Overheard a librarian talking about zine preservation at a coffee shop

I was sitting at this little cafe in Portland last week, and two librarians were chatting at the next table. One said her library has a special zine collection from the 90s that's literally falling apart because the paper was cheap and acidic. She mentioned they're scanning them all now to save the content, same way they do old letters and photos. Made me think about my own zines and how I should maybe scan copies of my early ones before they get too yellowed, you know? Has anyone else here digitized their old zine collection for preservation?

2 comments

2 Comments

richardharris3d ago

My old zines are probably held together with dried coffee rings and wishful thinking at this point... might be worth getting them scanned before they just turn into dust in a box.

robert2753d ago

Nah man, coffee rings just add character. Adds to the whole "this was made in a basement at 2am" vibe. You could probably start a Kickstarter selling them as "vintage artisanal abstract espresso art" and some hipster would pay fifty bucks for one. But seriously though, get a flatbed scanner and digitize that stuff before a sneeze turns half of it into confetti. Your future self will thank you when you're not trying to reassemble that punk band interview from shredded pulp.