Queerlit – a bibliography of Swedish fiction with LGBTQI topics

Abstract

This paper summarizes the project Queerlit: Metadata and Searchability for LGBTQ+ Literary Heritage 2020-2023 and discusses some challenges in the development of this resource. The Queerlit project consist of four parts: 1. Creating a bibliography of Swedish fiction with LGBTQI themes 2. Creating a Swedish thesaurus (QLIT), adapted from the of the linked open data thesaurus Homosaurus 3. Assigning all material in the bibliography with subject headings from QLIT. 4. A web user interface for searching the material All four parts are integrated with the Swedish union catalog, Libris, making the results of the project available for all under a CC0 license. QLIT is the first external thesaurus integrated in the linked open data framework used in the technical platform of Libris, XL. The bibliography spans from rune stones from the 7th century to recently published fiction. When applying subject headings for the material both general aspects of the work and specific LGBTQI topics are described, making this the most comprehensive retrospective indexing project of Swedish literature to date. The underlying knowledge organization is made a prominent method of interacting with the search interface, which is empirically designed around the needs of various user groups.