jessie lymn

In January 2009 I co-presented this paper with John Stevens, librarian at the State Library of Victoria at RAILS (Research Applications in Information and Library Studies) in Sydney.

Abstract

This paper considers a unique subcultural form - the zine - and examines two Australian examples of zine collections, one informal collection at the Octapod, a community arts space in Newcastle, NSW, and another collection in the Rare Printed section of the State Library of Victoria. These two collections have emerged over the past decade as significant collections of zines in Australia. Both collections are also currently the subject of research projects being undertaken in library and information studies institutions in Australia; research which aims to add to the small but growing body of knowledge of the field from an Australian perspective.

The paper is a collaborative effort between Jessie Lymn, a recent graduate of the University of Technology, Sydney’s Master of Arts (Information & Knowledge Management) program, and John Stevens, Librarian at the State Library of Victoria with responsibility for the library’s zine collection.

Jessie’s Master’s project developed a preservation and access strategy for the Octapod zine collection, undertaking extensive research and analysis into current practice in zine collection, and comparing the activities of current zine collections world wide. The State Library of Victoria’s zine collection was one she examined, and John has further expanded on the collection in this paper to provide a case study comparison to the Newcastle collection.

In July 2009 I will present a paper discussing the challenges that zine collections present to institutional and non-institutional archives at AERI in Los Angeles.

Abstract

Drawing on the distinct knowledge domains of cultural studies and information and archival studies, this paper creates interdisciplinary conversations and interactions. It shares knowledge generated in different domains and challenges ways of thinking about culture, memory, social practice and the everyday through an examination of how people and institutions collect and archive objects – in this case zines. Indefinable by form or content alone, zines create communities and networks. They are consumed and produced, and re‐produced and re‐consumed. They tell stories of lives and thoughts, and record and create memories. Zines are literary pieces, art works, personal disclosures and social currency. Zine cultures resist and challenge the archive through their ephemerality and lack of shared definition. This paper considers zines and issues of definition, and examines two significant Australian zine collections; one informal collection at the Octapod Association, a community arts space in Newcastle, NSW, and another collection in the Rare Printed section of the State Library of Victoria. These two collections, similar in size, age and content, have grown organically over the past decade, and are in differing states of preservation and access. Both collections challenge the spaces around them, through their form, content and surrounding cultures.