Antifa For Kids zine

Cover of Antifa for Kids zineWhile updating the Zines for Kids page here at zinelibraries.info someone recommended Sasaki Family Zines “Antifa For Kids“, published by Just Seeds.

While it’s totally appropriate for some kids and their families, the Zines for Kids page is supposed to be a safe resource for parents and educators. Since that was the goal, it didn’t feel right to put AFK there, but a number of folks within the zine librarian community really do like this one, and think it’s a humorous way to look and talk about policing for parents and children.

As a compromise, we updated the Zines for Kids page without it, but still wanted to include it, so here it is. Libraries are not neutral, and zine libraries even more so. In both instances, though, we do strive to serve wide communities, and that sometimes means holding, sharing and talking about materials that might make some of us uncomfortable or might be deemed inappropriate in some circumstances. In this case we’re happy to have found a way to balance both the need for having super kid-friendly resources with the desire to further conversations that are happening in communities around the world about public safety.

Online Sources for Printable Activist Zines

Black Lives Matter poster

The Revolution Is Now by Joe Kusy via Printed Matter.
Used with permission of the artist.

Historically zines, pamphlets, flyers and other pieces of printed material have been part of a wide variety of political and social movements around the world. Since we are in a moment in time where a lot of folks are participating in protests standing up for Black lives and against police brutality and facism we’ve started to compile a list of websites and zine library links to printable and shareable resources for activists

A couple of notes:

  1. I/we (zinelibraries.info) can’t vouch for all of the steps taken to secure the rights to the zines put online. A lot of them will be CC, anti-copyright, copyleft, etc. but some may not be. You’ve been forewarned.
  2. If you come across something that you like or that’s useful, try to contact the creator and say “thanks” and maybe shoot them a donation if you can. Same goes for the zine libraries and distros… it costs money to keep digital resources online and alive, and it’ll always be appreciated.

Huge thanks to all the folks on the Zine Librarians email list who contributed to this.
This document most recently updated August 16 2020.

IZLD2020

July 21st is International Zine Library Day July 21st is International Zine Library Day! As a way of celebrating, we’ve planned virtual and multimodal events that span the globe and create a way for zine librarians to meet up from around the world. Three programming blocks run from UTC 20:00 to UTC 04:00 with all kinds of events, from workshops to panels to readings (and, of course, more). and if you’re missing strolling past the tables at a zine fair, check out our two tabling sessions, where you can drop in and see what our tabling zinesters and librarians have on showcase. There are also two ways to participate asynchronously if you can’t make it to the live event- you can submit to our cookzine compilation or participate in a snail mail zine swap. Before you join us, please make sure to review our Community Care Expectations. Don’t forget to tag your social media with #IZLD2020. We hope to see you there!

  • IZLD Kickoff: Zine Recipe Zine Share (UTC 20:00)
    (UTC+2) Tue 10:00 pm – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 9:00 pm – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 4:00 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 3:00 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 1:00 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 6:00 am – Sydney
  • Panel discussion: Zines and Borderlands with Luisa Martínez (UTC 21:00)
    (UTC+2) Tue 11:00 pm – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 10:00 pm – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 5:00 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 4:00 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 2:00 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 7:00 am – Sydney
  • Workshop: Teach With Zines (UTC 21:30)
    (UTC+2) Tue 11:30 pm – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 10:30 pm – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 5:30 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 4:30 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 2:30 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 7:30 am – Sydney
  • ~tabling~ (UTC 22:00)
    (UTC+2) Tue 12:00 am – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 11:00 pm – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 6:00 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 5:00 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 3:00 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 8:00 am – Sydney
  • Zinester Pet Show and Tell (UTC 23:00)
    (UTC+2) Tue 1:00 am – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 12:00 am – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 7:00 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 6:00 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 4:00 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 9:00 am – Sydney
  • Infosession: Zinewiki.com (UTC 23:30)
    (UTC+2) Tue 1:30 am – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 12:30 am – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 7:30 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 6:30 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 4:30 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 9:30 am – Sydney
  • Make a One Page Mini Zine Workshop (UTC 00:00) (NOTE: registration requires a code because of bots- enter zines4eva to register)
    (UTC+2) Tue 2:00 am – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 1:00 am – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 8:00 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 7:00 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 5:00 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 10:00 am – Sydney
  • Queer Zine Archive Project Tour,
    plus Q&A with co-founder Chris Wilde
    (UTC 00:30) (NOTE: registration requires a code because of bots- enter zines4eva to register)
    (UTC+2) Tue 2:30 am – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 1:30 am – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 8:30 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 7:30 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 5:30 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 10:30 am – Sydney
  • ~tabling~ (UTC 01:00)
    (UTC+2) Tue 3:00 am – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 2:00 am – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 9:00 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 8:00 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 6:00 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 11:00 am – Sydney
  • Panel: Zine Libraries and Zine Librarianship (UTC 02:00)
    (UTC+2) Tue 4:00 am – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 3:00 am – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 10:00 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 9:00 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 7:00 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 12:00 pm – Sydney
  • Zine reading: AUS creators (UTC 03:00)
    (UTC+2) Tue 5:00 am – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 4:00 am – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 11:00 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 10:00 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 8:00 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 1:00 pm – Sydney
  • Zine library talk with John Stevens, State Library of Victoria, AU (UTC 03:30)(UTC+2) Tue 5:30 am – Berlin
    (UTC+1) Tue 4:30 am – Edinburgh
    (UTC-4) Tue 11:30 pm – New York
    (UTC-5) Tue 10:30 pm – Chicago
    (UTC-7) Tue 8:30 pm – Los Angeles
    (UTC+10) Tue 1:30 pm – Sydney

