Abstract
The LGBTQ+ community is a group with a specific identity where the literature has identified the potential for such mismatches. To investigate the problem of LGBTQ+ terminology from a user’s perspective, 10 LGBTQ+ users of library catalogs were interviewed. Participants were asked to describe an LGBTQ+ title, The Queer Advantage, to identify subject terminology that could be used to query a library catalog, and to react to the title’s assigned Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Results indicate that participants had a very different focus when describing the title and formulated largely non-expert queries that did not align with the LCSH terminology. They found the LCSH terms to be accurate but academic, and not aligned with their approach. Findings from this study shed light on the ways in which LGBTQ+ users alter their language in interacting with library systems, but at the same time, indicate that the subject terminology used in libraries may not meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. Limitations to this study are presented, and further research is explored.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the iSchools, Inc. for funding to support this work. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Kathryn Scott Arbuckle and Amy Snyder.
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Moulaison-Sandy, H., Pham, NM., Snow, K., Dobreski, B. (2023). Terminology Preferences of the LGBTQ+ Community: A User Study. In: Sserwanga, I., et al. Information for a Better World: Normality, Virtuality, Physicality, Inclusivity. iConference 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13972. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28032-0_15
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