1
50
69
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/9205ecf720041e1213e2cadae2756967.png
0bd82c0eab97fb2899d1dd5e726e2e59
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
AEGIS (AIDS Education General Information System)
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
714 Area Code
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
Founded as TerraNet
Year Founded (approximate)
1987
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
Sponsor or Institutional Host
Organizations that hosted, sponsored, or maintained the forum
<ul>
<li>Initially sponsored by J2CP Information Services</li>
<li>Sponsored from 1990 to 1995 by the Sisters of St. Elizabeth of Hungary</li>
<li>From 1996 onward, BBS sponsored by non-profit organization AEGiS</li>
</ul>
City and State/Province
San Juan Capistrano, CA; later Santa Ana, CA
Baud Rate
300/1200/2400 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
LGBT people; transgender people; transsexual people; people with HIV/AIDS
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Ad for TerraNet from <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/hq37vn57m" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Transsexual Voice</em>, December 1991</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/bg257f135" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Our Sorority, Issue 15 (1987)</a> - Included in listing of online resources</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/fb494852w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twenty Minutes (February, 1991)</a> - Letter from BBS founder Sister Mary Elizabeth on recent changes to BBS</li>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1991-1995</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/jw827b69n" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chrysalis Quarterly, Vol. 1 No. 6 (Fall, 1993)</a> - </li>
<li>Reprint of <em>The Reader</em> (San Diego, CA) article about the founding of AEGIS</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/r207tp43x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cross-Talk: The Gender Community's News & Information Monthly, No. 60 (October, 1994)</a> - Discussion of AEGIS BBS in article on gender community-specific BBSs</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/pn89d6567" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The 7th annual Coming Together - Working Together Convention Program Book (1993)</a> - BBS founder Sister Mary Elizabeth, SSE awarded for her community work, including TerraNet</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ocweekly.com/news/this-sister-oughta-be-famous-6395237" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OC Weekly: This Sister Oughta Be Famous (May 1999)</a> - Profile of Sister Mary Elizabeth</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071022055127/http://www.aegis.org/about/about.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AEGiS.org: History of AEGIS (archived Oct 22, 2007)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Elizabeth_Clark" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wikipedia page for Mary Elizabeth Clark</a></li>
<li><a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/cyberspace/social-medias-dialup-ancestor-the-bulletin-board-system" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Social Media’s Dial-Up Ancestor: The Bulletin Board System (October 2016)</a> - Brief discussion of AEGIS and Clark</li>
</ul>
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
TGNet echo
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
AEGIS (AIDS Education General Information System)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System (BBS)
AEGIS
AIDS Education General Information System
bbs
LGBT people
people living with HIV/AIDS
TerraNet
TGNet
transgender people
transsexual people
website
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/4b8022038deb8dffb23916c7a3549d3c.png
f5bda335d4fee76bf7f766d0e72fadc5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
415 area code, later 714 area code
City and State/Province
San Francisco, CA
Year Founded (approximate)
<ul>
<li>Founded 1986</li>
<li>Moved to Gopher in 1994</li>
<li>aidsinfobbs.org opened in 1997</li>
</ul>
Last Year Active (approximate)
Still active
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
Computerized AIDS Information Network (CAIN); FidoNet (Node Address: 1:103/927); AEGIS (AIDS Education General Information System) Network (National Hub)
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
Attached classified ad from <a href="http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/sfbagals/Sentinal/1989_SFS_Vol17_No17_Apr_.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">San Francisco Sentinel (April 27, 1989)</a><br />
<ul>
<li>Archived version of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19971222020300/http://aidsinfobbs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aidsinfobbs.org</a> (Archived Dec 22, 1997)</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19971222020707/http://aidsinfobbs.org/description.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Description</a> of the web version, written by Ben Gardiner (Archived Dec 22, 1997)</li>
<li><a href="https://paganpressbooks.com/jpl/BEN-TAW.HTM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Interview with Ben Gardiner</a>, first published in the New York Native (July 30, 1990)</li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/bbsdocumentary-interview-gardiner-2002-07" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Audio interview with sysop Ben Gardiner</a>, conducted by Jason Scott as part of the BBS Documentary (2002)</li>
<li><a href="https://paganpressbooks.com/jpl/BEN.HTM">Obituary for Ben Gardiner</a>, by friend John Lauritsen (2010)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Ben-Gardiner-dies-gay-rights-activist-actor-3271651.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Obituary for Ben Gardiner</a> from the SFGate (Feb 27, 2010)</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
AIDS Info BBS
AEGIS Network
AIDS Info BBS
bbs
CAIN
FidoNet
people living with HIV/AIDS
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
1996
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Crossdressers
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.fashion.crossdressing" target="_blank"><span><span>Google Groups Archive</span></span></a></li>
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-eecf2494-27a4-ff32-2deb-e48bed3e67af"><a href="http://cydathria.com/ms_donna/afcd_main.html"><span>Founding Rationale and Charter</span></a></span></li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
alt.fashion.crossdressing
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Usenet newsgroup
alt.fashion.crossdressing
crossdressers
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
1996
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
ASL; Later re-launched as alt.shoe.lesbians.moderated (ASLM)
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Lesbian people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://shoelesbians.com/about/index.htm" target="_blank">ASLM website</a> - Information on group history, FAQ, etc.</li>
<li><a href="https://shoelesbians.com/about/index.htm" target="_blank">Google Groups: alt.shoe.lesbians.moderated</a> - Archive of ASLM posts</li>
<li><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/08/lgbtq_nerds_and_the_evolution_of_life_online.html" target="_blank">Slate: When AOL Was GayOL</a> (2014) - Mentioned in article</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
alt.shoe.lesbians.moderated
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Usenet newsgroup
alt.shoe.lesbians.moderated
ASLM
lesbian people
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
1996
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people; Crossdressers
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.support.crossdressing" target="_blank">Google Groups Archive</a></li>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.support.crossdressing/RZlagVGj4pM/nKEfJQuKH10J" target="_blank">Newsgroup Charter</a></li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
alt.support.crossdressing
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Usenet Newsgroup
alt.support.crossdressing
crossdressers
transgender people
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
1998
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
intergender individuals, non-binary individuals, androgyne individuals
