GLAM (cultural heritage)

GLAM is an acronym for galleries, libraries, archives, and museums,[1][2] and refers to cultural institutions with a mission to provide access to knowledge.

As an abbreviation, LAM has been in use since the 1990s;[8] it emerged as these institutions saw their missions overlapping, creating the need for a wider industry sector grouping.

These institutions share epistemological links dating from the "Museum" of Alexandria and continuing through the cabinets of curiosities gathered in early modern Europe.

The GLAM-Wiki Initiative helps cultural institutions share their openly licensed resources with the world through collaborative projects with experienced Wikipedia editors.

In tandem with this, scholars have been arguing that GLAM institutions need to grapple with their colonial history and the ways this continues to impact their practice today.