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What are Zines?
What are zines?
- Zines are self-published and self distributed in small runs. They embody a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ethos that empowers individuals to utilize the resources at-hand to independently create and share information.
- Zines are not made for economic gain, but to share information and art. They are cheaply produced, and disseminated through trading or sold at accessible price points.
- They are ephemeral works, usually photocopied, handmade, and highly visual.
- Zines can be about anything! They can be educational, personal, political, and/or creative. As non-commercial works, they can facilitate discourse amongst those whose information needs and interests are not met or represented by commercial publishers.
Why collect zines at WWU?
- Zines challenge the scholarly publishing status-quo which has become increasingly characterized by corporate consolidation (Crotty, 2023), threatening small and independent presses.
- Zines counter harmful stigmas, beliefs, and assumptions about marginalized populations.
- Zines present one opportunity for Western Libraries to divert funds from multinational publishing corporations towards local information creators or zinesters.
- Zines are a low-barrier way for students and community members to share art and information with each other.
Why make zines?
- Zines are an accessible way to share your ideas, teach about something you're passionate about, and/or entertain readers with your creativity.
- Make zines to get offline and retain ownership of your intellectual property.
- Make zines to share with friends and family. Or better yet, make zines with friends and family.
- Make zines because your point of view matters and you can!
Why use them in research and teaching?
- Zines can be used as primary sources.
- Zines connect students with marginalized voices, often absent from scholarly discourse.
- Zines serve as a creative alternative to a research paper assignment.
- Zines engage students with visual rhetoric.