Zines organization in the news

The Boston Globe has a great article about libraries that collect zines, and how hard it is to make zines conform to how libraries are set up – both in content and in design. The topics in one zine may be incredibly varied, and there is no standard structure for making a zine, so it may be bound with gum, or written in blood.

It’s something I’ve thought a lot about. From the conservationist standpoint, there’s the question of maintaining an item that is made using a photocopier and has candy taped into it. Also how to shelve the zine. From the cataloger standpoint, there’s a list of questions to be asked, from finding out when the zine was published (not necessarily written on the zine) to how to describe the subjects written about.

I think the fact that we can’t pigeonhole zines into pre-existing standards is exactly what makes them fantastic – malleable and indescribable. I’m OK with this dissonance. Well, I might scan the contents, candy and all. But then I’m OK with it.

(My currently favorite zine.)