Zine Authors' Attitudes about Inclusion in Public and Academic Library Collections

Devon Cahill

ET

Hays, A. (2018). Zine Authors’ Attitudes about Inclusion in Public and Academic Library Collections: A Survey-Based Study. Library Quarterly, 88(1), 60–78. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1086/694869

Summary

This article addresses the growing presence of zine collections in public and academic libraries but considers how the zine authors themselves feel about the phenomenon. As the author notes, “at least 113 public and academic libraries across the United States currently have zine collections…” but there is not any current research on how zine authors feel about this trend.

 

The author defines a zine as, “...handmade paper publications with small print runs, are sold at or slightly above cost, and are intentionally nonprofessional.” Because the publication is decentralized and they are not usually published for profit, there is no standard format for a zine and authors are sometimes hard to track down. The author then quickly traces the origins of the zine to the science fiction authors of 1930s to the punk zines of the 1970s to the riot grrrl zines of the 1990s to make the case that zines are inherently counter-cultural and serve as a valuable archive for these underground movements and philosophies. This is where the connection between zines and libraries takes shape.

 

So what did the authors feel about their, by design, ephemeral and underground works finding their place in libraries? Not surprisingly, a seemingly large percentage (29%) were strongly against having their real names be included in the archive. Though the author does concede that around 30% of respondents wrote their zines using a pseudonym. Of the remaining 70%, almost all were happy to have their real name in the catalog. A large percentage (66%) felt that they would be uncomfortable discovering there work had been digitized and made available to download without their permission, but 71% said they would be excited if they were asked.

 

In conclusion, the author notes that “zine authors favor access over privacy” and would generally be happy to be included in a collection. However, being asked for permission was a key factor in this acceptance.

 

Evaluation

Having been involved in the punk scene and a zine creator myself, I can corroborate the concerns of the authors here. When writing these, I certainly would never have considered that they could have an impact beyond the community they were intended for. So, it might be a little unnerving to discover one of these works available for download in a collection somewhere. At the same time, the ideal of equity in access has always been central to punk politics so the notion that you could produce something that anyone could access digitally is quite appealing.

 

In terms of collections, I can imagine the headache that the pseudonyms would cause catalogers and archivists, especially armed with the knowledge that most zine authors would be disappointed to find their zine digitized and available to download without their consent. Personally, since zines are non-profit by nature, open access through an archive would just be the logical extension of this aesthetic.

What criteria do consumer health librarians use to develop library collections?

Washechek, Evan

References: Papadakos, J., Trang, A., Wiljer, D., Mis, C. C., Cyr, A., Friedman, A. J., & ... Catton, P. (2014). What criteria do consumer health librarians use to develop library collections? a phenomenological study. Journal Of The Medical Library Association, 102(2), 78-84. doi:10.3163/1536-5050.102.2.003

This article was a fascinating read, it detailed problems with Collection Development Policies (CDP’s) in Consumer Health Libraries. Many problems in this field (like many libraries) was the quickness with which their patrons and potential patrons would go to Google to find facts about their own health. This is obviously problematic in any field, but the article notes just how much out of date, incorrect or otherwise malicious information is on the internet. Patrons have either no additional information or inaccurate and potentially dangerous information. The point of their study was to have Consumer Health Librarians create their CDP’s and then compare them to their actual description of the Collection process. This would hopefully display any disparities and point out the need to increase the inclusiveness of different policies in their Collection Development Plans. Collection Development Plans becoming more accurate and reflective of actual effort may lead to a host of positive outcomes including additional funding, better allocation of resources and being a boon for similar libraries looking to compare policies. After painstaking research, interviews and questionnaires the authors found that the libraries wrote CDP’s that included all of the steps they went through, but that they left out a majority of the criteria they utilized for collection development in reality. It was the author’s suggestion that work be done in the future to create parity in Collection Management Policies to actual standards and effort.

Reflection

These studies, even though not everyone who will be reading it will be affiliated with the medical field, I found it particularly valuable. This is mostly because of the comparisons between the standards that the Librarians took with regard to selection and what they actually noted in their CDP’s. I seriously wonder if my collections librarians would be able to completely and totally list all of the criteria they have. I have in the past asked my media Librarian and she has told me at least 10 standards she has, however there have been about 3-4 standards that have floated into and out of the list with seemingly no specific relevance. If these standards aren’t specifically listed it becomes very difficult for others who work in the library to tell patrons what the standards are when they ask why the 14^th season of their favorite show isn’t on the shelf. It also is very important for official documents such as a library’s policy manual.

Collect or Curate?

Mitchell, Ruth

Mardis, Marcia A. (2015). Collect or curate? Open education resources and the future of the school library catalog. School Library Monthly, 31(4), 29-31.

With more and more Open Education Resources (OER) available, there is a need for teacher librarians to curate information for students and teachers.  In addition, school librarians can curate the information to provide access to up-to-date and accurate information.  According the American Association of School Librarians, “the digital content has probably become just as important as the print materials; the increasing reliance on OERs will only increase the need for the development of a strategy for onsite curation of existing and locally created material”. Mardis and her associates created Web2MARC software that creates a MARC record from the URL’s webpage that can be downloaded to the school’s library catalog. In addition, it matches the resource to CCSS and NGSS. According to the article, "the school library catalog can be a vehicle for promoting interdisciplinary connections".

Using Web2MARC sounds like an easy way to add "connections" and standards to the school library catalog for all users.