Building and sustaining the Homosaurus, an inclusive LGBTQ+ linked data vocabulary

Authors

  • D St Amour The Homosaurus Collective / Western University
  • Keahi Adolpho The Homosaurus Collective / Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Marika Cifor The Homosaurus Collective / University of Washington
  • Michael Radmacher The Homosaurus Collective / University of Victoria
  • B.M. Watson The Homosaurus Collective / Western University
  • Crystal Yragui The Homosaurus Collective / University of Washington
  • Travis Wagner The Homosaurus Collective / University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Keywords:

linked data, subject analysis, LGBTQ+, Homosaurus

Abstract

This article describes the Homosaurus, a LGBTQ+ community-driven linked data vocabulary. Authored by members of the Homosaurus Collective, it details the project’s origins, governance history, and transformation from an institutional thesaurus into an international linked data vocabulary.

References

Anderson, S. (2024) DigitalTransgenderArchive/homosaurus_site. Available at: https://github.com/DigitalTransgenderArchive/homosaurus_site [Accessed 20 March 2026]

Cifor, M. and Rawson, K. J. (2023) 'Mediating queer and trans pasts: The Homosaurus as queer information activism', Information, Communication & Society, 26(11), pp. 2168-2185. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2072753

Cushman, E. (2013) 'Wampum, Sequoyan, and story: decolonizing the digital archive', College English, 76(2), pp. 115–135. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24238145 [Accessed 20 March 2026]

Gallant, K. (2024) SIS assistant professor receives IMLS grant to help continue research on inclusive cataloging in libraires. Available at: https://cci.utk.edu/blog/2024/08/15/sis-assistant-professor-receives-imls-grant-to-help-continue-research-on-inclusive-cataloging-in-libraries/ [Accessed 20 March 2026]

Library of Congress, Network Development and MARC Standards Office (2016) Techinical notice (September 15, 2016): Additions to Source Codes for Vocabularies, Rules, and Schemes. Available at: https://www.loc.gov/marc/relators/tn160914src.html [Accessed 20 March 2026]

Roles, C. F., Rawson, K. J., Anderson, S., and Homosaurus Editorial Board (2022) Homosaurus Metadata Application Profile. Available at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ndif61THKvrKRG8m6Y9gBVAOzwDWa95O9TbJV8tFTTA [Accessed 20 March 2026]

Wagner, T. L., Allgood, E. M., and Caballero, M. (2025) '"The finding aid is the first thing that people see, we don’t want to put anyone off viewing the collection": how practitioners navigate queerness in finding aids', Archival Science, 25, article 43. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-025-09513-w

Watson, B. M., Noland, C., and Billey, A. (2021) 'The Homosaurus', Catalogue & Index, 202(11), pp. 44-47. Available at: https://www.cilip.org.uk/resource/collection/CC45A47F-BE48-4BA1-B6D4-25BF10F1BC41/C&I202Homosaurus.pdf [Accessed 20 March 2026]

Downloads

Published

2026-03-23

Issue

Section

Articles