PRAISE FOR ZINE GUIDE

"This magazine fills a gap. It is very difficult to locate what is out there in so many specialty areas. There is a ton of information here."
- Richard Vettese, Collection Development Specialist, Grand Rapids Public Library; Grand Rapids, MI

"An invaluable guide for every librarian interested in contemporary alternative culture."
- John Held, Jr., director, Modern Realism Archive & Gallery; San Francisco

"Every issue...presents a time capsule of the underground."
- John Sewell, Baltimore City Paper

The American Heritage online dictionary describes a "zine" as, "An inexpensively produced, self-published, underground publication." Today's zines hail from a variety of historical antecedents, such as Thomas Paine and other revolutionary pamphleteers, science fiction fanzines, radical press of the 1930's and 1960's, self-publishers and comic books. Sharing a similar voice of dissent with almost all of the above, zines represent a free space for articulating ideas that are traditionally pushed to the margins.

Due to the conglomeration of media outlets that continues to diminish the number of sources from which people obtain their information, zines have become increasingly important documents. They are void of government censorship and advertising interests. And, as they age, zines become invaluable primary resources on subjects ranging from punk rock music to everyday female life. In order for these zines to be available for scrutiny, they need to be preserved and made accessible for future generations. Zine Guide wishes to make these essential publications available to the largest audience possible. Its editors believe Zine Guide's place is in the library.

It is, "like a massive Yellow Pages for zines," says Stefan Wild, who publishes the zine Rats in the Hallway in Boulder, Colorado. Published bi-annually, Zine Guide includes detailed descriptions of over a thousand zines, then indexes them by subject, bands & musicians, persons & cities. It is the ultimate underground press resource. Not only is it the most accurate and comprehensive listing of zines, but the Zine Guide forum in the front of the book articulates the importance of the underground press and its history through a series of articles.

The American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights (1941) challenges libraries to fight "censorship [and] cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas." Similarly, the ALA's Code of Ethics (1995) focuses on the intention to "resist all efforts to censor library re-sources." While many librarians are hesitant to purchase resources of questionable origin and veracity, publications that are produced on the margins of popular culture can only serve to enrich historical research.

Zine Guide is a tool that collection development departments can use to expand their underground press collection. The Guide features a list of the Top 250 Zines voted by readers, an index of topics covered by each of almost 1000 zines, and the contact information and price of each zine.

Zines are valuable resources for extensive re-search projects, papers, and journalistic en-deavors. Zine Guide has already indexed thousands of zines by subject-with seperate indexes for persons, bands/musicians, and geographic locations-so no additional indexing of the library's small press holdings is necessary. To research within a library's small press holdings, patrons can use the Zine Guide indexes just like any periodical index.

Zine Guide. It is the most valuable small press resource, and a starting point for the expansion of the library's small press holdings.

zine guide issn 1537-6125

Zine Guide is available through the following Mag Jobbers:

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ZINE GUIDE ISSN 1537-6125

BACK ISSUES : ZINE GUIDE ISSUES #1-#5 AVAILABLE $8 each for U.S. organizations

CONTACT US: email: zineguide@attbi.com

call: 773.269.2918

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write: POB 5467, Evanston, IL 60204

Editor-in-Chief/Publisher: Brent Ritzel

publication frequency: bi-annual readership: 64.2% male 35.8% female average reader age: 27.4 years (male)
21.3 years (female)

circulation: 12,000

print circulation: 2,000 paid subscriptions

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Zine Guide POB 5467 Evanston, IL 60204 USA

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