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.support.intergendered">alt.support.intergendered Google Groups archive</a></li>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.support.intergendered/9arGB-gpngE">alt.support.intergendered Charter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cydathria.com/ms_donna/asig_main.html">alt.support.intergended homepage</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cydathria.com/ms_donna/intergen.html">What is Intergendered?</a> - Essay by newsgroup founder on origins and use of term</li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/transgendertapes1072unse/page/38">Androgyne Online</a> in <em>Transgender Tapestry </em>#107 (Fall/Winter, 2004) - mention of the term "intergender" in relation to a discussion of androgyne identity</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
alt.support.intergendered
androgyne individuals
intergender individuals
non-binary individuals
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
1997
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people; Transsexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.support.srs" target="_blank">Google Groups Archive</a></li>
<li><a href="https://rosalind.home.xs4all.nl/cha-assr.html" target="_blank">Founding Rationale and Charter</a></li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
alt.support.srs
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Usenet newsgroup
alt.support.srs
transgender people
transsexual people
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
1992
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people; Transsexual people; Transvestites; Crossdressers
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/alt.transgendered" target="_blank">Google Groups Archive</a></li>
<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-eecf2494-2795-3f2d-f191-4ebcfb8ae829"><span>FAQ: </span><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!msg/alt.transgendered/k64jqMh7zSs/IIEAEo2Sb_oJ;context-place=msg/alt.transgendered/-2Mw2SbZDSw/zyte_9mrP_0J"><span>Part 1</span></a><span>, </span><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!msg/alt.transgendered/5dv_vi6YtCo/5btacvBOorsJ;context-place=msg/alt.transgendered/k64jqMh7zSs/IIEAEo2Sb_oJ"><span>Part 2</span></a><span>, </span><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!msg/alt.transgendered/-2Mw2SbZDSw/zyte_9mrP_0J;context-place=msg/alt.transgendered/k64jqMh7zSs/IIEAEo2Sb_oJ"><span>Part 3</span></a><span> (posted 12/23/93-12/24/93)</span></span></li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
alt.transgendered
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Usenet newsgroup
crossdressers
transgender people
transsexual people
transvestites
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Alternatives
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
212 area code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
City and State/Province
New York, NY
Baud Rate
2400/9600 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people; Transsexual people; Gay people; Lesbians; Transvestites
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1991-1993</li>
<li><a href="http://karenannetaylor.orgfree.com/bbs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KAT's TAIL: BBS Listing</a> - Included in listing of transgender-related BBS systems</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Alternatives
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
Alternatives
bbs
gay people
lesbian people
transgender people
transsexual people
transvestites
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
1994
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/aus.culture.lesbigay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aus.culture.lesbigay Google Groups archive</a></li>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/aus.culture.lesbigay/aus.culture.lesbigay/JonTXOg5EfU/PWgtgMTuDfUJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aus.culture.lesbigay FAQ (posted May 19, 1996)</a></li>
<li>Listed in <a href="http://www.qrd.org/qrd/trans/1995/good.tranny.guide-03.01.95" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Good Tranny Guide</a>, a guide to trans resources specific to Australia and New Zealand (compiled March 1995)</li>
</ul>
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gay people, lesbian people, bisexual people, transgender people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
Australian English
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
aus.culture.lesbigay
Australia
bisexual people
gay people
lesbian people
New Zealand
transgender people
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Carolyn's Closet
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
612 Area Code
Year Founded (approximate)
1988
Last Year Active (approximate)
1994
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
Fidonet Node Address: 1:282/3015
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transsexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
City and State/Province
Minneapolis, MN
Baud Rate
300/1200 baud
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/bg257f135" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Our Sorority, Issue 15 (1987)</a> - Included in listing of online resources</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/pn89d667r" target="_blank" title="Gender Networker V.1, 2" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gender Networker v.1, no.2 (1988)</a> - Included in listing of online resources</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/r207tp43x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cross-Talk: The Gender Community's News & Information Monthly, No. 60 (1994)</a> - Note included in article that author "later found a discussion about [Carolyn's Closet's] demise in a Fidonet echo" (36).</li>
<li><a href="http://karenannetaylor.orgfree.com/bbs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KAT's TAIL: BBS Listing</a> - Included in listing of transgender-related BBS systems</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Carolyn's Closet
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Mailing List
E-mail Mailing Lists
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people; Crossdressers; Transsexual people
Year Founded (approximate)
1988
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's listings</a> from 1991-1995</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19990117015833/http://www.swcp.com/~therev/cdf.html" target="_blank">cd-forum homepage</a> (Archived version, collected Jan 17, 1999) - contains information on cd-forum regulations, application process, and moderatrix bio</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/3b591857h" target="_blank">Transgender Cyberspace</a> (1995) - Mentioned as possible resource</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
CD-Forum
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Mailing List
cd-forum
crossdressers
mailing list
transgender people
transsexual people
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/77de7a53ce9a3c27a109ac1b257f48f4.txt
0c76ee287466c6698de7babe2e0dbff0
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Mailing List
E-mail Mailing Lists
Year Founded (approximate)
1988
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
transgendered people, crossdressers, transvestites, transsexual people
Years Active
Approximate years group was active online
1988-1995
Exterior References
<strong>Mailing List Description (circa 1993, taken from CDForum digest):</strong> "cd forum is a "safe space" digested electronic mailing list for the support of cross-dressing, transsexuality, and other gender issues. Friendly and frank discussions. No membership fees. Your address will be kept in strict confidence. Articles you submit for publication in the forum are stripped of header and signature id unless you instruct me otherwise. To subscribe, please send me a short paragraph describing your interest in cd forum, and where you heard of it. You will be requested to submit an introductory article within one month of your subscription.<br /><br />Attached: Mailing List description held in the <a href="http://www.qrd.org/qrd/electronic/email/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mailing List section</a> of the Queer Resources Directory. Original file mirrored from <a href="http://www.qrd.org/qrd/electronic/email/cd-forum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
CDForum
cd-forum
crossdressers
mailing list
transgender people
transsexual people
transvestites
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
407
City and State/Province
Orlando, FL
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
