Searching for Swedish LGBTQI fiction: challenges and solutions
2022 (English)In: Journal of Documentation, ISSN 0022-0418, E-ISSN 1758-7379, Vol. 78, no 7, p. 464-484Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Abstract [en]
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the needs of potential end-users of a database dedicated to Swedish lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) literature (e.g. prose, poetry, drama, graphic novels/comics, and illustrated books), in order to inform the development of a database, search interface functionalities, and an LGBTQI thesaurus for fiction.
Design/methodology/approach: A web questionnaire was distributed in autumn 2021 to potential end-users. The questions covered people's reasons for reading LGBTQI fiction, ways of finding LGBTQI fiction, experience of searching for LGBTQI fiction, usual search elements applied, latest search for LGBTQI fiction, desired subjects to search for, and ideal search functionalities.
Findings: The 101 completed questionnaires showed that most respondents found relevant literature through social media or friends and that most obtained copies of literature from a library. Regarding desirable search functionalities, most respondents would like to see suggestions for related terms to support broader search results (i.e. higher recall). Many also wanted search support that would enable retrieving more specific results based on narrower terms when too many results are retrieved (i.e. higher precision). Over half would also appreciate the option to browse by hierarchically arranged subjects.
Originality/value: This study is the first to show how readers of LGBTQI fiction in Sweden search for and obtain relevant literature. The authors have identified end-user needs that can inform the development of a new database and a thesaurus dedicated to LGBTQI fiction.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2022. Vol. 78, no 7, p. 464-484
Keywords [en]
Information retrieval thesaurus, LGBTQI fiction, Search interfaces, Subject indexing, Subject searching, User survey
National Category
Information Studies
Research subject
Humanities, Library and Information Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-116612DOI: 10.1108/JD-06-2022-0138ISI: 000870753500001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85140318054OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-116612DiVA, id: diva2:1700751
Funder
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond2022-10-032022-10-032023-10-27Bibliographically approved