LibGuides: Zines 101: Home

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

Define what a zine is in order to identify alternative and small press information formats.
Describe zine culture and history in order to recognize the personal stories and narratives of underrepresented creators.
Discuss different genres of zines in order to identify models for students' own projects.
Design their own zines in order to complete their assignment.

Guide originally created by Karina Hagelin, Outreach and Instruction Librarian

Zines (pronounced like "magazines" without the "maga") are:

Made for the love of creating and not for profit!
Independently published
Can be physical (consisting of one sheet of paper to many, fastened together, generally with staples) or digital objects.
- Physical zines are usually photocopied but can also be offset, mimeographed, letterpressed, or Risograph printed.
May be created by one person or a group of people (called "comp zines" or "compilation zines").
The contents can be about anything and everything you can imagine: personal stories ("perzines"), music-related writing, lists of things, political ideologies, photography, mental health and self-care tips, fiction, artwork, comics, and so on.
Are made by a diverse community of people around the world who are called "zinesters".