University of Iowa Fanzine Archives

:Are you looking for Ming Wathne's Fanzine Archives?
The University of Iowa maintains a Special Collection focused on media fanzine fandom.The media fanzine collection is part of a larger fandom-based collection maintained by the University of Iowa. The word 'Fandom' in this collection is used to encompass a wide range of not only media fandoms, but also science fiction- and fantasy-based fandoms. The collection also include the papers of Nicholas Myer, who directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The finding aid for the entire Fandom Special Collections can be found here. It is often referred to as the Fanzine Archives as a large portion of the collection contains materials from Ming Wathne's original Fanzine Archives. However, the collection consists of donations from multiple fans, including Sandy Herrold, Celeste Hotaling-Lyons, Morgan Dawn, Susan Hill, Debbie Hoover, Marian Mendez, Laura Leach, and Lynda Mendoza. The collection also houses Rusty Hevelin's collection. 
The Special Collections Department is currently involved in a major cooperative effort with the OTW's Fan Culture Preservation Project to receive donations of fanzines. Fans can donate their zines under either their real name or pseudonym. Fans wishing to make anonymous donations can do so by becoming part of the OTW fanzine collection.See Organization for Transformative Works Fanzine and Fan Fiction Collection. Some FCPP donations are housed as separate, named collections, according to the wishes of the person donating. For example, see Morgan Dawn The Professionals Circuit Library and Fanzine Collection.
In addition to fanzines, the collection contains sample songvids on DVD and a small amount of fan art.
==History==
The University began collecting general science fiction fanzines in 2004, but the first large donation of media fan fiction fanzines was made in 2008 by Sandy Herrold. Predating Sandy's donation is M.Horvat's Science Fiction Fanzine Collection which consists of over 15,000 general sci-fi fanzines dating back to the 1920s. It is one of the largest collections of science-fiction fanzines in the world. Sandy had been searching for a suitable home for her Blake's 7 zine collection and researched several facilities before selecting the University of Iowa. When the time came for Ming's collection to be rehomed, the OTW followed suit and helped place her Fanzine Archives into the Special Collections.
In June 2009 the OTW announced a joint project with the University, the Fan Culture Preservation Project, to facilitate the donation of media fanzines. Donations are ongoing.
==Contents==
Fandoms currently represented in the archives: almost every TV and movie based fandom, along with a small amount of literary based fan fiction such as Sherlock Holmes and Tolkien. Media based fandoms range from the A-Team to Beauty and the Beast to Xena. All genres are represented:gen, het, slash, and a small amount of RPS fiction. There is a heavy focus on both Star Wars and Star Trek fandom. In 2010, Morgan Dawn contributed her Professionals slash Circuit Library collection. She also contributed donated songvids DVDs from multiple vidders along with a small amount of fan art.
See: Fandom Related Collections.
See also: Fan Culture Preservation Project Collections.
==Access==
===Visiting in Person===
The Fandom Collection is open to both the general public and researchers at Special Collection reading room. Materials cannot be loaned via the Inter-Library loan program nor can they be checked out. 
The Collection seeks to preserve both the form of the items as well as the content; standard Special Collections precautions and access restrictions are in place to ensure the preservation of the materials. As such, care is taken with the handling of all items. Cell phones, tablets and laptops are allowed for note taking and photographic copying within the Reading Room. Pens and notepads are not allowed, but pencils and note paper are available. Purses, bags and coats also are not allowed within the reading area, but there are small-ish lockers for storage. To make the best use of your time, schedule your visit at least a few days in advance. First browse or search the on-line catalog for items of interest. Include that list in your request to visit, along with the day(s) and time of your visit. That way, the items of interest are ready for you when you arrive. 
Once you arrive at the Reading Room and have placed any personal items in a locker, an assistant will escort you to your assigned table and bring you your pre-requested items. A workstation is available within the Reading Room for additional searches of the on-line catalog. 
===Making a Request===
Not able to visit the Library in person or interested in a story or article from a bound or fragile publication? Make an Access and Reproduction request; a limited number of copies can be made and mailed for a small fee. Once the Conservation Department receives the request, it will assess if the publication can be imaged without damaging the original. If they believe it can, the publication will be sent to digital preservation for imaging into a TIF file. If not, your request will be declined. There is a fee for this service, covering the Library's labor costs. Another and perhaps more cost effective option, especially if you cannot visit the Library, is to hire a local grad student to photograph for you the publication of interest. Email the Special Collection for more information.
None of the materials are currently available in digital format, however according to the Fan Culture Preservation Project FAQ: "OTW and Iowa will be exploring ways to digitize some of these materials, so that fans who want to see them will have access, even if they can't get to Iowa. We hope to reach many of the authors of these stories to get their permission to share their work more widely online."~FAQ from the OTW's Fan Culture Preservation Project.
