How do LGBTQ+ library catalog users talk about subject searching?

• Published in: Journal of documentation Vol. 81; no. 3; pp. 581 - 597
• Main Authors: Moulaison-Sandy, Heather, Dobreski, Brian, Snow, Karen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Publishing Limited 28.04.2025; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Access to information; Artificial Languages; Bilingualism; Code switching; Code Switching (Language); Comparative Analysis; Dialects; Discovery Processes; Grammatical subject; Hungarian; Information Retrieval; Interviews; Language; Lexical semantics; LGBTQ community; LGBTQ linguistics; LGBTQ people; Libraries; Library and information science; Library catalogs; Library materials; Library of Congress Subject Headings; Linguistics; Marginality; Minority groups; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Mutual Intelligibility; Natural language; Perceptions; Queries; Query formulation; Researcher subject relations; Searching; Semantics; Social exclusion; Social justice; Speech; Syntax; Terminology; Vocabularies & taxonomies; Vocabulary; United States > US; Library users; Subject search; Catalogs; LGBTQ+ community; Code-switching

PurposeSubject searching in the library catalog is a challenge for any user, but may be especially so for members of marginalized groups whose language diverges even further from established systems of subject headings. In this study, researchers employed the concept of code-switching to better unde...