Talking about “pornography”:

a comparative subject analysis of sexually explicit materials

  

Cynthia Ann Moya

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Library and Information Science

University of Washington

2001

  

Program Authorized to Offer Degree:  The Information School

  University of Washington

Graduate School

 

 

  

This is to certify that I have examined this copy of a master’s thesis by

 Cynthia Ann Moya

and have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects,

and that any and all revisions required by the final

examining committee have been made.

 

Committee Members:

  

______________________________________________

                          Terrence A. Brooks

______________________________________________

                          Jerold A. Nelson

Date:     _____________________


In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master’s degree at the University of Washington, I agree that the Library shall make its copies freely available for inspection.  I further agree that extensive copying of this thesis is allowable only for scholarly purposes, consistent with “fair use” as prescribed in the U.S. Copyright Law.  Any other reproduction for any purposes or by any other means shall not be allowed without my written permission.

                                                            Signature _____________________________

                                                            Date _________________________________

 

University of Washington

Abstract

Talking about “pornography”:

 a comparative subject analysis of sexually explicit materials

 Cynthia Ann Moya

Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee:

Associate Professor Terrence A. Brooks

The Information School

 

This study compares the subject analysis of sexually explicit materials and pornography in library thesauri and Web directories.   The focus is on the sociotechnical work done by taxonomies, librarians, and users.  “Talking about” refers to these discursive practices.  The definition of “pornography” and the variety of sexually explicit materials emerges through discussion and analysis of empirical data.  Data was collected by visiting a variety of university, public, and special libraries that collect sexually explicit materials, interviewing persons responsible for organizing these items, and examining a variety of thesauri.  Web Directory hierarchies of “sexuality” resources were examined to build another point of comparison.