CompuWho, Compu Who, members known as "Whosers"
Year Founded (approximate)
1989
Baud Rate
9600
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
gay people, lesbian people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.compuwho.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Compu-Who website</a></li>
<li>"<a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/2018/06/07/with-changes-to-orlandos-big-gay-weekend-coming-in-2019-we-look-back-on-the-history-of-gay-day/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">With changes to Orlando’s Big Gay Weekend coming in 2019, we look back on the history of Gay Day</a>," <em>Watermark Magazine</em> (June 7, 2018) - Article discussing Compu-Who's role in the founding and development of Gay Days at Disneyworld in Orlando, FL</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Compu-Who
bbs
gay people
lesbian people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS Network
Topical Networks of Bulletin Board Systems
Host BBS
BBS that served as primary host for network
Funded by State of California
Year Founded (approximate)
1984
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
Topical Focus
Primary topics of messages shared via network
HIV/AIDS-related information and resources
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/sfbagals/Sentinal/1985_SFS_Vol13_No06_July_18.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"State OKs Proposal on High Tech Data Service," San Francisco Sentinel (July 18, 1985)</a> - Article discussing the CAIN network and its purpose</li>
<li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1986/01/26/aids-sufferers-find-solace-in-computer-network/b1c3ec23-76ae-43ee-8c42-c2d8ec3b31ae/?utm_term=.f3b1db20d2cb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"</a><span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1986/01/26/aids-sufferers-find-solace-in-computer-network/b1c3ec23-76ae-43ee-8c42-c2d8ec3b31ae/?utm_term=.f3b1db20d2cb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AIDS Sufferers Find Solace in Computer Network,"</a> Washington Post (Jan 26, 1986) - Discusses use of CAIN and AIDS-focused BBSes</span></li>
<li><a href="http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/sfbagals/Sentinal/1987_SFS__Vol15_No19_May_08.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"AIDS information by Computer," San Francisco Sentinel (May 8, 1987)</a> - Includes information on accessing CAIN </li>
<li><a href="http://queerdigital.com/items/show/61" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"National AIDS Clearinghouse Guide to AIDS BBSes" (April 2, 1993)</a> - Listing of CAIN member BBSes included in sci.med.aids FAQ.</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Computerized AIDS Information Network (CAIN)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS Network
bbs network
CAIN
Computerized AIDS Information Network
people living with HIV/AIDS
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/a5018107d0c27391dafe02f2c27a271d.png
9ece6eead51a94b99538ef4c096c6ae3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Cross Connection
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
818 Area Code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
City and State/Province
Los Angeles, CA
Baud Rate
300/1200/2400 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
transgender people; transsexual people; gender community
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><span>Attached advertisement from <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/xd07gs80t" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cross-Talk: The Gender Community's News & Information Monthly, No. 56 (June, 1994)</a></span></li>
<li><span>Regular advertiser in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Cross-Talk%3A+The+Gender+Community%E2%80%99s+News+%26+Information+Monthly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cross-Talk: The Gender Community's News & Information Monthly</a></span></li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/r207tp43x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cross-Talk: The Gender Community's News & Information Monthly, No. 60 (October, 1994)</a> - Discussion of Cross-Connection in article on gender community-specific BBSs</li>
<li><span>Appeared in </span><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a><span> from 1991-1995</span></li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Cross Connection
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System (BBS)
bbs
Cross Connection
gender community
transgender people
transsexual people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Cross-Link
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
303 area code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
City and State/Province
Denver, CO
Baud Rate
300/1200 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgendered people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="http://karenannetaylor.orgfree.com/bbs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KAT's TAIL: BBS Listing</a> - Included in listing of transgender-related BBS systems</li>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1990-1993</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Cross-Link
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
bbs
Cross-Link
transgendered people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Different Realities
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
402 area code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
City and State/Province
Rochester, NY
Baud Rate
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1994-1995</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Different Realities
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
bbs
Different Realities
transgender people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Educational TV Channel
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
415 area code
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
ETVC
City and State/Province
San Francisco, CA
Baud Rate
1200/2400/9600/14400 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgendered people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1995</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Educational TV Channel
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
bbs
Educational TV Channel
ETVC
transgender people
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/d22268fefa04493baabc1a385e9e1d7d.png
7575251ddf8cf807a4594da26a61ef24
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/b3ab9923a3eb514b64ac493ab4162247.png
331ffa047bc09eadb64c7c4bbe5de910
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961226220202/http://bbs.eyecon.com:80/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Archive of Eye Contact BBS website</a> (Dec 26, 1996)</li>
<li>Attached advertisements from the <a href="http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/sfbagals/Sentinal/1989_SFS_Vol17_No17_Apr_.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">San Francisco Sentinel (April 27, 1989)</a> and <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=DWQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=%22eye+contact%22+%22bbs%22&source=bl&ots=pTgmkWKHzc&sig=lEo9rLzzoRdZzlOHw1PLY20005U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwic1sCI8KHZAhUJ0WMKHZNABsMQ6AEIWjAL#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Advocate</em> (Apr 19, 1994)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/stream/The.Joy.Of.Cybersex.1993#page/n145/mode/2up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Specific section on Eye Contact in </a><em><a href="https://archive.org/stream/The.Joy.Of.Cybersex.1993#page/n145/mode/2up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Joy of Cybersex</a> </em>(1993)</li>
<li><a href="https://cdn.loc.gov/copyright/onlinesp/agents/e/eccomps.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Filing</a> of designated <span>Digital Millennium Copyright Act (</span>DCMA)<span> agent, who receives notifications when an individual claims content on the platform represents copyright infringement (1998)</span></li>
</ul>
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
415 Area Code
City and State/Province
San Francisco, CA
Year Founded (approximate)
1989
Last Year Active (approximate)
2001
Baud Rate
2400
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
gay people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Eye Contact BBS
bbs
gay people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Feminet
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
408 area code
Year Founded (approximate)
