Welcome to episode 31 of Open Culture VOICES! VOICES is a vlog series of short interviews with open GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) experts from around the world. The Open Culture Program at Creative Commons aims to promote better sharing of cultural heritage in GLAMs collections. With Open Culture VOICES, we’re thrilled to bring you various perspectives from dozens of experts speaking in many different languages on what it’s like to open up heritage content online. In this episode, we hear from Dr. Buhle Mbambo-Thata, University Librarian at the National University of Lesotho. Buhle is a distinguished librarian whose knowledge and expertise has been recognized with the following awards: the IFLA Medal for Distinguished Service to Libraries in Africa; the UNISA woman of the year award, as well as the Chancellor’s award for distinguished leadership. Her work spans international and continental work to advance the library sector as a key player in education and development.

Buhle responds to the following questions: 

1. What are the main benefits of open GLAM?
2. What are the barriers?
3. Could you share something someone else told you that opened up your eyes and mind about open GLAM?
4. Do you have a personal message to those hesitating to open up collections?

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Episodes will be released twice a week until June 2022. Have you missed the latest episodes of Open Culture VOICES? Catch up here >>