Homosaurus Subject Headings

The rules on this page are a draft until reviewed by SCRAP and CAMM. Please send any feedback to help@ccslib.org.

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, it is unnecessary to add the Homosaurus term to the record. 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.

A small number of Homosaurus terms have more commonly used meanings, like types of animals. 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
Bears
Bois
Bottoms
Camp
Clones (gay men)
Cottages
Cruising
Dark rooms
Dee
Faeries
Goldilocks
Happy endings
Metis
Otters
Outing
Packing (phallus)
Pups
Queens
Slaves
Swinging
Tom
Tops
Tumtum
Wolves

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.