Information seeking behavior and information needs of the LGBTQIA community

 O'Brien and Greyson state (2018) "Information seeking is a natural course of action to reduce uncertainty, fill a knowledge gap, or make sense of one's world" (p.40). If we use this definition as it applies to this group, it becomes clear that information seeking will take many forms, and some kinds of information will be more crucial. This definition is broad enough to include individuals seeking other members of their community, those seeking information about their legal rights, those seeking health and safer sex information, and those simply seeking a way to know themselves and their history.

The continued stigmatization of this group hinders the free flow of information and makes the information seeking process challenging.  Tracy Robinson, writing about the information needs of LGBTQIA and gender variant youth, notes the vital importance of internet resources, because youth can access them anonymously. Robinson cites several studies which conclude that LGBTQIA resources are frequently blocked by internet filters such as those frequently employed by schools. Robinson notes one study found that when searching for information on sexual health, as much as 50% of relevant LGBTQIA content was blocked by internet filters (Robinson, 2016). The continued existence of overt bias against this group is a very real barrier to access. One element of the stigmatization this group faces is the hypersexualization of LGBTQIA content. This prevents LGBTQIA and gender variant youth and children from accessing information when relevant content is deemed inappropriate, overtly sexual, or simply adult in nature.

This article details examples of youtube demonetizing videos from LGBTQIA creators, or filtering such content for its parental controlled version.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/4/17424472/youtube-lgbt-demonetization-ads-algorithm

LGBTQIA adults may also face significant barriers to access. While we don't always consider this group when we speak of cultural competency, doing so would be extremely helpful. If we conceive of the LGBTQIA community as a cultural group and advocate for culturally competent and relevant programming and information for this group, that would be a move toward a more inclusive model. Montiel-Overall, Nuñez, & Reyes-Escudero (2015) define culture as, "the daily activities shared by groups of people" (p.22). This notion of culture would surely fit this community and using the framework these scholars speak of in reference to a Latinx community, an asset-based framework would allow information professionals to celebrate the triumphs and gains of this group, rather than focusing solely on the challenges. LGBTQIA individuals have come up with creative solutions and worked to create resources and content both offline and online to meet the various needs of this diverse community. A culturally competent information professional would have a knowledge of the local resources that work to fill the gaps in knowledge about this group.

References:

Farokhmanesh, M. (2018, June 4) YouTube is still restricting and demonetizing LGBT videos — and adding anti-LGBT ads to some. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/4/17424472/youtube-lgbt-demonetization-ads-algorithm

Montiel-Overall, P., Nuñez, A. V., & Reyes-Escudero, V. (2015). Latinos in libraries, museums, and archives : Cultural competence in action! an asset-based approach. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org

O’Brien, H. & Greyson, D.(2018). Diverse information needs. In Hirsh, S. (2018). Information services today: An introduction.

Robinson, T. tracyrobinson23@gmail. co. (2016). Overcoming Social Exclusion in Public Library Services to LGBTQ and      Gender Variant Youth. Public Library Quarterly, 35(3), 161–174. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1080/01616846.2016.1210439

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