Coherent Digital's LGBTQ+ Social Justice and Culture 

CONTENT A recent addition to Coherent Digital’s History Commons, LGBTQ+ Social Justice and Culture captures voices, writings, videos, and ephemera from LGBTQIA+ activists, advocates, and organizations from the 1980s to the present. This remarkable resource preserves, indexes, and protects content that is at risk of disappearing. Some content is drawn from countries where repressive conditions increase the likelihood of LGBTQIA+ materials being purged and destroyed. Examples include items from Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association and Lambdaistanbul, both based in Türkiye, and materials from the Iran-based Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees and 6Rang. Endangered materials may also come from organizations that are no longer active. For instance, the database provides access to publications such as the newsletter Spectrum Vibes, produced by the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination in Guyana, and the Hong Kong Ten Percent Journal, a Chinese-language periodical published from 1993 to 1998. The collection is continually updated with new materials and currently features over 75,000 documents drawn from over 550 organizations across more than 100 countries. Materials chart developments in recent history, with a focus on new-media output such as art, music, blogs, underground publications, zines, photographs, podcasts, videos, reports, and social media posts. Featured collections include wide-ranging content from the YouTube project It Gets Better; videos from All Out, a global social justice movement fighting for the safety and rights of LGBTQIA+ people; and episodes from the Chosen Family podcast.

USABILITY The user interface is straightforward and streamlined. Researchers can use the prominently located search bar to conduct keyword or advanced searches. The advanced search employs Boolean logic and allows users to input multiple keywords or phrases. Results can be filtered by date, organization name, organization type (archive, government, NGO, corporation), type of material (correspondence, blog, journal, magazine, article), country of origin, language, module, or topic. Response time is excellent, and the breadth of search results is impressive. Facets on the left side of the page allow users to narrow the results by content (documents, tables, sources, collections), document type (report, video, podcast, blog, zine), mentions, sources, series, language, year, topics, and date added. Selected keywords are highlighted in the search results, making it easy to locate the most relevant documents. Search results can be downloaded with a CSV or RSI file by clicking the export button at the top of the page. Users who create accounts can add results to lists, follow organizations and topics, receive alerts, and upload their own content.

PRICING Annual subscriptions are priced on a sliding scale, ranging from $500 for the smallest libraries and budgets to $7,360 for the largest. The one-time purchase price ranges from $26,250 to $47,250. Consortium offers will significantly lower those prices; contact Coherent for details. A package of all three Social Justice and Culture collections—LGBTQ+ Social Justice and Culture; Indigenous Peoples Social Justice and Culture; and Refugees, Migration, and Borders Social Justice and Culture—either through subscription or purchase, offers the best price.

VERDICT This constantly growing collection pushes past traditional boundaries to preserve critically important endangered materials centered on LGBTQIA+ communities and history. It is a heartening, essential resource for all libraries.