The Homosaurus, Queer Vocabularies, and Impossible Metadata

This essay is occupied with attempts to provide alternative bibliographic infrastructures for marginalized communities and discusses the possibilities of queer metadata. First, I provide a definitional and literature review focused on the principles and purposes of the field of knowledge organization. Next, I introduce the Homosaurus as an example of a queer alternative to standard cataloging and classification structures. I draw from discussions on imagined records and impossible archival imaginaries in the archival studies field in order to propose the concepts of "metadatic imaginaries" and "impossible metadatic imaginaries." The essay closes with considerations about the implications for queer bibliography.