EBSCO Publishing introduces GLBT Life

Citation

Blake, M. (2004), "EBSCO Publishing introduces GLBT Life", The Electronic Library, Vol. 22 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2004.26322bab.019

EBSCO Publishing introduces GLBT Life

After an exhaustive multi-year research and development process, EBSCO Publishing introduces GLBT Life. Now available via EBSCOhost, GLBT Life is the most inclusive index ever assembled covering this important area of study.

GLBT Life is the premier resource to the world’s literature regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. Designed for academic, professional and public communities, this database contains indexing and abstracts for more than 80 GLBT-specific core periodicals. The database includes current coverage of these sources, as well as deep backfiles for key publications – many back to the first published issue.

Examples of publications indexed back to their inaugural issues include The Advocate(1967), Journal of Homosexuality (1974) and Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review (1994). The product also contains articles mined from more than 70 priority periodicals as well as more than 5,000 select titles. GLBT Life provides comprehensive coverage of traditional academic, cultural, lifestyle and regional publications, including Journal of Bisexuality, Gay Times, Lesbian News, Journal of Lesbian Studies, Washington Blade, Bay Area Reporter, etc.

GLBT Life also indexes and abstracts the full run of many historically significant titles such as ONE (1953-1967), The Ladder (1956-1972), Mattachine Review (1955-1964), Christopher Street (1976-1995) and Body Politic (1971-1987). In addition, other source-types such as monographs and reference books as well as grey literature including newsletters, case studies, dissertations, etc. are represented. Disciplines covered by GLBT Life include civil liberties, culture, employment, family, history, psychology, religion, sociology and more.

According to Mark Herrick, vice president of business development for EBSCO Publishing, “The idea for this database arose during an advisory board meeting a couple of years back. Our group of academic library advisors was adamant that this type of database, done properly, would be an essential resource for libraries.” Herrick continued, “Until now (GLBT Life), there was no definitive index to literature in this subject area.”

To properly develop GLBT Life such that it would immediately take residence as the premier index of its kind, EBSCO assembled a panel of subject matter experts as advisors. This team includes top librarians, bibliographers and lexicographers from around the world as well as a database-specific editor, each with a keen interest and understanding of this vital area of study.

GLBT Life is accessible via the EBSCOhost interface and includes EBSCO’s proprietary GLBT-specific thesaurus of nearly 7,000 terms, developed in consultation with the team of advisors. Furthermore, in developing GLBT Life, EBSCO worked closely with the ONE Institute & Archives, an organization which houses the world’s largest research library on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender heritage and concerns. According to its mission statement, ONE Institute & Archives is dedicated to collecting, preserving, documenting, studying, and communicating history, challenges, and aspirations of the GLBT community.

Stuart Timmons, executive director for the ONE Institute & Archives, commented, “For years, researchers of many backgrounds have sought a central resource of information documenting the concerns, histories, and struggles of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. EBSCO has finally filled that need with the extraordinary resource called GLBT Life. At ONE Institute & Archives, where we have collected physical records documenting the GLBT community reaching back more than five decades, we are very gratified that EBSCO undertook this daunting project and created such a unique and invaluable resource. We are proud to have partnered with EBSCO in this effort.”