 

Code of Ethics 11/15 – Web Version

When this was published in November 2015 we neglected to put up the web version, so here it is. Please see this entry for printable versions.


Zine Librarians Code of Ethics
Zine Librarians Interest Group, October 2015

This document is emerging from years of challenging and joyous conversations about the work we do with zines. As caretakers of these materials, in our roles as librarians and archivists—independent, public and academic alike—we believe in a set of core values that inform and guide our work. We disseminate those values here in order to communicate openly and build trust.

This document aims to support you in asking questions, rather than to provide definitive answers. Guidelines may not apply uniformly to every situation, but include discussion of disputed points. This gives zine librarians and archivists ideas of what has been challenging in the past and how other zine custodians have dealt with those issues. These points can guide conversations with users, institutions, authors, donors, and communities, including other zine librarians and archivists.

Preamble
Acquisition & Collection Development
Access
Preservation
Use
Organization
Conclusion

Continue reading

Fund Us Gently With A Chainsaw, Heather!

We’re getting ready to begin actual development of the Zine Union Catalog. Before we get started we need to put it someplace. At the moment we’re looking a a virtual hosting environment that will cost about $250 USD for a year.

Are you able to help out?

A $20 USD donation from you will:
• Get a month of server time named after yourself or your designee
• Help us get this up and running for at least 1 year
• Win our hearts and minds

If we should somehow have a surplus, any extra monies will go toward keeping this blog hosted and/or the ZL(u)C scholarship.

If you’d like to donate, you can use PayPal and send it to jennafree@bigfoot.com. Checks and cash in the mail are also welcome: 203 Rivington St. #3C / New York, NY 10002

Months claimed/open so far:

January: Partners, dearly departed feline friend to Eric and Jenna
February: Rhonda, unless she’s the one who chose March
March: Jeremy? someone asked for March, but I can’t find the deets in my email
April: Honor
May: Violet
June
July
August
September: Simon, dearly departed canine friend to Kelly W.
October
November: Linda
December

Zine Cataloging Adventures – Pt. The Second

If you’re reading this you may want to check Zine Cataloging Adventures – Pt. The First for background

OK, so I got the Koha box turned hooked up and turned on. It’s sitting on our local network at home behind a firewall for the momen. On first run, after it booted all the way, I logged in using the Root (god-like admin) account. After retreiving the passwords for the Koha admin account, I noticed that it (the Linux OS side of things) was acting a little goofy. Everything seemed to be up and running, though, so I ignored it for the time being.

Step 1 : Logging in to Koha

One of the great things about Koha is that it’s all web-based. Since I’m not a real librarian I don’t have anything to compare it to. I do know that in addition to Linux, Koha will run on Windows and Macintosh systems. I don’t think it will make coffee or donuts, though.

To login, I pointed my web browser at Koha’s IP address. The general (whole world) address is on the typical port for Apache (the web server software), 80. The Koha administrative interface, which is what the admins, and ultimately volunteer librarians will use is port 8080. So from Firefox I went to http://koha.qzap.org:8080 (not the real web address… YET)

I was presented with a very simple box with a place to put in Cardnumber (user name) and Password. Once I logged in, I got to the main screen.

Setting Up Koha

At this point I began to follow Koha – A Newbie Guide from the kohadocs website. You can (and maybe should) follow along in a seperate window or browser tab to see what I’m talking about.

I followed the Newbie guide closely, going through the set-up procedures. I skipped a couple of steps because right now they just don’t apply to us.

