Fandom digitised: Establishing a digital collection of media fanzines at Texas A&M University

Abstract

This paper is designed to assist information professionals and others who wish to build collections of digitised publications or other materials. Archival institutions have for a number of years now been digitising physical collections for the purposes of both preservation and access and, in doing so, have encountered a number of technical and intellectual challenges. The author is a lead on such a project, one involving digitised media fanzines, currently under way at Texas A&M University. Issues encountered in the course of the project include copyright, the acquisition of creator permissions, sensitivity surrounding creator concerns, the construction of appropriate metadata and the provision of appropriate access to the collection. This project provides useful lessons learned — lessons that similar projects in the future may make use of in avoiding pitfalls, overcoming challenges and achieving success in preserving and making accessible digitised materials.