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ZINES ARE
Short for magazine or fanzine, zines are self-publications, motivated by a desire for self-expression, not for profit. The following quote from Not Sorry, a zine out of the zine capital of the United States: Portland, Oregon explains what zines are, and why they're necessary."I'm not even trying to be dramatic, but to the world at large, I am a freak. My voice is downplayed, ignored and/or made into a joke in the mass of verbal and physical disapproval that bombards me every day when I leave the safety of my house or make the stupid decision to read a newspaper, magazine or turn the television on. When I am out of my element, I am told that my very existence is wrong or problematic because I am a fat, queer, mentally ill, politically radical woman with very little money and little to no regard for beauty standards and so on and so forth. But you know what? I am so NOT fucking SORRY. As long as myself and others are disrespected, invalidated, unsafe and ignored by the masses, my experiences, ideas and opinions need to be heard and I will keep on talking this shit and it is not going to be pretty. Besides, how else are these stories going to be documented? With the exception of the gay rights movement, these stories will most likely not be found in any future history books, and if they are, they will most likely be totally inaccurate. Now I know that this zine will not go much beyond the zine reading community, but this is where I have chosen to start and it's something which is always better than nothing."
Jenny San Diego. Not Sorry, #3. April, 2005. Portland, Oregon.
Since everyone asks about this, here are two articles defining differences between zines and blogs. The first "Zines Are Not Blogs," deals with the question directly, and the second, written before blogging was popular, addresses a parallel issue in its discussion of zines vs. e-mail, "Of & about Letters: Love-letters & Passed Notes & Everyday Declarations of Friendship."
BARNARD'S COLLECTION
Although zines, a rich and democratic form of self-expression that range from scholarly treatises on diverse issues to wildly creative artworks, have been around for a long time, few libraries have yet begun collecting and preserving them. Our collection development policy provides both contemporary and future researchers a unique insight into today's feminist culture. Barnard's zines are written by New York City and other urban women with an emphasis on zines by women of color. (In this case the word "woman" includes anyone who identifies as female and some who don't believe in binary gender.) The zines are personal and political publications on activism, anarchism, body image, third wave feminism, gender, parenting, queer community, riot grrrl, sexual assault, and other topics. Zines to which current Barnard students have contributed will be acquired even if they do not entirely meet the preceding guidelines.We have one collection in the stacks (between current newspapers and current periodicals) that readers can check out and otherwise use as they like. We have a second range of zines, designated as "Rare" in CLIO, that is housed in the Barnard Archives, and is meant to be a preservation/research collection. In it we've got a second copy of each of the stacks zines and also single copies of several others. "Rare" zines should be handled with care, per the same rules that apply to other special collections materials. (Provide ID, use only under supervision, no photocopying, no drinks, pencils only, etc.) We currently hold over 1700 zine issues, in part thanks to large donations of rare and wonderful zines from zinemaker/collectors Yumi Lee, Lauren Jade Martin, and Celia Perez. The San Francisco Public Library and Chris Dodge often donate zines, as well. We recently purchased Randall Tinear's collection, and he threw in his collection of Ben Is Dead for free.
Barnard students and all others who make zines are encouraged to contact Jenna Freedman if they'd like us to consider acquiring their work. You can also get in touch with us via our LiveJournal and MySpace accounts.
The Zine Collection is housed within the library, so our hours are the same as those for the rest of the 2nd floor. Those without access privileges at the Barnard library should contact the Zine Librarian to make an appointment. We want you to come visit, we just have to know you're coming so we can alert the desk attendant. Please don't be put off by this. Call 212.854.4615! E-mail zines@barnard.edu! IM: BarnardLibJenna (AIM, Google, Yahoo)!
Enter the name of the zine, omitting the initial article (a, an, the, el, la, etc...) if there is one
If you don't have a title, or want to see a list of Barnard zines (in call number order--more or less alphabetical by author) type <zines> in the search box and select Call Number Browse in the In box
Click on the number in the left column or the Full Title in the second column from the right to see the zine's record.
Once you're in the record, click on Full View to read an abstract of the zine. (This in an ongoing project, not all zines have abstracts yet.)
You can also do a KEYWORD SEARCH, combining one of these terms:
"art zine"
comix
"compilation zine"
DIY zine
"literary zine"
mamazine
"personal zine"
"political zine"
"split zine"or just <zine?> (the question mark is for truncation--it will yield results with the word "zine" or "zines" in the citation or abstract.
and your topic, e.g. <privilege>
Many zines are not yet cataloged, so if you are looking for a particular title or topic that is not in CLIO, please ask for help.
last updated 07/08/2008
by the Zine Librarian
Barnard College Library
3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
