ZLuC 2011 MKE

> ZLuC 2011 MKE

[This is the archived version; the original site is at http://mkezluc.wikispaces.com.]

This is the shared working space for putting a Zine Librarian (un)Conference together in Milwaukee, WI in July, 2011.

The MKE ZL(u)C will be held at the Golda Meir Library Conference Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee on Friday, July 8th and Saturday, July 9th, 2011.

 

What’s an (un)conference?

This is from Eric Goldhagen’s blog and was written about Drupal Camp in NYC but applies to the ZL(u)C, too.

  • An unconference is a participant centric conference, the structure is more concerned with the value to the participants than the value for the sponsors or organizers (in a similar way that the GPL Free Software license is more concerned with the rights of the software user than the software owner)
  • At a normal conference, the hallway conversations tend to be the best parts. At an unconference, it’s all hallway!
  • unconfernece tires to replicate the community centric nature of Free Software projects in the way we organize an event. Everyone is a participant.
  • Whoever shows up are the right people to have here
  • Whatever happens is what is supposed to happen
  • If you find yourself in a place where you are neither learning or contributing, be respectful but use your feet to find another room where you can learn and contribute
  • Your participation is not only welcome, it’s necessary

Spirits In The Stacks – The 2011 Zine Librarian (un)Conference

Formed in 2003, the Zine Librarians Yahoo Group (ZLYG) has served as a focal point for discussion about the best practices for preserving and presenting zines in libraries and archives. Zines, self-publications written in a punk rock do-it-yourself tradition, are primary source documents that tell the story of contemporary life, culture, and politics in a multitude of voices that might otherwise be lost. They represent voices and points of view that are all but absent from most library shelves. 

Zine librarianship, a relatively new specialty, is still evolving its principles and practice. The ZYLG served as an essential forum for this collaboration. Since 2009 members of the have been meeting annually to confer on the broad subject of zine librarianship. The ZLYG is comprised of public, academic, and independent librarians and archivists who work with zines, comix, and print ephemera.

The first two conferences were held in the Pacific Northwest, zine culture strongholds. This year we hope to make the event more accessible to Midwestern zine librarians, zine aficionados, and print culture academics. Although it is not yet the hub for zine activity that Portland and Seattle are, Milwaukee, the site of significant zine projects including the Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP) and Bottles on The Sill library, has a respectable zine scene, supporting its own Zine Fest every year and various related activist events such as the //Girls to the Front// book tour. Situating the conference in Milwaukee would be a tribute and a boon to the city’s zine community.

Blending a traditional conference with the Unconference model, this gathering will be participatory and open. Workshops will be scheduled, and discussions of cataloging, organizing and promoting zine collections are expected, among other topics. All members of the zine and libraries communites (adacemic, institutional and “barefoot librarians”) are invited to join in and take part.

At the first ZL(u)C hosted at the Zine Archive Publishing Project (ZAPP)in 2009 in Seattle, WA, 40 people were in attendance, and a list of workshops and discussions can be found here.

The second ZL(u)C was held in Portland, OR in August of 2010. About a dozen people attended and the topics covered can be found here. 

About The Model/Conference Organizing
Because this series of (un)conferences is based on an open access model, the majority of the planning and organizing is done through a wiki where many people can author and edit proposals, manage registration, and collectively keep track of how the conference is developing.

Proposed Dates/Times:
Friday, July 8th, 2011 – 10am – 5pm
Saturday, July 9th, 2011 – 11am – 4pm

An outline of events and further information is available on the event’s wiki: http://mkezluc.wikispaces.com/
Please visit the wiki to register your attendance, help plan the events, and volunteer.

Sponsors:

Resources Needed:

  • The Conference Center at the Golda Meir Library
    • 2-3 portable whiteboards
  • Special Collections at the Golda Meir Library
  • 2-3 additional rooms for breakout sessions
  • 2 Digital projector/laptop carts + screens
  • Temporary ProwlNet logins for wireless internet access.
  • 3-4 UWM Libraries staff members to help with questions, setup, etc.

(Un)Conference Registration:
Fee: $15/pay-what-you-can to cover the cost of food and/or materials
To register to attend the (un)conference and join the discussion, visit the wiki: http://mkezluc.wikispaces.com/Register
REGISTER DEADLINE: Friday, June 24th, 2011

Workshops:
CALL FOR WORKSHOPS:
If you are interested in leading a one-hour workshop during the conference, please submit the following information by creating a page for it on this wiki and listing it on the Workshops page by Friday, May 27th, 2011

Guidelines for workshops: We are interested in hosting workshops that will be informational, how-to’s and describe a task, skill or scheme that another zine library would find useful. This could be hands-on, or a presentation of what your library has done well.
Note: This is a call only for workshops that require extensive pre-planning, are practical in nature, or require specific materials. We will also have facilitated discussions at the conference, but those will be selected at the conference itself. List of potential discussion topics. Please add yours!

