LGBTQIA+

Acronym that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and more. A complete list of community terminology and definitions may be found on the UC Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center glossary.

Queer

An adjective used by some people whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexual. Typically, for those who identify as queer, the terms lesbian, gay, and bisexual are perceived to be too limiting and/or fraught with cultural connotations they feel don’t apply to them. Some people may use queer, or genderqueer, to describe their gender identity and/or gender expression. Once considered a pejorative term, queer has been reclaimed by some LGBTQ people to describe themselves; however, it is not a universally accepted term even within the LGBTQ community.*

University Archives

A university archives serves as the institutional memory of a college or university and plays an integral role in the management of the institution's information resources in all media and formats. To fulfill the responsibilities of that role, the archives identifies, acquires, and maintains records of enduring value that chronicle the development of the institution and ensure its continued existence. The archives documents the process of institutional evolution by retaining both the evidence which shapes decisions and the decisions themselves.

Special collections

An institution or an administrative unit of a library responsible for managing materials outside the general library collection, including rare books, archives, manuscripts, maps, oral history interviews, ephemera and more.**

Manuscript collection

Although manuscript literally means handwritten, 'manuscript collection' is often used to describe collections of mixed media in which unpublished materials predominate. Manuscript collections may also include typescripts, photographs, diaries, scrapbooks, news clippings, born digital and printed works. **

Finding aid

A description of the contents of an archival resource or manuscript collection.

Primary sources

Material that contains firsthand accounts of events and that was created contemporaneous to those events or later recalled by an eyewitness. Examples of primary sources are letters, drafts of poems or novels, oral histories, and photographs.*

*From the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center's "What is LGBTQ?"

 **From the Society of American Archivists' Dictionary of Archives terminology 

This list of terms is taken from the LGBTQIA+ Community at Stanford University Guide.