By Emilia R. Marcyk
Scholarship and academic news that addresses LGBTQ identities and concerns, of interest to librarians and information professionals
Publications
- Adler, Melissa A. “‘Let’s Not Homosexualize the Library Stacks’: Liberating Gays in the Library Catalog.” Journal of the History of Sexuality3 (2015): 478-507. URL: http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/journals/journal-of-the-history-of-sexuality
Adler discusses the efforts of catalogers during the 1970s and 80s to change the Library of Congress subject headings for LGBT topics to include current and non-judgmental language. Adler also charts the influence of the Task Force on Gay Liberation (a precursor to the GLBTRT) on these “institutionalized vocabularies.”
- Gleason, William A., and Eric Murphy Selinger, eds. Romance Fiction and American Culture: Love as the Practice of Freedom? Burlington, VT: Ashgate, September 2015.
This new collection of essays explores the multifaceted romance genre, including the essay “Queer Romance in 20th- and 21st-century America: Snapshots of a Revolution” by Len Barot.
- Miller, Brandon. “’They’re the Modern-Day Gay Bar’: Exploring the Uses and Gratifications of Social Networks for Men Who have Sex with Men.” Computers in Human Behavior 51 (2015): 476-82. URL: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/computers-in-human-behavior/
Author Brandon Miller surveyed 143 men who have sex with men (MSM) in order to understand how and why individuals use social networking sites and apps. He identified seven categories of gratifications sought including “safety, control, easiness, accessibility, mobility, connectivity, and versatility.”
- Mutchler, Matt G., et al. “Getting PrEPared for HIV Prevention Navigation: Young Black Gay Men Talk about HIV Prevention in the Biomedical Era.” AIDS Patient Care & STDs9 (2015): 490. URL: http://online.liebertpub.com/apc
Mutchler’s article explores the ways in which information about HIV prevention is spread amongst young black men who have sex with men in Los Angeles, CA.
Survey
- A survey about librarian/library staff comfort serving LGBT information needs is open for participation. The survey is available here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/servinglgbtinfoneeds. The corresponding researcher is John Siegel of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (jxsiegel[at]ualr.edu).
Call for Conference Papers
The University of Oregon will be hosting a conference on the “Trans* Experience in Philosophy”
next May. From the conference website:
“This conference aims to explore the intersections between transgender studies and philosophy by bringing philosophical reflections to bear on trans* experience, representation, identity, and politics. We welcome papers that engage a variety of issues or topics, including but not limited to trans* embodiment, ethical concerns specific to trans* persons, the relationship between transgender studies and feminist philosophy, and how classical philosophical frameworks might elucidate aspects of trans* experience. Through these reflections, we also hope to interrogate our understanding and practice of inclusivity in academia.”
Paper submissions are due by December 1, 2015. More information is available on the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy’s website.
