DTAThe Homosaurus is a pioneering linked data vocabulary dedicated to LGBTQ+ terminology, designed to address persistent gaps in mainstream subject heading systems. As cultural heritage institutions increasingly recognize the importance of inclusive and accurate terminology for describing LGBTQ+ materials, the Homosaurus has become an essential companion vocabulary to systems like the Library of Congress Subject Headings.
Background
The Homosaurus project traces its origins to the IHLIA LGBT Heritage collection in Amsterdam, which maintained an early version of an LGBTQ+ thesaurus. The current iteration was relaunched around 2013 as a collaborative international effort, with the goal of creating a modern, linked data vocabulary that could be adopted by institutions worldwide. The vocabulary is now maintained as a linked data service by the Digital Transgender Archive, and has grown through successive versions to its current Version 4 (V4) release.
Purpose & Scope
The Homosaurus serves as a specialized complement to general-purpose subject vocabularies. While systems such as LCSH provide broad coverage, they have historically offered limited, outdated, or problematic terminology for LGBTQ+ topics. The Homosaurus fills this gap by providing carefully curated, community-informed terms that reflect current usage and understanding of gender identity, sexual orientation, and related concepts. Libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions use the vocabulary to enhance the discoverability of their LGBTQ+ resources.
Key Features
- Linked data architecture: Terms are published as linked data, enabling integration with other vocabularies and semantic web applications.
- Multilingual: Available in English, Spanish, French, Swedish, Hindi, and Bengali.
- Community-driven: Terminology is developed with input from LGBTQ+ communities and information professionals.
- Version controlled: Regular releases with clear versioning (currently V4).
Serializations & Technical Formats
The Homosaurus vocabulary is published as linked data, accessible through the Homosaurus website. Terms can be searched and browsed via the V4 Search interface. The vocabulary uses JSON-LD as its primary serialization format, with each term having a dereferenceable URI.
Governance & Maintenance
The Homosaurus is maintained by a volunteer editorial board in partnership with the Digital Transgender Archive. The vocabulary is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). A Google Group community provides a space for users and contributors to discuss the vocabulary, propose new terms, and share feedback.
Notable Implementations
The Homosaurus has been adopted by a growing number of institutions including the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), university libraries, and LGBTQ+ archives. It is used alongside LCSH in library catalogs and discovery systems to provide richer, more accurate subject access for LGBTQ+ materials. The vocabulary has been particularly influential in raising awareness about the importance of inclusive metadata in cultural heritage.
Related Standards
The Homosaurus is designed to function alongside the Library of Congress Subject Headings and other broad subject vocabularies. It shares conceptual territory with other identity-focused vocabularies while maintaining its unique focus on LGBTQ+ terminology.