Homosaurus Subject Headings

On May 19, 2021, CAMM approved the motion to allow Homosaurus subject headings in the CCS database. Homosaurus is an international linked data vocabulary of LGBTQ+ terms. This vocabulary is intended to function as a supplement to other controlled vocabularies, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Homosaurus has been assigned the source code (‡2) homoit.

MARC Fields

It is the CCS local practice to place Homosaurus subject headings in the 650 field and genre headings in the 655 field. However, Homosaurus does not label genre headings as genres in compliance with the Lavender Library, Archives, and Cultural Exchange (LLACE) classification. Even though Homosaurus does not label genres, they should be placed in the 655 field in the CCS database.

Example:

650  7 ‡a Non-binary people. ‡2 homoit
655  7 ‡a Bisexual horror fiction. ‡2 homoit

Assigning Headings

When adding Homosaurus headings to records, do not delete the equivalent LCSH terms. If the LCSH term is the same as the Homosaurus term or uses the same words in a different order to represent the same concept, it is unnecessary to add the Homosaurus term to the record. This table depicts two examples of when Homosaurus terms do not need to be added to the record.

LCSH	Homosaurus
Catholic gays or Catholic gay men	Gay Roman Catholics
Asian American lesbians	Lesbian Asian Americans

You can use your cataloger's judgement to decide when to add the Homosaurus terms to the records. A list of Homosaurus terms that have been added to the CCS catalog are at: Homosaurus Terms Used by CCS. All Homosaurus authority records can be retrieved by using the saved SQL query called "Homosaurus Terms" in the Authority Records Find Tool.

When to use LGBTQ+ and Queer Headings

Homosaurus considers LGBTQ+ to be a broader term than queer, but in order to accommodate how members of this community self-identify, as well as to facilitate natural language searching, catalogers may apply both terms when applicable. When using Homosaurus, check LGBTQ and Queer Equivalents spreadsheet for parallel or equivalent terms within the vocabulary. For example, when the term "Children of LGBTQ+ people" is applied, the term "Children of Queer people" may also be applied. Note that not all terms have an equivalent. If there is no equivalent for either term, it should be applied on its own.

Terms to Avoid

A small number of Homosaurus terms have more commonly used meanings without a qualifier in parentheses. Try to avoid adding these headings to the records. The following list includes examples of the headings to avoid. This may not be a full list.

Headings to Avoid
Ali
Bois
Dark rooms
Dee
Faeries
Happy endings
Metis
Swinging
Tom
Tumtum

Requesting New Authority Records

If a term is a new term in the database and it shows when using the Check Headings Assistant, the cataloger should open a help desk ticket specifying the term, title, and bibliographic control number. The CCS Data Services librarian will authorize the term locally in the CCS database and will link any other bibliographic records with that term to the local authority record. When authorizing the term the authority record will include: a $e local/homoit, will be added to the 040; related terms from Homosaurus will be added as 450 or 550’s; a 670 with the link from the Homosaurus; and a 667 stating “Term added as per CCS CAMM decision, 5/19/21.”

If there is more than one new term that the cataloger is adding, then they should add the appropriate terms to the record or records and provide the Data Services Librarian a list or spreadsheet with the needed information (term, title, and bib. control number). She will then authorize the term locally and will link any other bibliographic records with that term to the local authority record.

Initially, or if a librarian is doing a big project, the Data Services Librarian can add a heading to a group of bibliographic records using the Bibliographic Record Bulk Change. To save time, these records should be added to a record set. Then the requester can open a help desk ticket, specifying the term to use and the record set number. The Data Services Librarian will use the Bibliographic record bulk change to add the appropriate term to the records. She will also add a local authority record for the term if it is needed. If the cataloger feels comfortable using the Bibliographic Record Bulk Change, then they may add the term to the records themselves. However, opening a help desk ticket to create the authority record according to the directions in the first paragraph is still necessary.