I have just returned from volunteering as a panel member for a discussion on GLAM Education roles as part of my role on the committee at ENVI for our first crossover event with New Cardigans a library originated GLAM organisation. I got to reflect on many aspects of our work from the casualisation of the workforce, the siloing of GLAM professionals , and due to sitting beside twitter star Alissa (@lissertations) I had a discussion of some of the epistemological conundrums I uncovered as part of the Annotated Bibliography assignment.
I was concerned about bias. That my personal experience would color the selection of resources and thus exclude equally viable alternatives. Alissa responded that GLAM institutions and practitioners are inherently biased and attempting to ignore or censor this fact led to negative outcomes.
I realised that my selections were based on the strengths of my knowledge and that includes both lived experience as well as the navigation of selection aids. The fact that I lived for years near Lake Burleigh Griffin which is surrounded by the Federal cultural institutions, that I worked within one of them, and that I have some expertise in navigating them enriches what I am able to offer knowledge seekers.
The annotated bibliography is just an offering to engage. Not a mandated curriculum. The issues of diversity of the lived experiences of Australians vs the fact of a national curriculum and standardised testing are a different question to wrestle with and can wait for a later time in this course or my career.