1988
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
Host board of TGNet
City and State/Province
Monterey Bay, CA
Baud Rate
1200/2400 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people; Transsexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Home system of TGNet</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/pn89d667r" target="_blank" title="Gender Networker V.1, 2" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gender Networker V.1, no.2 (1988)</a> - Included in listing of online resources</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/8336h2050" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twenty Minutes (August, 1989)</a> - Mention of BBS in IFGE 1989 report</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/r207tp43x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cross-Talk: The Gender Community's News & Information Monthly, No. 60 (1994)</a><span> - Includes detailed information on connecting to Feminet</span></li>
<li><a href="http://karenannetaylor.orgfree.com/bbs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KAT's TAIL: BBS Listing</a> - Included in listing of transgender-related BBS systems</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Feminet
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
bbs
Feminet
TGNet
transgender people
transsexual people
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/5895d58bc93c8ef7e8dc1f3a28dc1f68.png
7fe02764e4218d5d5c90fa359f027b1a
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Fog City BBS
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
415 Area Code
City and State/Province
San Francisco, CA
Year Founded (approximate)
1986
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
Gaycom; Computerized AIDS Information Network (CAIN); AEGIS (AIDS Education General Information System) Network
Baud Rate
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gay people, People living with HIV/AIDS
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/sfbagals/Sentinal/sfs_index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Regular advertiser in San Francisco Sentinel in 1988-1989 (advertisement attached)</a></li>
<li>Host of <a href="https://archive.org/details/hypercard_caper-in-the-castro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caper in the Casto</a>, first LGBTQ video game</li>
<li><a href="http://queerdigital.com/items/show/61" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"National AIDS Clearinghouse Guide to AIDS BBSes" (April 2, 1993)</a> - Listed in Guide, which is included in sci.med.aids FAQ.</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fog City BBS
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System
AEGIS Network
bbs
CAIN
gay people
GayCom
people living with HIV/AIDS
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/19be8cb928c41369be0ddb306639807c.png
60c811ae85eb4ebb54a63ee60fab3be5
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/ccde54a717f5ea0a12af7d5e8b0a75aa.pdf
91f744f671122ca16300f2037d67f7d1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Gay and Lesbian Information Bureau
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
703 Area Code
City and State/Province
Arlington, VA
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
GLIB
Year Founded (approximate)
1986
Last Year Active (approximate)
2001
Baud Rate
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gay people; Lesbian people; People with HIV/AIDS
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
Attached advertisement from <a href="https://archive.org/details/Boardwatch_Magazine_Vol_09_03_1995_Mar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March 1995 issue of <em>Boardwatch Magazine</em></a>. Attached letter of thanks was mailed by President Bill Clinton to GLIB sysop John Larimore for their work on the campaign.<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bbslist.textfiles.com/703/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GLIB's listing in the Textfiles.com BBS List</a></li>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/TNQHQG6g0Sc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gay Fairfax: Episode #26 (1991)</a> - Recorded presentation by sysop Jon Larimore about GLIB, its services, and BBSes in general</li>
<li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/09/15/glib-users-are-talking-it-up/92d19833-ac76-4029-aee4-0862a7d4acaf/?utm_term=.816c8f0bbab7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GLIB: Users are Talking It Up (Sept 15, 1994)</a> - Short Washington Post piece on GLIB</li>
<li><a href="http://queerdigital.com/items/show/61" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"National AIDS Clearinghouse Guide to AIDS BBSes" (April 2, 1993)</a> - Listed in Guide, which is included in sci.med.aids FAQ.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/mp3/93BBSCON/bw100.txt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boardwatch Top 100 (1993)</a> - Includes GLIB at #5</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19970228045752/http://www.glib.org:80/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GLIB.org (archived Feb 28, 1997)</a> - Archived version of GLIB website, which BBS converted to in 1999</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20001203044100/http://www.glib.org/whatglib.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What is GLIB? (archived Dec 3, 2000)</a> - Informational page on the history of GLIB</li>
</ul>
Sponsor or Institutional Host
Organizations that hosted, sponsored, or maintained the forum
Community Educational Services Foundation (CESF)
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
GayCom, CAIN
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Gay and Lesbian Information Bureau (GLIB)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System
bbs
CAIN
Gay and Lesbian Information Bureau
gay people
GLIB
lesbian people
people living with HIV/AIDS
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
GDANC
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
704 Area Code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
City and State/Province
Albemarle, NC
Baud Rate
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender People
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1993-1995</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
GDANC
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System (BBS)
bbs
GDANC
transgender people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
GDATN
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
615 Area Code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
City and State/Province
Albemarle, NC
Baud Rate
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1991-1992</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
GDATN
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System (BBS)
bbs
GDATN
transgender people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Compuserve Conference
Sub-area of Compuserve
Year Founded (approximate)
1986
Section Number
Specific section of Forum
Unknown
Parent Forum
Host forum
Human Sexuality Forum, GO HSX-200
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people; transsexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1989-1995</li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/CompuServeMagazineDec1991" target="_blank">"A Girl at Heart," Compuserve Magazine (December 1991)</a> - Short personal essay on the impact of Genderline on the author. Sent to all Compuserve subscribers.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.qrd.org/qrd/electronic/providers/1994/queer.areas.on.compuserve-01.15.94" target="_blank">Queer Areas on Compuserve (1994)</a> - Included in list</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ebar.com/columns/column.php?sec=transmissions&article=114" target="_blank">"Techno-trans plug in online," Bay Area Reporter (July 2009)</a> - Short essay recounting early history of transgender sites on digital media</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Genderline
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Compuserve sub-section
Compuserve
Genderline
transgender people
transsexual people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/stream/tvtstapestry4219unse#page/50/mode/2up/search/gendernet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GGA introduces GenderNet (1984)</a> - Announcement of GenderNet in TV-TS Tapestry #42</li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/stream/tvtstapestry45unse#page/66/mode/2up/search/gendernet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GenderNet News (1985)</a> - Update on GenderNet in TV-TS Tapestry #45</li>
