Zine Digitization Project

Patrick Sperry

PS

Bossaller, Jenny, Martin, Dylan, & Smith, Seth. (2018). Digitizing Local Zines in Public Libraries. Public Libraries, 57(6), 23.

This article is focused on a specific digitization project (called the Community History Archive, or CHA) at Daniel Boone Regional Library (DBRL) a Missouri library system. The focus of the project is to digitize and preserve local do-it-yourself (DIY) magazines, or "zines". What differentiates a zine from a tradition magazine is that a zine is often created by a single person and printed, stapled, and distributed independently. Zines can be of any topic, but often have a local focus in subject matter. Many libraries have zine collections. The New York Public Library possesses 136 zines in their collection, and explain "Collecting zines in libraries is important because they document contemporary popular culture, making them important primary source material for future scholarship, plus they’re a lot of fun!” ("Zines at the New York Public Library," 2020). 

The digitization project was undertaken without a grant and items were catalogued with an open-source software platform called Collective Access, which was easily integrated into the library's website and was also mobile-friendly. Although the software was free, some of the stumbling blocks outlined in the article concern knowledge, hardware and project time horizons. Working knowledge of HTML/XML is needed to produce a professional-looking database, scanners and photo-editing software are required, and a time horizon of 3-5 years to complete the project is a realistic projection.

Reference

Zines at The New York Public Library. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.nypl.org/about/divisions/general-research-division/periodicals-room/zines

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Digital Heritage, Local Connections, and Library Collections

McGuire, Morgan

Farkas, M. (2016, May).  Our Digital Heritage. American Libraries, 28.

            Creating Library Connections through Digital Heritage

I recently came across and interesting article in the latest issue of American Libraries.  The article written by Meredith Farkas, entitled “Our Digital Heritage” discusses the value of local heritage and the libraries role in preserving community history.  The author states that many patrons and community members have a rich ties to their local communities and would be willing to share this heritage with local libraries.  In an effort emphasize connection development, some libraries are offering free digitization of photographs and memorabilia in an effort to get patrons evolved with local history and preservation.

Many multi-functional copy machines have scanning and digitizing options.  Low cost hand held scanners are also an available option for public libraries.  For an relatively low investment, libraries can offer to scan and digitize photographs, letters, newspapers, and community information which can become part of a “digitized local history” either online or ready for display in the library.  This is an active way to get patrons into the library and connected with community. 

Bringing local history on line or into the library is a project that goes beyond regional areas.  “In many states and regions, libraries and other organizations have banded together to form digital public library services hubs to consolidate collections from diverse organizations in their area”.  Following the lead of the Digital Public Library of America, smaller libraries can contribute diverse digital collections that add to the cultural heritage of local areas, states, or the entire country.  This is a super example of creating strong collections through strong connections.

What to Collect? Building a local history reference collection at your library

Johnson, Stacey

 Marquis, Kathy & Waggener, Leslie (July 29, 2015). What To Collect?: Building a local history reference collection at your library. American Libraries Magazine.org. Retrieved from http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2015/07/29/what-to-collect/

• This article covers how to create or expand your library's local history collection. It talks about what type of materials to add and what materials not to add. It also talks about a library policy covering these items and what you might want to have spelled out in that policy.
  
  • This is an excerpt from Local History Reference Collection for Public Libraries, by Kathy Marquis and Leslie Waggener (ALA Editions, 2015).
• I found this article interesting as we have a decent size local history collection, but are always looking to expand it. The article lists different types of material that you might want to add to a collection and material types that might not work well in a library collection (but would work if you want to make an archive collection). It also talked about creating a policy for what materials will be collected and which won’t and how. I think the book would be very interesting to read.

Preserving Cultural Heritage: Considerations for Librarians & Information Professionals

Unger, Amy

Roy, L. l. (2015). Indigenous cultural heritage preservation. IFLA Journal, 41(3), 192-203.

