cathyp writes “From today’s Toronto Star:
In an ordinary Canadian library, if Andrew George searched for a book with the keyword “bears,” the computer system would list all the volumes dealing with a large furry animal.
Not at the University of Western Ontario’s new Pride Library, where the information popping up would be about a unique subculture hairy and heavy gay men.
And if the third-year comparative literature student wants to research drag queens, he can save himself the hassle of figuring out the keywords he’d need in the standard academic system: “impersonator, female.”
That’s because a unique search engine that accommodates “queer lingo” is among the features of the collection that will open officially today as Canada’s first library devoted to the academic study of “diversexuality.”
Story here.“
Good to see
I worked at Weldon a few years ago when the Pride Library was still “in the closet”, actually housed in a spare office. While I never got a chance to visit it then, I’m happy to see it moved to a more prominent location.
I did take issue with their catalogue records, however. Once in a while I’d get an item from the Pride Library, and most of the records were accompanied by 3-4 paragraphs of editorial analysis. I felt that kind of went beyond professional impartiality.