CHAPTER 5:  LIBRARIES VISITED FOR THIS STUDY

Introduction

These nine sites include one university library, two public libraries, three sexological institute libraries, a human sexuality and sexuality education library, a publicly funded gay and lesbian archive, and a privately funded gay and lesbian archive.  These different libraries were chosen to represent the range of professional sites that need to subject analyze sexually explicit materials. 

These sites were examined for their collections and organizational systems specifically as they relate to sexually explicit materials and “pornography.”  I looked at the language in the classifications, the language used by the caretakers, and changing or contested sites in the thesauri. 

My guiding question was, how do these libraries represent and provide access to sexually explicit materials, as illustrated by their subject headings?  Questions that arose during the study include what kind of work do these thesauri do?  And how is contextualization – the proper kind of user and behavioral orientation towards the materials – produced by these thesauri?  In general the questions I asked librarians were more straightforward.  What thesaurus is used?  How has it evolved, what words have had to be added?  What kind of users do you have?  Where are the sexually explicit materials located?  Do you have any pornography?

University of Washington

The University of Washington (UW) library uses Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to subject analyze all of its materials.  The library does not have a sexuality collection or librarian as such; instead sexually explicit materials might be collected by any number of libraries – psychology, social work, art, English literature, medicine, special collections, etc.  The library catalog is online using an Innovative Interfaces WebPAC.  There are no specific finding aids for sexuality materials, unlike the gay and lesbian holdings, which have web pointers and other finding aids. 

Most of the sexuality materials, of which there is very little of an “explicit/erotic” nature according to Alvin Fritz, are integrated into the general collection.  There are a few things that are particularly explicit, such as some gay male erotic magazines held in special collections, uncataloged but with a bibliography; some art and photography books which are protected by being held behind the “ART DESK”; and an older special collection in health sciences which is housed in a separate area.  A large gift from Chuck Harbaugh has significantly enhanced the sexuality holdings in the Suzzallo library, around HQ in LC Classification. 

Seattle Public Library

The Seattle Public Library (SPL) uses Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to subject analyze its materials.  They classify their collection, a general one reflecting the diverse population of Seattle, using the Dewey Decimal System (DDC), moving from DDC 16 to the newer version DDC 20, which has had some effect on the placement of sexuality materials.  SPL does not have a separate sexuality collection; instead it is part of the general collection, and is acquired mostly by social sciences and humanities.  They were mostly in the Dewey 390s, and are now in the Dewey 305s for anthropological aspects of sexual behavior, and Dewey 613s for medical aspects including AIDS. 

The sexuality materials are one of their “bottomless pits” according to librarian Lynn Daniel.  “The materials get mutilated or otherwise have a short life with you.”  The Dynix library catalog is online, and use of the catalog is necessary to find materials that are spread all over this library and the multi-library system.  Another significant aspect is that Seattle is a very literate community, and patrons will put holds on materials even before they hit the shelves.  The very best materials have waiting lists, and to use them a patron needs to place a hold through the online catalog. 

SPL does not carry any illegal materials.  For instance, the most controversial book they had was Show Me,[1] a Swedish book from the 1960’s produced for parents to work with their children.  The book includes images of naked children, and since the laws about images of children have changed it no longer circulates. 

San Francisco Public Library - James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center

The Hormel Center is of many “focus collections” at the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL); specifically focused on the gay and lesbian experience throughout history, with an emphasis on Northern California.  They use LCSH enhanced with “recognized gay subject headings”[2]developed by Sanford Berman for the Hennepin County Library.  Their holdings are integrated into the SFPL catalog, which is online using a Data Research Associates WebPAC. 

Like SPL, they moved from DDC16 to DDC20, and have not retrospectively classified the materials.  Instead they rely on the catalog and careful subject headings to direct patrons to the appropriate materials.  The Hormel Center has a non-circulating reference collection of important gay and lesbian books and journals in their “ceremonial space.”  The rest of the gay and lesbian materials are in the open stacks, or, because of space issues in the library, held in the back and must be requested.  In this way they can protect some of the items. 

The SFPL and the Hormel Center “stay away from pure pornography, or erotica,”  according to Jim Van Buskirk, but the line is not very firm.  They tend to carry more “textual” things, or “contextualized erotica,” for instance the Tom Waugh book Hard to Imagine,[3] which, although it has many explicit photos, is presented in the context of gay history and Stonewall.  The library has an informal agreement with the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Historical Society of San Francisco, which holds the more “hard core” materials. 

Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction

The Kinsey Institute Library, in existence since 1947, now has about 86,000 volumes of print materials that, according to a library handout, focus on sexual beliefs, sexual behaviors, sex attitudes, sex education and erotic literature.  The library assigns subject headings using a thesaurus developed in-house and published in 1976 as Sexual Nomenclature.   This thesaurus emphasized behavioral aspects of sexuality, and uses scientific, objective terminology.  The materials are classified using a modified Dewey Decimal system.  They also have a number of “sublocations” for special formats and collections.  The stacks are closed and materials non-circulating.  The catalog is available online using a NOTIS telnet system.  They are soon upgrading to a SIRSI Web-based catalog.

“The theme of sexuality is central to the collections, but in keeping with Kinsey's vision, sexuality is broadly defined, taking into consideration aspects including the representation of sexuality and gender in cultural materials, behavior, laws, education, knowledge, customs, beliefs, attitudes, and folklore.”[4]  Access to the collection is carefully monitored to discourage theft, maintain confidentiality, and limit users to professionally qualified, bona fide students and researchers.  