Item Types

When I got to “Item Types” in the guide, here’s what I set up:

Code (Koha requires up to 4 character codes for the item types. As I’ve discovered, this coresponds to 942c in the MARC records, and is very important later on)

CAS Audio Casette
CD  – Audio Compact Disc
CMIX Comix – Zine Type, Self Published
DVD DVD Video Disc
FIC Book – Fiction
GNVL Book – Graphic Novel
MAG Magazine – *NOT* Self Published
NCSC Non-Circulating Special Collection
NFIC Book – Non-Fiction
PEPH Ephemera (mostly print) inc. flyers, posters, etc.
VHS VHS Video Casette No 0.00
VYNL Vinyl Audio Recording – Phonographic Recording
ZINE Zine – Self Published

(I copied this list from Koha… sorry that the formatting is bleah 🙁 )

In the process I was able to specify things like rental charges or if something was non-circulating. I didn’t put in charges, but specified that NCSC (Non-Circulating Special Collection) and PEPH (print ephemera) were not for loan. Because of the nature of our collection, we have flyers, buttons, stickers, etc. that we preserve and archive. I thought that they should stay in the building. Our patrons will have access to them, but not take them home.

Borrower Catagories
The next section in the Newbie Guide is “Borrower Catagories.” Koha, for better or worse forces two catagories on you. I had to set up a “Children’s” catagory and an “Institutions” catagory. All told, I set up 5 catagories:

C – Childrens
I – Institutions
P – Patron (Just about everybody)
V – Volunteers (self explanitory)
CC – Core Collective (the core group of people making decisions about the library)

Everyone at set up got the same basic paramaters… Children are the exception, and I don’t anticipate a lot of “children” using the zine library, at least not at first.

Enrollment – 18 years
Enrollment Fee – Zero Bux
Age Required – 10 years old (except Institutions. they’ve got to be at least 18 😉 )

Issuing Rules

After Borrower Catagories is Issuing Rules. This was a huge pain in the ass. Basically, you have to set up check-out times, overdue fees, grace periods, etc. for each item type and borrower catagory. It’s a huge messy grid, and it took a little while for me to understand it.

At the end of the day, almost everyone gets to check out materials for 14 days. After that, there’s a 7 day grace period, and then the fines start at 25¢ a day. Patrons can also renew materials 3 times. The exceptions: Institutions get to check stuff out for 45 days, and the overdue fines are$1.00.

MARC Stuff

I’ll go into details about getting MARC records set up in Pt. The Third. Because I’m not a real librarian, this is a lot of gobbledygook to me that I’ve got a couple of real librarians helping me with. If you’re a cataloger, or have lots of expirience with this, please chime in in the comments.

See you in Zine Cataloging Adventures – The MARC of Dooooom!

Zine Cataloging Adventures – Pt. The First

A little background:

The Queer Zine Archive Project has been around for just over 4 years. We are primarily a web-based archive. We have a real interest in moving to a circulating collection, and also merging with other local (Wisconsin-based) zine librarians to cover more than just queer zines. In addition to being zinesters and collector/archivists, Chris, my partner and other co-founder of QZAP and I are both kind of technerds. While we work mostly with Macintosh systems, I’ve been dorking about with Linux for 10+years. I’m not a great linux user or an admin really, but I can get around OK. Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to post about my expiriences using F/OSS* software to get a zine cataloging system built for an independent zine library. It’s a work in progress… mistakes will be made… things will be learned…

*F/OSS Software is Free/Open Source software. We try to use this so that others can take our tools and make something for themselves.

The Setup:
Hopefully this will read like a recipe for delicous vegan cupcakes. Made with real vegans.

Ingrediants – Hardware:
800 + zines (mostly queer, but a lot of feminist, cookzines, anarcho and environmental ones thrown in, as well)
15-20 books (some about zines, others about subculture, punk, DIY, etc.)
1 barcode gun with bulk ammo. 1 Pentium 3 1U server (768MB RAM, 60GB Hard Drive, onboard NIC) that an old housemate left behind. (i.e. cheap, scavenged hardware… the kind you pay $30 for on CraigsList)

Ingrediants – Software:
CentOS 4.5 (A variant of Red Hat Linux) http://www.centos.org/

Koha ILS (open source ILS software, mostly based on the Perl programming/scripting language) http://www.koha.org

The Process

Back in September Chris was in San Francisco at the SF Zinefest. While he was out of town, I though I’d surprise him by getting the Koha box built. Since I work with lots of computer people, I asked my friend Mat to put it together. I brought him the box and told him what software I wanted installed. Linux, Koha, and Webmin, for web based administration of the machine. A week later he returned it to me, and I took him and his girlfriend out for Tiki drinks. After that, the box spent the rest of the autumn in our dining room. In December it moved to the floor of our office. On 27 December, 2007, I cleaned my office. on 28 December, I fired the Koha box up.

The machine has 7 fans in it. It sounds like a Cesna is in my office getting ready for take off whenever i turn it on. But it’s working… 🙂

In Pt. The Second I will talk about the system set up and how we’ve got it configured.