Archive your fandom stuff
As we sit on the cusp of changes to the Internet, after your other activities to support Internet freedom, archive your fandom stuff.
Save the electronic files of your favorite online fandom works. Consider print-outs of your favorite online material. And save paper ephemera from fandom events.
Why save? Because you put the effort into a fanwork. Because you may be surprised when a fandom stays alive for years, or gets revived, or when an academic asks to cite your work. Because it’s stupidly hard to find items on Tumblr. Because, lo, in ages past, many fandom archives have risen and fallen, taking favorite fics off the ‘Net. Because it made you happy, makes you remember. Because you never know.
What can you save?
- Fanart
- Stories you wrote
- Epic comments on stories you wrote
- Stories you love that other people wrote
- Meta and meta-related discussions
- Translations others did of your works
- Physical items: paper ephemera, clothing, accessories, art prints and drawings.
Behind the cut…saving from Tumblr and AO3, delving into lost web sites, how to save computer files for the long term, and why I’m glad I saved physical fandom items from 10+ years ago.
So I am going to add onto this because there is, in fact, a professional archival interest in preserving fandom as well. I’ve spoken with some people about this before, but here’s the bottom line: PROFESSIONAL ARCHIVISTS WANT TO PRESERVE YOUR STUFF! HELP THEM DO THIS!
There are pre-existing fandom archives. Where are they?
- The University of Iowa Special Collections. U o I is partnered with the Organization for Transformative Works (which runs AO3) to help collect and preserve fandom. They’re one of the biggests out there. Here are some of their existing collections Pete Balestrieri, who curates the collection, is the man to talk to about this. Please consider giving him your stuff!
- Marquette Archives has all of J.R.R. Tolkien’s materials, which includes a fandom content as well.
- The Library of Congress has been archiving select webcomics, and now maintains the Web Cultures Archive which includes sites like Cosplay Paradise.
These are the big institutions doing collecting, but the archival profession and fandom need to start talking more. Born digital material is always at risk, and at present, it is mostly Western fandoms being preserved! Moreover, some facets like cosplay are currently overlooked, and that is something that needs better documentation!
If you’re interested in archiving of fannish material, especially in relation to the OTW and it’s Open Doors project, I highly recommend reading this transcript from 2016.
The transcript is from a chat between Peter Balestrieri (mentioned above, curator for the Science Fiction and Popular Culture Collections at U of I), Jeremy Brett (curator of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection at TAMU), and Nancy Down (head of the Browne Popular Culture Library at Bowling Green). It’s a really interesting read and they give a lot of information (and links!) about their archival work, how fans can get involved, pop culture and fannish history, and more.
To quote Jeremy Brett:
Fans, some of you may not think so, but what you create, it’s part of our shared cultural history. It has value, it has merit, it has future significance.
Archive all the things!
That’s a hell of a coincidence of a name.
And good advice.I know, right?! When I was doing history stuff and ran across him, I laughed so hard. My grad school librarian is named Robert Vaughn, which amuses me almost as much. He has thus far resisted my efforts to make him buy all of MFU for the library.