<li><a href="http://porn-report.com/computers-distribution.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Attorney General's Commission on Pornography: Final Report</a> (1986) - Mentioned as an example of a "<span>sexually oriented national and local bulletin boards system"</span></li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/j098zb17n" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IFGE's 1st Annual "Coming Together-Working Together" Convention: Book of Program Transcripts</a> (1987) - Discussion of how to use and access GenderNet as a possible resource</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/bg257f135" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Our Sorority, Issue 15 (1987)</a> - Included in listing of online resources</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/pn89d667r" target="_blank" title="Gender Networker V.1, 2" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gender Networker v.1, no.2 (1988)</a> - Included in listing of online resources</li>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1988-1989</li>
</ul>
Name
Name of Forum
GenderNet
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
408 and later 415 area code
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
Gender-net, Gender Net
Year Founded (approximate)
1984
Sponsor or Institutional Host
Organizations that hosted, sponsored, or maintained the forum
Gateway Gender Alliance (GGA)
City and State/Province
Sunnyvale, CA; later Oakland, CA
Baud Rate
300/1200 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transsexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
GenderNet
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System (BBS)
bbs
Gateway Gender Alliance
GenderNet
GGA
transsexual people
transvestites
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
317 Area Code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Sponsor or Institutional Host
Organizations that hosted, sponsored, or maintained the forum
Indiana Crossdressers Society (IXE)
City and State/Province
Indianapolis, IN
Baud Rate
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people; crossdressers
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Information on connecting to KINKY BBS included in IXE listing in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry</a> from 1989-1990</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/9w0323153">Cross-Port InnerView, v.5, n.9 (Sept 1989)</a> - Mention of IXE BBS</li>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1991-1994</li>
<li><a href="http://karenannetaylor.orgfree.com/bbs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KAT's TAIL: BBS Listing</a> - Included in listing of transgender-related BBS systems</li>
</ul>
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
Initially named KINKY BBS
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
IXE BBS
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System (BBS)
bbs
crossdressers
Indiana Crossdressers Society
IXE
IXE BBS
KINKY BBS
transgender people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
Japanese
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/japan.soc.transgender" target="_blank">Google Groups Archive</a></li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
japan.soc.transgender
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Usenet newsgroup
japan.soc.transgender
transgender people
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
LAMBDA BOARD - EDINBURGH
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
0131
City and State/Province
Edinburgh, Scotland
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown, first reference in 1994
Last Year Active (approximate)
2006
Baud Rate
2400
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Women, Gay Men, Bisexuals, Transgender People
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
Scottish English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Regular advertiser in <a href="http://www.scotsgay.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ScotsGay Magazine</a> from 1994 to 2006</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
LAMBDA BOARD - EDINBURGH
bbs
bisexual people
gay people
lesbian people
transgender people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Proprietary Forum
Forum on a proprietary platform (AOL, Livejournal, etc.)
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
ECHO NYC
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
gay people, lesbian people, bisexual people, transgender people, queer people
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/27/business/sound-bytes-an-electronic-salon-in-ny.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sound Bytes: An Electronic Salon, in N.Y.</a>," <em>New York Times</em> (March 27, 1994) - An early interview with ECHO founder Stacy Horn on the ECHO NYC BBS</li>
<li><a href="https://www.echonyc.com/~lambda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conference homepage</a> (last update date unknown)</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lambda Conference (ECHO)
bisexual people
ECHONYC
gay people
Lambda Conference
lesbian people
queer people
transgender people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll4/id/16565/show/16564/rec/6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mentioned in short article in Kom Ut! International Newsletter</a>, included in <em>one Letter</em> V.38, N.8 (August 1993)</li>
<li>Appears in Textfiles.com's <a href="http://bbslist.textfiles.com/sweden/042/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Swedish BBS List (Area code 042)</a></li>
<li>Included in <a href="http://www.textfiles.com/bbs/BBSLISTS/europe.phk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">list of European BBSes</a> (undated)</li>
<li>Included in <a href="https://pastebin.com/S3nMGV0K" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Swedish BBS list</a> circa 1994</li>
</ul>
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
42
City and State/Province
Helsingborg, Sweden
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown, first referenced in 1992
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
GayNet International, FidoNet (2:200/228)
Baud Rate
300-9600 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gay people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
Swedish
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lambda Scandinavia
bbs
gay people
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/97e22b05969625c77537ae213afad193.txt
ab5dfa661ed0310295b0a4b7023fc483
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/3c03196420125584d30ccaca3ea96d19.png
85e513e69ab3e591928967534f6f3661
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Land of Awes BBS
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
316
City and State/Province
Wichita, KS
Year Founded (approximate)
1990
Last Year Active (approximate)
2001
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
FidoNet node 1:291/9
Sponsor or Institutional Host
Organizations that hosted, sponsored, or maintained the forum
Land of Awes
Baud Rate
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gay Men, Lesbians, Bisexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
Attached ad for Land of Awes Phone Tree from <a href="https://history.okeq.org/items/show/458" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Parachute Vol 1, no. 7, Oct 1993</a>), as well as widely-circulated ECGM advertisement (retrieved from the <a href="http://www.qrd.org/qrd/electronic/1995/electronic.gay.community.magazine-01.29.95" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queer Resources Directory</a>)<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19981206234920/http://www.awes.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Land of Awes Information Service Homepage</a> (archived Dec 6, 1999)</li>
<li>Hosted Land of Awes Phone Tree (see attached ad)</li>
<li>Hosted <a href="http://awes.com/egcm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electronic Gay Community Magazine</a> (first founded as print publication <em>Emerald City News)</em> from 1988 to 2007
<ul>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19990224221223/http://www.zzapp.org/awes/egcm/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Archived EGCM site</a> (archived Feb 24, 1999)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Land of Awes
bbs
bisexual people
FidoNet
gay people
lesbian people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Website
A resource comprising of a web page or web pages and all related assets ( such as images, sound and video files, etc. ).
