Henry Whittemore Library
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We tend to define 'expertise' as arising from a) having had experience with something for a long time, b) having learned about something for a long time, or c) a combination of a and b.
When you ask the average person "Who are our society's experts?" they're likely to say that it's those with advanced degrees.
That's not a bad answer at all, as in our Western dominant cultural paradigm, higher education (going beyond being functionally literate), which meant years of study, has been meant to develop the future experts and leaders of society. Over time, as society industrialized and new disciplines and industries arose, the need for 'experts' (and degrees to allow them to demonstrate mastery) grew, and higher education as we generally know it came to be.
Our culture has long acknowledged that those who've needed to study, pass various exams, and perhaps write and defend theses and dissertations in order to earn their degrees are experts in their area of knowledge. Respect, higher income, and, for professors, tenure (a form of relative job security and protection against political attack) are among the benefits that society has generally felt that these scholars, professionals, and researchers have earned.
Not that our experts don't earn their salary - as always, there are high expectations for those working at high levels, especially for researchers in fields like science - one could argue that, as scientists pursue new knowledge about the world around us, that they figuratively (and perhaps literally) expand our consensus reality,
This is a large part of why, the closer you get to graduating, the more you will need to find, use and understand the scholarly literature (journals and monographs) that are this culture's ongoing record of our scholarly conversations - explorers sharing and conversing with their fellow explorers, and future professionals and scholars (i.e., YOU) learning it all - from those who came before you.
Expert Information from scholars, academics, highly-trained professionals and researchers will be found most often in:
Detailed information derived from research will often be 'translated' / simplified by professional journalists for the general public to read, found in:
"Indigenous Knowledge is a body of observations, oral and written knowledge, innovations, practices, and beliefs developed by Tribes and Indigenous Peoples through interaction and experience with the environment.(11) It is applied to phenomena across biological, physical, social, cultural, and spiritual systems.(12) Indigenous Knowledge can be developed over millennia, continues to develop, and includes understanding based on evidence acquired through direct contact with the environment and long-term experiences, as well as extensive observations, lessons, and skills passed from generation to generation."
--Guidance for (United States) Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge
"Western systems of knowledge appropriate and at the same time devalue information created by Indigenous ways of knowing. When working with Indigenous Knowledge in an academic context, it is vital to respect the authority, agency, and voice of Indigenous Knowledge. Do not treat Indigenous authorities as mere "informants," but rather as equals in the knowledge creation process.
"It galls us that Western researchers and intellectuals can assume to know all that is possible to know of us... It appalls us that the West can desire, extract, and claim ownership of our ways of knowing, our imagery, the things we create and produce, and then simultaneously reject the people who created and developed those ideas...” (Tuhiwai Smith, 2012)
Traditional Indigenous knowledge will be found primarily in the form of:
Historically, yes - unless we make room 'at the table' for those historically unheard - and/or they get in our faces due to having something they REALLY need us to know - and we accept that it won't be just about us and what we want to do or what we think is right / ethical.