Hi all,
My colleague, Sara Howard, and I at Princeton have submitted a proposal to our library’s leadership team to begin using the
Homosaurus vocabulary as a supplement to LSCH for describing LGBTQIA+ collections (including published material and ephemera).
The leadership team has asked us if we can provide them with any qualitative feedback from institutions that have used Homosaurus, particularly whether patrons have positively or negatively responded to Homosaurus terminology and if the
vocabulary has helped staff and users more easily access collection materials. We have already communicated with Homosaurus editorial board members Jay Colbert and Bri Watson extensively about our proposal, and the vocabulary’s structure and history – it seems
the staff/user experience is what the admin is interested in.
If your institution has used Homosaurus and you have any feedback to share, please feel free to email me off-list. Any information about what collections you described using Homosaurus, and whether you developed any specific guidelines
for staff who were using the vocabulary would also be helpful.
Thank you so much for your time and feedback!
Best,
Sarah Hamerman (she/they)
Metadata Librarian, Rare Books Specialty
Princeton University Libraries