Local URL
The URL of the local directory containing all assets of the website
www.lesbian.org
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Currently active
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Lesbian people
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/nc105_women" target="_blank">Interview with webmaster Amy Goodloe on PBS show Net Cafe</a> (1996)</li>
<li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/19961109095728/http://www.lesbian.org:80/" target="_blank">Lesbian.org (archived Nov 9, 1996)</a></li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lesbian.org
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Website
lesbian people
lesbian youth
lesbian.org
website
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Lifetime BBS
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
708 area code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
City and State/Province
Chicago, IL
Baud Rate
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people; Transsexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/r207tp43x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cross-Talk: The Gender Community's News & Information Monthly, No. 60 (1994)</a> - Includes mention of BBS</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lifetime BBS
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
bbs
Lifetime BBS
transgender people
transsexual people
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/cbc0ed9cf9dd0d4ccef4cadedbe369f3.png
7a09d0b5c06cece8f997663a0be3edc5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Exterior References
Attached ad from <a href="https://archive.org/details/BAR_19951130/page/n53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nov 30, 1995 issue of the </a><em><a href="https://archive.org/details/BAR_19951130/page/n53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bay Area Reporter</a>.</em><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961019162416/http://bytenet.com/online/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Archived copy of telnet gateway, bytenet.com</a> (archived Oct 19, 1996)</li>
</ul>
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
415
City and State/Province
San Francisco, CA
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
Love Bytes
Baud Rate
9600
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gay people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Love Bytes
bbs
gay people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Lunatic Fringe BBS
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
718 Area Code
City and State/Province
Bayside, NY
Baud Rate
1200/2400/9600/14400 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gender community
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1994-1995</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lunatic Fringe BBS
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System (BBS)
bbs
gender community
Lunatic Fringe BBS
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/ef914b5c945fd4acb412ba3925bd6776.png
8839c3f5a211d8ee770e11d32f2101e1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
212 or 516
City and State/Province
Long Island, NY
Baud Rate
28.8 K
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gay people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
Attached advertisement from <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=NGNpFuAXu70C&pg=PA351&lpg=PA351&dq=%22male+forum%22+bbs&source=bl&ots=KJxJaFzvGv&sig=mt6iLi0kbTMahlbRKik7xBBjGao&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwichoe01NnbAhUmwlkKHauoBDEQ6AEINzAC#v=onepage&q&f=false"><em>PC Magazine</em> (May 14, 1996)</a>.<br />
<ul>
<li>Listing included in <em><a href="https://archive.org/stream/internetbbss00rich#page/n241/mode/2up/search/Male+Forum">Internet BBSs: A Guided Tour</a></em>.</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Male Forum
bbs
gay people
The Male Forum
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.gaycalgary.com/Magazine.aspx?id=158&article=5509" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Men For Men BBS – What Gay Geeks did in the early ’90s"</a> - Column by sysop Steve Polyak on the history of Men For Men</li>
<li><a href="http://www.gaycalgary.com/Magazine.aspx?id=156&article=5420" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"25th Anniversary of Men For Men/GayCalgary"</a> - Column by sysop Steve Polyak on the changes with Men for Men and GayCalgary </li>
</ul>
Name
Name of Forum
Men for Men BBS
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
403
City and State/Province
Calgary, Alberta
Year Founded (approximate)
1992
Last Year Active (approximate)
2006
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
FidoNet
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gay men, bisexual men
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
Canadian English
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
MFM BBS
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Men for Men BBS
bbs
bisexual people
gay people
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/3ba5c9e2ba6bb0558293744c5d54c3ae.jpeg
7b29f86c045f50e2ed8baacef4c79798
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/5efed384a2d343c7f13b0dd91c330d39.jpg
cc2131cba9a309f59c887768bb86804b
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/4a2dda6ce9468bf8b441cbe890fe8492.jpg
d1e8a914595c7faf35c21de89d2e8fde
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/d571d57a7b2b268b86ade55929cb54da.jpg
5e20d728e422a627287c50fa2af9143f
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/cc528fa1f2f5f4f31678aaf825183a86.pdf
7123de8eb533c62c07275ae0a8567307
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/0a992094dba4c846916884e6a8d7515d.jpg
8fe13e199a975060de238ec292286060
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/a201fc329d8c4617baf286229a6789a7.jpg
250efe9d6dade55b696bbb7bdbbe6c66
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/2f93010ab9ccd357da5f599947af3295.jpg
82f57a14f0d469322acd3f097933dc2f
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/85e98cc625994bd4e61ee97295722644.jpg
3cdf45de066b1cc6e147bc49682f79d0
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/676f474549af0bdc2b66914ba2329228.jpg
cb8b78c79270af8005c8552bcf7e4f7e
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/67872b8b4c44c8615e07c4b8f1a124f1.jpg
226f928e86d2626bcc513e98c88fc792
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Multicom-4
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
716 Area Code
City and State/Province
Rochester, NY
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
MC4
Year Founded (approximate)
1979
Last Year Active (approximate)
1999
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
gay people; lesbian people; bisexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
Attached images courtsey of board sysop.<br /><br /><strong>Location of Public Terminals:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Bachelor Forum, Rochester NY</li>
