This post was first posted on the ARA New professionals website. Words are a powerful force, used correctly they can galvanise people to take down oppressive regimes, change hearts and minds, and tell stories of the universal human condition. The impact of language changes over time depending on the context in which it is used.Continue reading “GLAM and Diversity are Cancelled. We Need GLAMorous Intersectionality”
Category Archives: BAME
Wilful and Wondrous Women
First published on The John Rylands Special Collections Blog in March 2019. To celebrate International Women’s Day (although I like to think of it as the whole month) I would like to discuss some exceptional women from history that changed the world in their own way. This blog will explore the lives of Caroline Hershel,Continue reading “Wilful and Wondrous Women”
Creating spaces for people like me in Special Collections.
First published in CILIP Rare Books and Special Collections Newsletter Issue 111 April 2019. This article will attempt to solve the lack of inclusivity and diversity in the cultural sector in 1000 words. Just kidding! This article will outline some of the issues surrounding inclusion and diversity in libraries. I will offer some ways toContinue reading “Creating spaces for people like me in Special Collections.”
Archives and Inclusivity: Exhibitions for All
This blog post is the third, and last, in a series of blog posts where I discuss the importance of diversifying archives in collaboration with underserved groups, which I will refer to as empowered collaboration. This blog post will start by analysing the efforts to diversify audiences by The Museum of High Art in Atlanta, The Museum ofContinue reading “Archives and Inclusivity: Exhibitions for All”
Archives and Inclusivity: Unearthing Erased Communities
In the last blog post I discussed the importance of creating racially sensitive archival descriptions. In this blog post I will discuss the importance of tactfully highlighting the histories of erased communities within archives through labelling. The following post will have practical suggestions on how this relabelling can be used to increase representation in exhibitions.
Archives and Inclusivity: Respectful descriptions of marginalised groups.
Items within special collections can date back hundreds of years, so it’s no surprise that within these materials it is possible to find outdated or problematic attitudes and language. I am currently researching potential ways to manage this.
Diversity in Archives: Growing pains
This year I attended my first conference in the record-keeping sector with a bursary courtesy of Kevin Bolton. Among the varied sessions at the Archives and Records Association Conference in Manchester was an exceptionally thought-provoking talk from Kirsty Fife and Hannah Henthorn. They shared the findings from their unfunded and independently conducted survey, Marginalised in theContinue reading “Diversity in Archives: Growing pains”