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LTERC SEMINAR SERIES PRESENTS

Cultural Policy and Australia's national cultural heritage: Issues and challenges in the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) landscape

Presenter: Dr Wendy Davis (CQUniversity)

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Abstract

In 2012 the Commonwealth government will release the first dedicated policy for culture and the arts since the Keating government’s Creative Nation (1994). Investing in a Creative Australia will appear after a lengthy period of consultation between the government and all interested cultural sectors and organisations. The policy is of particular interest to those information professionals working in the GLAM environment. GLAM is a cross-institutional movement which seeks to find points of commonality among these various institutions, while still recognizing their points of difference. Collaboration and digitization are key themes in GLAM literature and, around the world, many institutions are seeking to work together and create networks of practice, which provide benefits to all involved in the cultural heritage industry. With the new cultural policy imminent, this is an ideal time to reflect on the current practices of Australia’s GLAMs institutions. By reflecting on the issues and challenges the digitization and collaboration imperatives GLAM presents to national cultural heritage institutions, it is possible to suggest productive ways forward for these institutions which need to be supported at a policy level. This paper examines four institutions: the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library of Australia, the National Archives of Australia and the National Museum of Australia. The paper reflects on their responses to the Commonwealth’s proposed cultural policy Discussion Paper (2011). It argues, that by encouraging and supporting collecting institutions to participate in innovative GLAM practices, the Commonwealth government’s cultural policy would allow far greater public participation in building and maintaining the cultural heritage of the nation for future generations.

Speaker Bio 

Dr Wendy Davis is a lecturer with Academic Learning Services in the STEPS Program where she is the course coordinator for Essay Writing for University. She complete a PhD in cultural studies in 2007, and is currently undertaking a Masters in IT (Library and Information Science) through QUT. This paper is based on a research project she completed at the end of 2011 as part of her coursework.

Date of Presentation

03 July 2012