<li>Rochester Spa & Body Club, Rochester NY</li>
<li>Rochester Custom Leathers, Rochester NY</li>
<li>Muther’s Bar, Rochester NY</li>
<li>Buddie’s Bar, Buffalo NY</li>
</ul>
<strong><strong>Attached Images (donated by board sysop Chaz Antonelli):<br /></strong></strong>
<ul>
<li>Business card for CACTUS-800, Multicom's predecessor (1979)</li>
<li>Advertisment for Multicom-3, ran in <em><a href="https://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rochester City Newspaper</a>, </em>Rochester, NY (1988)</li>
<li>Advertisement for Rochester Custom Leathers and Multicom-4, one of several that ran in <a href="https://outalliance.org/empty-closet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Empty Closet</em></a>, Rochester, NY (Septermber 1989 to January 1999)</li>
<li>Informational Brochure on Multicom-4 (1993)</li>
<li>Logon screens for Multicom-4 (1996-1997)</li>
<li>Web logo for Multicom-4</li>
</ul>
<strong>External Links:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://mc4bbs.livejournal.com/246094.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">History of Multicom-4</a>, as recounted by sysop</li>
<li><a href="http://www.lib.rochester.edu/IN/RBSCP/Databases/Attachments/Closet/1991/1991_MAY.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Article on Multicom-4, <em>The Empty Closet</em> (Rochester, NY), May 1991 (p.17)</a></li>
<li>Ranked #26 in 1992 edition of the <a href="ftp://ftp.altexxanet.org/textfiles.com/inbox/FOC/bw100.txt">Boardwatch 100</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961111160108/http://www.multicom.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Multicom website</a> (initally archived Nov 11, 1996)</li>
<li><a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Multicom4/info" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yahoo! Group for former users (Restricted Group)</a>
<ul>
<li>Former member meetup also held in Rochester, NY through 2000s</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Multicom-4
bbs
bisexual people
gay people
lesbian people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transsexual people; Transgender people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
Dutch
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/nl.support.transseksueel" target="_blank">Google Groups Archive</a></li>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/nl.support.transseksueel/ogDpmejXsEQ" target="_blank">Newsgroup Charter</a></li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
nl.support.transseksueel
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Usenet newsgroup
nl.support.transseksueel
transgender people
transsexual people
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Passing Fancy
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
703 area code
Year Founded (approximate)
1987
Last Year Active (approximate)
1994
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transsexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/bg257f135" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Our Sorority, Issue 15 (1987)</a> - Included in listing of online resources</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/pn89d667r" target="_blank" title="Gender Networker V.1, 2" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gender Networker V.1, no.2 (1988)</a> - Included in listing of online resources</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/r207tp43x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cross-Talk: The Gender Community's News & Information Monthly, No. 60 (1994)</a> - Note included in article that Passing Fancy had been "shut down due to lack of support" (36).</li>
<li><a href="http://karenannetaylor.orgfree.com/bbs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KAT's TAIL: BBS Listing</a> - Included in listing of transgender-related BBS systems</li>
</ul>
City and State/Province
Alexandria, VA
Baud Rate
300/1200/2400 baud
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Passing Fancy
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/8143d2eb2546c90394750971fc74b515.png
111b1beff353e89f4e6231d96bb1419d
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
214 area code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
Network/Platform
Networks or Platforms the forum participated in
Fidonet (Node Address: 1:124/3103)
City and State/Province
Richardson, TX; Grand Prarie, TX
Baud Rate
1200-28800 Baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Alternate Lifestyles; Transsexual people; Transgender people; Gay people; Lesbian people; Bisexual People
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Attached advertisement from <em>The TV-TS Tapestry Journal,</em> Issue 66 (Winter, 1993-1994)</li>
<li><a href="http://textfiles.com/bbs/pnbreg.frm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Puss N Boots Registration Form</a> - Submitted to gain access to "restricted" Adult/LGBTQ areas</li>
<li><a href="http://www.qrd.org/qrd/aids/1994/aids.bbs.list" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HIV/AIDS BBS Listing (1994)</a> - Puss N Boots included in listing</li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/r207tp43x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cross-Talk: The Gender Community's News & Information Monthly, No. 60 (1994)</a> - Extended discussion of Puss N Boots's services.</li>
<li><a href="http://karenannetaylor.orgfree.com/bbs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KAT's TAIL: BBS Listing</a> - Included in listing of transgender-related BBS systems</li>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1991-1995</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Puss N Boots
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
AEGIS Network
bbs
bisexual people
FidoNet
gay people
lesbian people
Puss N Boots
transgender people
transsexual people
-
http://queerdigital.com/files/original/d7b02ee5b86c002e15c88d7f66aca657.gif
347b280010c7ff43e3f34a64b8eea673
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Website
A resource comprising of a web page or web pages and all related assets ( such as images, sound and video files, etc. ).
Local URL
The URL of the local directory containing all assets of the website
http://www.qrd.org/qrd/
Year Founded (approximate)
1991
Last Year Active (approximate)
Currently active
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Gay people; Lesbian people; Bisexual people; Transgender people; Queer people
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Buckmire" target="_blank">Ron Buckmire (Wikipedia)</a> - Wikipedia page on QRD founder Ron Buckmire</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Resources Directory
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Website
bisexual people
gay people
lesbian people
queer people
transgender people
website
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Website
A resource comprising of a web page or web pages and all related assets ( such as images, sound and video files, etc. ).