The collection consists almost exclusively of sexually explicit materials.  As such it is an ideal example of how terms are used to differentiate these “pornographic” materials.  Other libraries have variously used this thesaurus as a starting point (SIECUS), compared terms for their lists (NISSO), or rejected it as inappropriate for their collection (IASHS).

Netherlands Institute for Social Sexological Research (NISSO) Library

NISSO is an independent organization that conducts major social survey research, which “concentrates on care, education, prevention and policy.”[5]  Trefwoordenlijst,[6] a Dutch language subject heading list was developed internally by Evelien Evenhuis.  Like the library, the subject headings focus on the social aspects of sexuality, while medical aspects are secondary.  The subject headings were developed in-house.  They once assigned multiple classification codes to books as well, but now this list is closed and classification is used only for placement of the books. 

Current research projects at NISSO include general sexual behavior, gender and sexuality, prostitution, and AIDS research.  The library’s goal is both in support of these researchers as well as answering reference questions from a wide variety of users.  Their AIDS collection is separately subject analyzed using the Multilingual European AIDS and HIV-Infection Thesaurus,[7] a 7-language cooperative project.  NISSO librarian Peter de Wit was involved with the construction of this great resource, which is well worth closer study and wider use.  The NISSO catalog is available online, using a database from ADLIB Information Systems.  Holdings are about half Dutch language materials; the rest written in English with some French, German, and other languages. 

The library has three main collections – the NISSO sexology library, the NISSO AIDS Documentation Centre, and the Dutch Foundation for Sexual Reform (NVSH) collection (about 4500 publications from 1900-1980 classified in UDC).  Both librarians quickly noted that they do not carry any “pornographic” materials, although closer examination reveals “fiction, erotic novels” in the NVSH collection.  They do not carry any photographs or videos; mostly books and articles.  All the materials are in open stacks, and are open to the public, including high school students.

Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality (IASHS)

IASHS is a private, accredited advanced degree granting sexological institute.  “Sexology is the science of sexual behavior in all of its aspects.”[8]  The institute holds a huge, significant, organized and partially inventoried collection of sexually explicit materials.  The materials are in many formats – books, magazines, journals, films of every size, videos in every format, digests, photographs, negatives, slides, artwork, ephemera, etc.  They are working now with lists, files, and other devices as students and experts go through the collection. 

The Institute collects everything, “nothing is too outré” according to librarian Jerry Zientara.  All of their holdings are gifts and donations.  Access to the library is very controlled, limited to students of the Institute and bona fide researchers cleared by the Institute head.  Some portions of the library are not open to students.  In the process of catalog-formation, this library is a living example of how “pornography” is organized for access by researchers.  They have made extraordinary progress since Selth reviewed it in 1984.  

Mary S. Calderone Library -- Sexuality Education and Information Council of the United States (SIECUS)

SIECUS uses Sexual Nomenclature, locally modified for their educational perspective, to subject analyze its materials.  This is the only library that I did not physically visit; this observation is from a phone interview and examination of their website and other materials.  This library collects educational materials and provides age-appropriate curricula on topics such as sexuality education, AIDS education, and US demographics and cultural information related to sex.  Their catalog is not online, though they are migrating from ProCite to InMagic with plans to make the catalog web accessible. 

Most of their book holdings are review copies from publishers, which they plug in their publications.  They hold about 5000 books and nearly 700 curricula, as well as journals and vertical files.  

Homosexual Documentation Centre – Lesbian Archives Amsterdam (Homodok-LAA)

Homodok-LAA developed and published A Queer Thesaurus,  bilingual in Dutch and English.  The staff subject analyzes their materials with this thesaurus.  Because “information on gay men and lesbians is hard to find and disappears into the oddest categories[,]” this document was specifically written as “an instrument of  consciousness raising.”   It is interesting that this thesaurus was so explicitly developed as a tool to promote positive information about homosexuality.  Just that this can be so about a thesaurus is notable.

Significantly, the two major runs of fiction and non-fiction books at Homodok-LAA are organized alphabetically by author or main entry.  This is to avoid conflict about adjacencies.  Smaller runs are also separate, such as gay travel, reference, newspaper clippings, entertainment, and foreign journals.  Their catalog is available online using a system called CardBox.  Homodok-LAA is a consolidation of what was once two libraries – Homodok, the Homosexual Documentation Centre; and Ann Blaumanhuis, a lesbian archives. 

Like SIECUS, Homodok-LAA receives most of their materials as complementary copies from publishers, which they review in their publication.  Homodok-LAA collects all kinds of materials having with gay and lesbian life, including periodicals, books, grey literature, press cuttings, videotapes, posters, and more.  The library is open to anybody interested in using their materials.  They do hold a few items that they do not allow public access to.  Unlike many archival collections, which are focused on preservation, this archives is specifically for non-circulating use.  A significant portion of A Queer Thesaurus, like other GLBT thesauri, has to do with sexual practices of homosexual people.  The collection includes many sexually explicit materials. 

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Historical Society of San Francisco (GLBTHS)

The GLBTHS is an archival collection.  The first principle of archival cataloging is respect des fonds; or maintaining the provenance, context and origin of the materials held.  GLBTHS solicits the personal papers of eminent Northern California GLBT residents and organizations.  These materials are kept and cataloged as units.  They also hold tapes and transcripts of a significant oral history project.  Access is provided by a series of finding aids, for both individual and corporate collections and for “artificial collections,” or groupings that they have built in-house.  Most of the collection is in closed stacks, and needs to be requested box by box for viewing.  Care must be taken, as there are numerous rare and fragile items in the collection. 

This archive includes a number of erotic photographs and magazines, usually as part of the personal collections they hold.  A finding aid for Erotica is available to locate likely collections to examine.