality control to ensure that a deliverable product is produced by the end of the contract period. Final contract payments will not be made until the final product is approved by Industry Canada. Contractors are liable for the cost of any revisions or corrections required to produce a final product that meets Industry Canada's standards of quality.

Applicants should also identify any periods where team members and facilities will not be available (e.g., convocations, special institutional events), and those when extra time will be available (e.g., reading weeks, school breaks).

Prospective contractors should note that proposals will be subject to a competitive selection process, and that available funds may not suffice to support all high-quality proposals submitted. It is, therefore, important not to begin work on a project before receiving a signed contract from Industry Canada. All costs incurred must be invoiced by March 31, 2001.

So that as many young people as possible have a job that provides real work experience, team members will generally work for about 450 hours (12 weeks at 37.5 hours per week or an equivalent number of hours of part-time employment) and may not be employed under contract for more than 600 hours (16 weeks at 37.5 hours per week or an equivalent number of hours of part-time employment).

In reaching decisions, Industry Canada will in the first place take advice from its Project Selection Advisory Committee, composed of experts on content. This committee will rank order all proposals submitted to a given competition, taking account of the following criteria:

• assurance of sound team management and technical leadership;
• contractor's ability to guarantee a high-quality product;
• significance of material to be digitized;
• suitability of the material for inclusion in a digital collection on the CDC website;
• design of the proposed digital collection.

Industry Canada will then make a final selection, taking account both of the need to assure regionally balanced program delivery on a national scale and of each project's potential for youth employment and enhancement of local economic initiatives and private sector development.

Industry Canada reserves the right to decline any or all proposals and letters of intent.

Contractors should make every effort to hire the most highly qualified candidates. Industry Canada expects contractors to consult Campus WorkLink:NGR at http://www.WorkLinkNGR.com/.

Contractors must guarantee the timely delivery of a high-quality product. Prospective contractors should note that payments will only be made 30 days after approval of invoices for services specified in contracts. Final payments will only be made on approval of the final product by Industry Canada.

Contracts will specify that holders of materials must own the copyright to the digitized products, and will authorize Industry Canada to display the product on the Canada's Digital Collections server for such time as Industry Canada deems to be appropriate.

Industry Canada reserves the right to find a corporate sponsor to help defray the costs of digitizing and posting the material on the CDC website.

Youth employed under the terms of the contract must submit initial and exit surveys. Contractors must submit interim and final reports, which include survey questions. Youth and contractors are surveyed to allow Industry Canada to measure the scope and impact of the program.

Digital collections may, in some cases, be posted on servers other than Canada's Digital Collections, provided that such collections are also linked to the Canada's Digital Collections website. Approval must be obtained in advance from Industry Canada.