Due to early fandom's usage of full legal names on many of the fanzines, the Special Collection currently lists only zine titles in its online finding aids.
===Collection Taxonomy===
Whether making a request for a visit in person or to request a reproduction, the following information is needed to help ensure the right item is retrieved.
*MsC number - the 4-digit number corresponding to the named collection
*Box number - which box within the named collection
*Item name - title or description of the publicaton, art work or whatever is being requested.
==Digitization==
In 2015, the collection began digitizing fanzinesUniversity of Iowa Libraries Begin to Digitize Decades of Fanzines Library Journal, July 2015
:The library’s digitization efforts are led by Digital Project Librarian Laura Hampton. She’s just a few weeks into the first leg of the project, digitizing some 10,000 titles from the collection of Rusty Hevelin, a collector and genre aficionado whose collection came to the library in 2012. You can follow along with Hampton’s work on the Hevelin Collection tumblr.
 
: Once the titles are digitized, they’ll become the basis of a searchable database that UI is counting on volunteers to develop through crowdsourced transcription, a method that has proven successful for other similar projects under the auspices of UI Libraries’ DIYHistory project. 
Peter Balestrieri is the Curator of Science Fiction and Popular Culture Collections for UI Libraries
: That database, Balestrieri hopes, will be a valuable resource for the growing number of scholars interested in studying not just science fiction, but the way that fans interact with the genre and how those interactions have evolved over time.
: “These fandoms are increasingly impossible to ignore,” said Balestrieri “And the move to study them seriously grows with every PhD candidate that gains permission to write her dissertation on zombies.”
==Fandom Reaction==
The majority of media fandom is supportive of the concept of archiving fanzines and supports the Special Collections:
A few fans (especially zine publishers and contributors) have raised objections:
Others point out that since the donations are coming from fellow fans that fandom communities should talk amongst themselves and reach a consensus as to how they'd like their corner of history to be preserved - while understanding that fandom is a world-wide community that consists of many people, many nations and cultures, many fandoms and many differing ideas of what it means to be a "fan" and part of a "fan community."
==Fan Road Trips To The Archives==
Since the Special Collection has opened in 2009, several fans have taken road trips (one might even call them pilgrimages) to the Special Collections Fanzine Archives. 
* March 2011: a detailed report by darksnowfalling can be found here.backup URLs of darksnowfalling's visit here, here, and here , accessed March 23, 2013. An excerpt: :"I am a huge Star Trek fan; specifically, I am a fan of the idea of a romantic relationship between Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock. I'm here to read old fanzines in order to gain a better understanding of my fandom's history in the days before the Internet." darksnowfalling's statement on the admission forms as reported in her travelogue to the fanzine archives: backup URL.
* May 2014: Aralias wrote a complementary report in 2014 about her trip to the archive. This report can be found 
*2017: Podcasters Meandtheeandthree, Starsky & Hutch fans, talk about their trip to the Fanzine Archives.
from that podcast:
==Read More==
* OTW's announcement of the project, June 17, 2009.
*University of Iowa Libraries acquires thousands of science fiction 'fanzines', July 5, 2009, Associated Press (article is now fee only, accessed via the website's archives)
*UI Libraries acquire 'Star Trek,' 'Star Wars' fanzines, Iowa City Press Citizen, July 2, 2009. (article is now fee only, accessed via the website's archives)
*UI Acquires Science Fiction 'Fanzines' Collection, July 5, 2009
* Zine Month in July 2012 - The University hosted a zine month, specially featuring a look at select Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Star Wars. See also the tweets made on the zines BAFFLEGAB #2, and Daring Attempt.
*In 2016, the University put on an exhibit for the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek: ; ; ; 
*UI writers cite fan fiction as inspiration to pursue creative writing, a 2024 news article about how fanfiction - and by extension, access to the collection at the University of Iowa, inspires its writing class students to continue writing as a career.
==Other Similar Academic Collections==
:See also Fanzine Library.
The University of Iowa is not the first or the only institution to collect fanzines. Starting in the late 1990s and early to mid 2000s, universities began collecting fanzines and making them part of their Special Collections. Often these fan fiction fanzines are part of a larger collection focusing on popular culture. As such university 'fanzine libraries' are more like archives than lending/circulating libraries with access restrictions and limited or no circulation.
Examples of other academic fanzine libraries include 
*Bowling Green State University's Browne Popular Culture Library
*University of California Riverside's Fanzine Collection
*Susan Smith-Clark's Fanzine Collection
*One National Gay and Lesbian Archive K/S Collection
*Temple University's Enterprising Women Collection
*Texas A&M Cushing Library Fanzine Collection has many print collections. TAMU is also home to the Sandy Hereld Memorial Digitized Media Fanzine Collection.
==References==
Category:Academia
Category:Zine Fandom
Category:2020 Featured Articles
Category:Print Zine Archives