Summary:

Author, Loriene Roy, is herself a member of the White Earth Reservation, a member of the Minnesota (USA) Chipewa Tribe; she is Anishinabe.  Her experience as an Indigenous person contributes to her literature review of  Indigenous cultural heritage preservation, as does her position as faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, USA.  Her review provides summary of the current literature (found to be "still rather sparse and underdeveloped"), albeit still emerging in the field of Library & Information Science, regarding preservation of cultural heritage, as well as statements of the library professional's place in such work; how to attain guidance (such as from IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations); policy documents that are adhered to; and research methodologies/theory.  
Regarding collection development, libraries (as information settings) are recognized as connected to the preservation of cultural heritage from several vantage points:

1. They collect (and house) cultural heritage in its many formats, e.g. print, media, and digital.
2. They create and organize records of cultural heritage, i.e. through the processes of cataloging and classification.
3. They assist and shape a user's understanding of a cultural heritage by providing access to records through specific policies, e.g. employing digitization).
4. They provide location for cultural heritage to be expressed.

Perhaps most interesting is the recognition, noted through review of "Access and control of Indigenous knowledge in libraries and archives: Ownership and future use" (Anderson, 2005) in Correcting Course: Rebalancing copyright for libraries in the national and international arena, out of Columbia University, in light of the paradigm shift occurring in libraries: power is being gained by the people as their voices become heard through the library.  What will this mean for people whom have traditionally been subjected to archives, as they now/soon become able to "gain a recognized voice and question not only status within the archive, but the authority of the archive as a centre of interpretation" (Roy, 2015:193).

It is recommended that an adoption of non-western research methodologies is likely necessary for future successes in preserving cultural heritage; there is a concept of the Cultural Interface - written about by M. Nakata (2002) in IFLA Journal 28(5/6): 281-289 - which is constantly negotiated by Indigenous peoples: the place where their Indigenous lifeways and western viewpoints come together" (Roy, 2015: 197).  And yet, barriers that lie in the means for access to digitization/money/reliable and affordable technologies are as much of concern as the development of sensitivities regarding this work.

The author points to several free online resources that primarily highlight children's and youth collection pieces (this also leads to understanding of the absence in publications of the needs of adult library patrons, and is part of the impetus that led to the US campaign, "We Need Diverse Books" in 2015).  Among the resources are two through the ALA (American Library Association) website, i.e. the TRAILS (2008) notebook, and the Guide to Building Support for Your Tribal Library Toolkit.  One of IFLA's key publications on cultural heritage, the IFLA Disaster Preparedness and Planning manual, is also available for free online.

Roy concludes the literature review with recommendations for further work in preparing librarians to, essentially, be more culturally competent, and prepared - through acquiring knowledge of the specific techniques and processes involved in cultural heritage - for when the Indigenous communities reach out to libraries, archives, and museums "as settings with staff knowledgeable in cultural preservation" (Roy, 2015: 199).

Evaluation:

In addition to my affinity for library experiences of my past, I also look to the future through this reading.  Experiences of my past include visits to exhibits such as that of the State Indian Museum in Sacramento, CA and the Yosemite Museum, which:

has displays that interpret the cultural history of Yosemite's native Miwok and Paiute people from 1850 to the present. Demonstrations of basket-weaving, beadwork, and traditional games are presented. The reconstructed Indian Village of Ahwahnee behind the museum is always open. The art gallery is open periodically and often exhibits pieces from the Yosemite Museum collection.

It is my humble opinion that through explorations such as this, about the care-taking of cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples, I may become a better librarian in service of any, and all, people in the local community that I may serve.  Nonetheless, it is fun, too, to imagine myself as still possibly able to connect with such valuable work as archiving and curating in the second half of my career.  I find it inspiring any time that I see such works going on in public, K-12, special, or academic libraries.  I look forward to this including more of a community's local peoples, and not just authors of published books.