Category: Best Practice

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BAME Best Practice Emotional labour Empowered Collaboration Erased Groups LGBTQ+ marginalized Representation

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 to start to create an environment in which underserved groups; BAME, LGBTQIA, Working class, and differently abled, can thrive as staff.  I will include a quick break down of current statistics, discuss my experiences and promote Empowered Collaboration, a toolkit that includes sensitivity and privilege training, which in turn can apply to recruitment and retention methods.

Cultural institutions are homogenous…

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BAME Best Practice Diversity Empowered Collaboration Exhibitions Labeling LGBTQ+ marginalized Privilege Representation

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 of Fine Arts in Boston and The Fizwilliam Museum in Cambridge, it will conclude with practical steps to achieve inclusivity within cultural institutions.

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Allyship BAME Best Practice Erased Groups Exhibitions Labeling marginalized Representation under represented

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collections can date back hundreds of years, so it’s no surprise that within these materials it is possible to find outdated or problematic attitudes and language.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.

Continue reading “Archives and Inclusivity: Respectful descriptions of marginalised groups.”