Zines and the Archival Tradition
Althea and I presenting at the "Preserving Our
Cultural Heritage" conference in Bloomington,
IN, March 6, 2011.
Cultural Heritage" conference in Bloomington,
IN, March 6, 2011.
(With Althea Lazzaro: Winter 2010-present)
This paper was written for an archiving class, and presented at a conference in April 2011 (see Professional Development). It has recently been published in the open-access, peer-reviewed online Journal of Western Archives.
Media: research paper, presentation, journal article [in process for submission]
Primary skills developed: Research, writing, editing, public speaking, facilitation, networking, collaboration
--
Paper Abstract:
"There is a current movement amongst zine archives toward collaboration and the standardization of policies and practices. As a relatively new area of archival collecting, zine archives are progressing through core archival issues at a rapid pace; this progression provides an opportunity for them to redefine traditional archival practices in relation to their specific needs.
The community-based nature of their collections compel zine archivists and librarians to include their unique audiences in the mapping of traditional practices onto the organic structures of their largely grassroots organizations: they are translators and interpreters between archival theory and this grassroots practice. Ideally, this results in a symbiotic balance by which the archives invite and sustain community involvement, while the community benefits from the formal organization and resulting accessibility provided by established, time-tested library and archival traditions.
In this paper, we discuss the new movement within archival practice that is arising to support the community-inclusive and decentralized work going on in zine archives and libraries around the country, using the Zine Archive and Publishing Project (ZAPP) in Seattle, the Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland, and the Barnard Zine Library as illustrations. We review the special challenges that zines, as a form, present for the archivist, and consider the opportunities for reflection and redefinition that these challenges present for more traditional archival communities. Our research draws on interviews with members of these archives, zine community documentation about the process of archiving zines, and traditional archival scholarship and theory."
Conference Presentation:
Preserving Our Cultural Heritage:
A Conference for Students and Beginning Professionals on Archives, Rare Books, and Special Collections
March 5-6, 2011
Herman B. Wells Library
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Publication:
Woodbrook, Rachel and Lazzaro, Althea (2013). "The Bonds of Organization: Zine Archives and the Archival Tradition," Journal of Western Archives: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/westernarchives/vol4/iss1/6
Significance:
The understanding one gains through reflection and research is a crucial justification for the existence of establishments such as Information Schools, or indeed the MLIS degree itself. At its best, this type of intellectual exploration can inform not only one’s individual beliefs and practices, but also communication and conversation within the field.
Writing this paper allowed my co-author and I to meet and interview people working in zine archives, gaining a better understanding of an area where there is great potential for cultural preservation, and yet little scholarly work extant. In integrating the perspectives we learned from them with more traditional scholarship, we gained a clearer idea of how to adapt theory for practical application, as well as the ways in which tradition might support innovation, and innovation enliven tradition.
Further, by bringing the paper into the conference process, we were able to hone not only our presentation skills, but also our understanding of the importance of bringing ideas developed in class to bear practically on the field, and (through the hour-long discussion we facilitated at the conference), how developing such ideas as fully as possible allows one to move beyond individual mastery of a skill or an argument, and into thinking about strategies for bringing these ideas into a larger arena where they can be refined by exposure to a variety of perspectives and critiques. We are excited at the opportunity to continue discovering more about the academic publication process as well; knowledge of the submission side of things can only benefit an academic librarian, who may be working with faculty to compile research for publication, or seeking to publish their own work.
This paper was written for an archiving class, and presented at a conference in April 2011 (see Professional Development). It has recently been published in the open-access, peer-reviewed online Journal of Western Archives.
Media: research paper, presentation, journal article [in process for submission]
Primary skills developed: Research, writing, editing, public speaking, facilitation, networking, collaboration
--
Paper Abstract:
"There is a current movement amongst zine archives toward collaboration and the standardization of policies and practices. As a relatively new area of archival collecting, zine archives are progressing through core archival issues at a rapid pace; this progression provides an opportunity for them to redefine traditional archival practices in relation to their specific needs.
The community-based nature of their collections compel zine archivists and librarians to include their unique audiences in the mapping of traditional practices onto the organic structures of their largely grassroots organizations: they are translators and interpreters between archival theory and this grassroots practice. Ideally, this results in a symbiotic balance by which the archives invite and sustain community involvement, while the community benefits from the formal organization and resulting accessibility provided by established, time-tested library and archival traditions.
In this paper, we discuss the new movement within archival practice that is arising to support the community-inclusive and decentralized work going on in zine archives and libraries around the country, using the Zine Archive and Publishing Project (ZAPP) in Seattle, the Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland, and the Barnard Zine Library as illustrations. We review the special challenges that zines, as a form, present for the archivist, and consider the opportunities for reflection and redefinition that these challenges present for more traditional archival communities. Our research draws on interviews with members of these archives, zine community documentation about the process of archiving zines, and traditional archival scholarship and theory."
Conference Presentation:
Preserving Our Cultural Heritage:
A Conference for Students and Beginning Professionals on Archives, Rare Books, and Special Collections
March 5-6, 2011
Herman B. Wells Library
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Publication:
Woodbrook, Rachel and Lazzaro, Althea (2013). "The Bonds of Organization: Zine Archives and the Archival Tradition," Journal of Western Archives: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/westernarchives/vol4/iss1/6
Significance:
The understanding one gains through reflection and research is a crucial justification for the existence of establishments such as Information Schools, or indeed the MLIS degree itself. At its best, this type of intellectual exploration can inform not only one’s individual beliefs and practices, but also communication and conversation within the field.
Writing this paper allowed my co-author and I to meet and interview people working in zine archives, gaining a better understanding of an area where there is great potential for cultural preservation, and yet little scholarly work extant. In integrating the perspectives we learned from them with more traditional scholarship, we gained a clearer idea of how to adapt theory for practical application, as well as the ways in which tradition might support innovation, and innovation enliven tradition.
Further, by bringing the paper into the conference process, we were able to hone not only our presentation skills, but also our understanding of the importance of bringing ideas developed in class to bear practically on the field, and (through the hour-long discussion we facilitated at the conference), how developing such ideas as fully as possible allows one to move beyond individual mastery of a skill or an argument, and into thinking about strategies for bringing these ideas into a larger arena where they can be refined by exposure to a variety of perspectives and critiques. We are excited at the opportunity to continue discovering more about the academic publication process as well; knowledge of the submission side of things can only benefit an academic librarian, who may be working with faculty to compile research for publication, or seeking to publish their own work.
