Abstract
Collections-based research is an important component of museum work. From the ongoing research and care of curators, to the fellowship-based programs that bring in new experts to explore collections, this work helps to communicate the value of museum collections to audiences, typically in the form of a final exhibition or academic publication. However, many opportunities for collections research require a higher education affiliation, limiting them to scholars with advanced degrees or professional experience in similar GLAM fields. At Curationist, due to our open source digitized collections, we have been able to expand our collections-based research programs (the Curationist fellows program and the Critics of Color program) to be able to support research done by and with the community researchers regardless of resume or institutional affiliation. Our Fellows and Critics are encouraged to inform their research not only with cutting-edge research from higher education and academic sources, but also from the grassroots-level knowledge of the communities that created the artworks and artifacts they study. We believe that collections research is an often overlooked pathway for community engagement, and that by offering it, museums can elevate the expertise of indigenous creators on par with that of scholars and curators, a much-needed step towards decolonization. In this workshop, we present both a brief overview of these programs, including their benefits and challenges to open GLAM research, as well as guide participants through a workshop designed to help them explore how to implement community-level grassroots research in the collections at their home institutions.
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
2023 Special Focus—Museum Transformations: Pathways to Community Engagement
KEYWORDS
Community Engagement, Research, Collections, Open Knowledge, Open GLAM, Decolonization
