LibGuides: LGBTQIA+ Resources: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual or Ally: Find Websites

LGBTQIA Book Award Sites

Lambda Literary Awards

For over 30 years, the Lambda Literary Awards have recognized the best LGBTQ books published in a given year across dozens of categories. The Lambda Literary Foundation nurtures and advocates for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve LGBTQ legacies, and affirm the value of their stories and lives. A list of the current and past winners and finalists can be found at the Lambda Literary Awards website.

Stonewall Book Award

The awards are presented to English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience. The first award was given in 1971. Awards are announced annually and presented to the winning authors or editors at the American Library Association Annual Conference. The award-winning titles are listed by year at the American Library Association Rainbow Round Table website.

The Publishing Triangle

The Publishing Triangle is a group of LGBTQ persons who work to further the publication of books and other materials written by LGBTQ authors or with LGBTQ themes. Awards are presented in several categories and linked to from The Publishing Triangle website.

Evaluate

WHY? Rationale for Evaluating What You Find on the Web

The World Wide Web can be a great place to accomplish research on many topics. But putting documents or pages on the web is easy, cheap or free, unregulated, and unmonitored.

• Documents can easily be copied and falsified or copied with omissions and errors -- intentional or accidental.

• In the general World Wide Web there are no editors (unlike most print publications) to proofread and "send it back" or "reject it" until it meets the standards of a publishing house's reputation.

• Most pages found in general search engines for the web are self-published or published by businesses small and large with motives to get you to buy something or believe a point of view.

• Even within university and library web sites, there can be many pages that the institution does not try to oversee.

The web needs to be free like that! And you, if you want to use it for serious research, need to cultivate the habit of healthy skepticism, of questioning everything you find with critical thinking.Therein lies the rationale for evaluating carefully whatever you find on the Web.

The burden is on you - the reader - to establish the validity, authorship, timeliness, and integrity of what you find.

Internet Sites

Surfing the Web

The Internet can be a valuable source for supplementing the information you have gathered from books and periodicals.

However, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you EVALUATE THE INFORMATION you get from the Internet to determine if it is reliable and useful to your research.

Here are a few Internet sites to help you with your research:

2020 Census: LGBTQ+
Information from the 2020 U.S. Census publication containing information on LGBTQ+.
Bisexual Resource Center
The Bisexual Resource Center envisions a world where love is celebrated, regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression. Because bisexuals today are still misunderstood, marginalized and discriminated against, the BRC is committed to providing support to the bisexual community and raising public awareness about bisexuality and bisexual people.
CDC's Website for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health
The CDC provides information and resources on some of the health issues and inequities affecting LGBT communities. Links to other information sources and resources are also provided.
The Gay and Lesbian Center of Greater Long Beach
As the central core of the Greater Long Beach LGBT communities we offer assistance and provide education about emotional and physical health, housing, cultural and social activities, and legal and social justice. We advocate for the inclusion of all with no judgment or restrictions based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
GLAAD: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
For over 30 years, GLAAD has been at the forefront of cultural change, accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community. GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change.
GLBT Historical Society- Online Archives
The GLBT Historical Society collects, preserves, exhibits and makes accessible to the public materials and knowledge to support and promote understanding of LGBTQ history, culture and arts in all their diversity.
LA Pride
Christopher Street West (CSW), a 501(c)3 nonprofit, organized the world’s first permitted parade advocating for gay rights to commemorate the Stonewall Rebellion on Christopher Street in New York City the year prior. Over 50 years later, the organization has built a rich history as an active voice for the LGBTQ+ community across the Greater Los Angeles area.
Library of Congress LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive
The LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive collects and preserves online content which documents LGBTQ+ history, scholarship, and culture in the United States and around the world.
Los Angeles LGBT Center
The Los Angeles LGBT Center is one of the largest and most experienced providers of LGBT health and mental healthcare, supported by a research team working to advance the care and treatment.
National Center for Transgender Equality
The National Center for Transgender Equality advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people. In the nation’s capital and throughout the country, NCTE works to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice.
ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives
ONE Archives Foundation is the independent community partner that supports ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California (USC) Libraries, the largest repository of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) materials in the world.

Evaluating Internet Sites - Step by Step

Countless web pages are available on just about every topic, but how can you know what's worthwhile or credible?Evaluation of web pages and websites has become a necessary part of the research process, and a means to sharpen your own critical thinking skills. Some of the fundamental questions to consider during evaluation are:

AUTHORSHIP Note that "author" can mean a person or organization.	Who is the author of the website? What are the author's credentials? Is the author an authority on the subject? Is it another student? A professor? Your next door neighbor? Is the author an organization? What do you know (or what can you find out) about this organization? What is its purpose?
ACCURACY Information must be judged accurate and verifiable before you use it in your own research or assignments.	Is the site edited well? Are there spelling or grammatical errors? Is it written in a style that you would expect for the topic and audience? Don't accept the information at face value - you'll need to take time to consult other sources (including non-web sources) to verify accuracy fully Does the information on the site "fit" with other information that you have on the topic? Or are there discrepancies with other sources of information? Does the author provide a way to verify information on this site? Are footnotes, citations, or sources provided?
CURRENCY Look at both the date of publication and update, as well as the dates for any cited information.	Is the page or website being updated and maintained? When was the page written? Last updated or revised? How current is the information? Does this fit your needs? Note that website content written in May 2008 might contain information from 1975. Be aware that "Last updated" may mean any update on the page, including stylistic changes such as different colors or layout - not necessarily changes to content.
CONTENT Does the information on the website meet your research or information needs?	How detailed is the information - is it basic or advanced? Is the coverage of the topic complete? Does it leave out important information? Does it offer more than one perspective? Is the web page part of a longer document? Sometimes you will need to look at more than one page to get the complete picture. Is there a bibliography or links to other information on the topic? How were the links selected? Are the other sources mentioned relevant and credible? How does the content compare with other resources (books, journal articles, other web pages) on the same topic?
PURPOSE The purpose of the site should be clear. Be aware that some sites present opinion as fact in order to sell or persuade.	Does this site present fact or opinion? What is the purpose of the site? To inform? To sell? To persuade? Is the site objective, showing multiple sides of an issue? Bias is not necessarily reason to reject a source - but be sure that you can identify it. Who is the intended audience? Advanced researchers in a field? Elementary school students? Members of a particular organization or viewpoint? If there is advertising on the page, does this affect the content?
DESIGN Visual layout, choice of images and media files often have an impact on a website's professional credibility.	What kind of information - textual, visual, aural - does the page present, and does this add or detract from the page's usefulness or legibility? Do image or other media files slow down load time or navigation through the website? Do the different design components work, or are images, sound files, etc. unable to display, play, or run? Does the web page require specific add-on software in order to read, see, print, or listen to resources linked on the page? Is that add-on software readily available or must it be purchased?

LGBTQIA+ Resources: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual or Ally: Find Websites

LGBTQIA Book Award Sites

Evaluate

Internet Sites

Evaluating Internet Sites - Step by Step

ACCURACY Information must be judged accurate and verifiable before you use it in your own research or assignments.

CURRENCY

CONTENT

PURPOSE

DESIGN

ACCURACY
Information must be judged accurate and verifiable before you use it in your own research or assignments.