Local URL
The URL of the local directory containing all assets of the website
http://www.queer.org.au/
Year Founded (approximate)
1995
Last Year Active (approximate)
2008
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
gay people, lesbian people, bisexual people, transgender people, queer people
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961230081349/http://www.queer.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">queer.org.au</a> (Archived Dec 30, 1996)</li>
<li>Hosted and/or offered support to:
<ul>
<li>Australian Queer Resources Directory</li>
<li>Australian Student Christian Movement</li>
<li>FLOSS (the Fabulous Lesbians of Sydney Society)</li>
<li>GLOSS (Gay Lads of Sydney Uni)</li>
<li>#ozgay IRC channel</li>
<li>QNet IRC network</li>
<li>Net.Queer! Home Page</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
queer.org.au
Australia
bisexual people
gay people
lesbian people
New Zealand
queer people
transgender people
website
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Rainbow Gender Association
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
408 area code
City and State/Province
San Jose, CA
Baud Rate
1200/2400 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgendered people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1991-1995</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rainbow Gender Association
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
BBS
bbs
Rainbow Gender Association
transgender people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Satin & Lace
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
716 Area Code
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
City and State/Province
Rochester, NY
Baud Rate
1200/2400/9600/14400 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transsexual people; Transvestites
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1994-1995</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Satin & Lace
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System (BBS)
bbs
Satin & Lace
transsexual people
transvestites
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
BBS
Bulletin Board System
Name
Name of Forum
Searchlight of San Luis Obispo
Area Code
Area Code of BBS
805 Area Code
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
Initially named Mini Host
Year Founded (approximate)
Unknown
Last Year Active (approximate)
Unknown
Sponsor or Institutional Host
Organizations that hosted, sponsored, or maintained the forum
Gender Community Advocates
City and State/Province
San Luis Obispo, CA
Baud Rate
300/1200/2400 baud
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
Transgender people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li>Appeared in <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/catalog?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+Tapestry&sort=dta_sortable_date_dtsi+asc%2C+title_primary_ssort+asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TS-TV Tapestry's BBS listings</a> from 1991-1992</li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Searchlight of San Luis Obispo
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Bulletin Board System (BBS)
bbs
Gender Community Advocates
Searchlight of San Luis Obispo
transgender people
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Year Founded (approximate)
1991
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
bisexual people
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<ul>
<li><a href="http://serf.org/jon/soc.bi/" target="_blank">soc.bi homepage</a> - includes FAQ, articles, and some usage statistics</li>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/soc.bi" target="_blank">Google Groups Archive for soc.bi</a></li>
</ul>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
soc.bi
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Usenet Newsgroup
bisexual people
soc.bi
Usenet
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Queer Digital Community Catalog
Language
A language of the resource
English
Description
An account of the resource
<p dir="ltr"><span>This catalog collects basic information and resources on LGBTQ-related online communities prior to 2010, particularly those from the so-called Web 1.0 period. Each catalog entry includes information on the group’s format, its approximate dates of activity, its audience and topical focus, and links to other materials discussing the group, such as editorial columns, personal essays, or archival materials.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One of the driving impulses for the creation of this catalog was to offer a starting place for research into early LGBTQ life online. As I found in my own research, simply knowing the name of a place or person could, in some cases, be key to my archival research. Beyond just its research utility, however, this catalog is also meant to preserve the memory, if not the content, of communities and groups whose names might otherwise be lost or forgotten.<br /></span></p>
<h2>Why a Catalog?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I’ve chosen to focus on a catalog, as opposed to an archive, for several reasons. Firstly, at its most basic level, an archive is focused on primary material—in this case, the content of posts. However, archiving for most online groups from the mid-1980s up to the late 1990s is often incomplete at best, so in many cases, there’s limited to no archival material available. Instead, what exists in many cases is secondary material, writing describing or reflecting on posters’ experiences with and in these spaces. The catalog, ideally, links these disparate materials together in order to give a slightly fuller picture of the online landscape at any given time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly, posters in early LGBTQ groups often wrote (sometimes in detail) about close and personal issues in their lives under the assumption that their posts would remain private within the group. Given this, I’ve designed the catalog to respect (to the best of my ability) posters’ initial expectation of privacy. Linked content has all been previously published in other venues, and any other detailed personal reflections submitted by users specifically for the catalog have been made public with their consent.</p>
<h2>What Qualifies A Community For Inclusion?</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There are no specific criteria determining inclusion in the QDCC. However, many of the communitites currently listed in the catalog have multiple references in contemporaneous periodicals, newsletters, web guides, or other LGBTQ-related informational websites. These sources are key for establishing not only the existence of a space, but its particular attributes.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>On Audience Labels</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">All of the communities cataloged include descriptive metadata culled from various sources, including contemporaneous listings in print publications and online reference guides. However, the terminology used in archival sources does not always match current preferred terms. <a href="http://notchesblog.com/2017/11/28/troubling-terms-the-label-problem-in-transgender-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As has been discussed elsewhere</a>, retroactively applying labels with which individuals or spaces might not have identified is a politically fraught act. In my metadata practices, then, I follow a policy similar to that of the <a href="https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Transgender Archive</a>: whenever possible, I use terminology included in contemporaneous decriptions. If terminology is not used or a detailed description is not available, I categorize using terminology derived from the archival reference.</p>
<h2>Adding Communities to the Catalog</h2>
<p>This catalog is by no means complete, and I'm always looking for new groups to add, if additional information is available. Please feel free to suggest a community for inclusion using <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9oGcXtpUNGXXhEBIYdZlb40HTj3EDzG_fk4xltxxcCck6AQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>, or email me directly at <a href="mailto:adame@winona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adame@winona.edu</a>.</p>
Usenet Newsgroup
Individual Usenet Newsgroup
Abbreviations/Alias
Any other names used to refer to this forum
Often shortened to motss; Initially categorized on Usenet as net.motss.
Primary Language
Primary language used by participants
American English
Exterior References
<h3><strong>Archival Resources:</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/net.motss" target="_blank">net.motss Google Groups Archive</a></li>
<li><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/soc.motss" target="_blank">soc.motss Google Groups Archive</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.soc-motss.org/" target="_blank">soc-motss.org</a> - Homepage of soc.motss group (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20010402060619/http://www.soc-motss.org:80/" target="_blank">Archived version</a>.)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.qrd.org/qrd/electronic/usenet/" target="_blank">soc.motss FAQ and account of group's creation post</a>: Hosted by Queer Resources Directory.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Popular Press:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/08/online_gay_culture_and_soc_motss_how_a_usenet_group_anticipated_how_we_use.html" target="_blank">The First Gay Space on the Internet</a> - Recounting of soc.motss's history and impact</li>
</ul>
<h3>motss.con: Annual convention of soc.motss members</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://kenru.net/motss/" target="_blank">Motss.con Picture Pages</a> - Pictures from motss.con and documentary on the convention's history</li>
</ul>
Year Founded (approximate)
1983
Intended Audience
The forum's intended audience
gay people; lesbian people; bisexual people
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
soc.motss
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Usenet newsgroup
bisexual people
gay people
lesbian people
net.motss
soc.motss
Usenet