Just to keep track of who is willing to to what, where we are, and what skills we have, here’s a page for the conference (un)organizers.

Jenna: in NYC. happy to help with whatever. really busy during the week and has a hard time responding to emails and getting tasks done. this may change in late april/early may.
Milo: on the ground in Milwaukee. attempting to steer the ship with a little help from friends 😉
Kelly: Moving to Iowa in May. Also happy to help with any old thing. For the last ZLUC in Portland, I got coffee donated, so maybe I’ll start with that. Also, am working on ways to help people attend from afar through video conferencing.
Alycia: happy to help however I can–planning or on the ground in July.
Carolyn: on the ground in Milwaukee. Can help with specific tasks that need to be done.
Kelsey: can’t attend, but willing to help with whatever needs doing remotely.
Jessica: point-person in Special Collections. willing to help wherever it’s needed.
Molly Mathias, Learning Commons Coordinator at the UWM Libraries. Can help with facilities issues and just keeping things running smoothly.

 

Things we might talk about at the conference. Actually this is the (un) part of it, as discussion topics will be chosen by the group, at the conference.

Microcosm–calls for accountability and a boycott. What, if anything, should libraries do?
“Barefoot Librarians” break-out discussion. Phrase coined by Lily to describe indy/unaffiliated librarians and archivists.
Volunteer librarians, professionals, and community members working as equals. (Inspired by
http://eatingouryoung. wordpress.com/2011/02/22/non- profit-doesnt-make-you-exempt- from-shaming)
standard catalog format/software for zines? Union catalog?
Starting a collection / Moving from indy collection to institution.
Establishing a zine libraries day (during National Library Week or International Zine Month)
Starting/Continuing a collection with little/no budget, ethically (can/should a collection be based on donations alone, especially within an institutional collection?)
Managing our records: should we create a space where documentation about our collections can be gathered and shared? A meta-wiki, or something to add to an existing site, like zinelibraries.info?
Gatekeeper institutions and their place in the zine library world, especially so considering the aversion many zine-makers have to the management and restricted access that apply to collections held within such places. Also, how can gatekeepers engage with the zine community ethically? This could also be part of a broader discussion on ethics in public zine collection management.
Zine Library FAIL–lessons learned from things we wish we’d done differently
Zines and information literacy: ideas for incorporating zines into library instruction
sustaining zine collections at public libraries–convincing administration of their ongoing value

 

Below is the potential schedule including workshops, lunch, other sessions, and other related events.

Thursday, 7 July: Librarian Zinester reading at the Tool Shed

sign-up to read (and please send a short bio to zinelibtour@gmail.com):

  1. Debbie (last)
  2. Jami
  3. Jenna
  4. John
  5. Jessica
  6. Marta
  7. Chris (right?)

Friday, 8 July

Time/Location

Conference Center

Special Collections

Learning Commons W164

Learning Commons W111

10:00-11:20am

Check-in and Plenary

11:30-12:30pm

people of color Tour of SC acquisitions and zine community

12:30-1:30pm

Lunch, zine library day Lunch Lunch Lunch

1:30-2:30pm

gatekeepers and zine community documentation, where to put it and how to pay for it

2:30-3:30pm

online zine catalogs sustaining zines in public libraries new collection/collection transition

3:30-5:00pm

information literacy DIY librarians

With July being International Zine Month all (un)conference participants are encouraged to participate in The 24 Hour Zine Challenge.

Saturday, 9 July

Time/Location

Conference Center

Special Collections

w164

w111

10:00-11:00am

plenary

11:00-12:00pm

zine cataloging/genre tour & technical services permission

12:00-1:15pm

Lunch
12: 45 zines to prisoners
Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch

1:15-2:15pm

union catalog paying for zines/econ/ethics

2:45-3:30pm

zine library fail working as equals microcosm

3:30-4:00pm

Wrap-up

Post-conference attendees are invited to visit QZAP and take part in a backyard Bar-B-Que.

 

printable programs

Here you can download PDFs of the program/zine

1) Paginated – good for reading online - MKEZLUC-zine

2) Booklet version – good for printing double sided and then saddle stapling - MKEZLUC-zine-booklet

unconference-documentation

Please add links to photos, blog posts or whatever all you might have used to document the conference

photo of ZLuC 2011 attendees taken by Eric Goldhagen; click to see photo within Flickr set