Asian American Zine Fest Archive Collection Development Policy

Last Updated 5/28/2026

Introduction:

The Asian American Zine Fest believes that zines are meant to be shared, because the exchange of information through independent publishing of zines democratizes knowledge. Read the Asian American Zine Fest Manifesto here. To compliment and expand the reach of the Asian American Zine Fest event(s) and zinemakers, this archive preserves and shares both physical and digital copies of zines voluntarily donated by creators. The zine archive and this associated policy are iterative, constant works-in-progress.

Purpose Statement

What is the purpose of this archive?

The purpose of the Asian American Zine Fest Archive is to create and maintain an archive of zines created by and for our community of Asian American zinesters and zine lovers and enjoyers. The archive consists of both a physical archive, safe but currently without a stable location, and a digital archive. The archive provides digital preservation and sharing of the typically physical and ephemeral medium of zines, with the aim to provide wider access.

Definitions

Definition of key terms

Asian American: anyone who identifies as Asian (including West Asians, South Asians, Mixed Asians, and Adoptees), Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (including people from the Mariana Islands, Aotearoa, Micronesia, Fiji, Polynesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Samoa, Guam, and Wallis and Futana), and that holds a commitment to pan-ethnic solidarity. It’s not about what you are, but what you believe. Our definition of Asian American belonging is firmly rooted in anti-imperialism.
Zine: a self-made, non-commercial publication, that can be either physical or digital. A zine can be anything the creator wants it to be, but important aspects of zines often include DIY techniques, creativity while embracing imperfection, sharing ideas/experiences/perspectives of historically marginalized or underrepresented subcultures or communities, and often feature activism, identity exploration, and personal storytelling.

Collection Scope & Criteria

What items are collected? Why? What criteria are used when collecting items?

The items collected and maintained in this archive must fulfill the following criteria:

Be a zine, a self-made, non-commercial publication
1. Self-made: the zine must be created by a human or group of humans, without the oversight, direction or assistance of formal organizations, institutions, or corporations, and made without the use of generative AI.
2. Non-commercial: the zine must not be intended to sell at large scale for-profit, or be backed by corporations that challenge the manifesto of the Asian American Zine Fest.
  1. We recognize that zinesters may sell their work, but this differs from commercial capitalists selling artwork for profit, because when zinesters sell their own zines, the selling of “the product” is meaningfully related to and directly benefits its “producer”.
3. Publication: a “printed” work for distribution, but can be either physical or digital
Made by an Asian American creator or creators
Voluntarily donated by the creator(s) of the zine.
1. Donors must understand and accept that zines in the archive collection will be cataloged, digitized, uploaded to the digital archive, and shared widely (e.g. at public zine events, posted on social media, and on the publicly available digital archive).
  1. We understand that there may be some cases where a creator wants to donate a zine to the physical archive but for whatever reason, does not consent to digitization and uploading. During the donation process, the donor has the ability to indicate whether they consent to digitization and online sharing of their zine. Lack of consent to digitization/uploading to the digital archive does not limit the ability of the zine to be in the physical archive.
2. Donors must also understand and accept that any zines in the archive may be deaccessioned (removed) at any time for specific reasons, including at the donor’s request. Please see full details in the Deaccession Policy and Process Section.
3. The archive does not accept zines from individuals or groups who did not take part in the creation of the work. This is because we want to honor creators’ desires for their personal and political creative work, and this cannot be done without direct consent and communication with the creator to donate.
Does not promote hate speech that oppresses marginalized communities and peoples.
1. Hate speech is used broadly here, and also includes slurs and iconography that promote ableist, anti-semetic, classist, fatphobic, homophobic, racist, sexist, transphobic, xenophobic, or other hateful, oppressive, and biased ideas.
2. This does not apply to zines that discuss or simply mention hate speech, as presence of hate speech does not equal promotion, especially if sharing personal stories or reporting factual information, and when adequate sensitivity or reflection is present.
3. This does apply to zines that utilize hate speech against marginalized communities and peoples, and particularly applies to items whose purpose or intention appears to be spreading hateful, oppressive, or biased ideas.

If the item does not fulfill the above criteria or meaningfully contradicts the Asian American Zine Fest Manifesto, the Asian American Zine Fest Archive maintains the ability to refuse acceptance of any items into the archive collection.

Responsibility

Who is responsible for the archive?

The Asian American Zine Fest Archive team is responsible for the archive. This responsibility includes but is not limited to collection of donations, performing cataloging, digitization, physical preservation, and giving access to the archive. The team is entirely volunteer based, made up of Asian American zinesters and zine-lovers who want to increase zine preservation and access.

Archiving Process

What does the archiving process look like?

The current archiving process:

Collection of donated zines (from events, workshops, the Fest, etc.)
Physical cataloging, completed by members of the Archive Team
Digitization/scanning of zines
Uploaded to the digital archive, and metadata added
Physical archiving, with ongoing maintenance of the collection

Deaccession Policy and Process

What does the deaccessioning process look like? When and why does it happen?

The Asian American Zine Fest Archive reserves the right to deaccession (to remove an object/item) from the archive collection. Within all archives it is sometimes necessary to remove items from the collection that are no longer appropriate to retain. Donors are made aware of the possibility of deaccessioning at the time of donation.

Deaccessioning Guidelines (Reasons for removal):

Donor/creator of the zine request for the removal of their work from the archive.
1. Donors may request the removal of their work at any point from both/either the physical and/or digital archive, by reaching out to the Asian American Zine Fest Archive Team at [email protected].
The physical zine is damaged or deteriorated beyond repair or use.
1. Longevity of the physical archive is a priority for the Archive Team, as such measures will be taken to repair donated zines as much as possible, without significantly changing the creator’s work. However, in cases where the zine is no longer readable, damaged or deteriorated beyond repair, or may cause further damage to other items in the collection, it will be deaccessioned.
It has come to light that the zine and/or its creator(s) does not fulfill or violates the zine collection criteria (e.g. created using generative AI, creator is not Asian American, creator did not voluntarily donate the item, or the zine promotes hate speech), or the zine meaningfully contradicts the Asian American Zine Fest Manifesto.

Deaccessioning Process:

Identification of an item that may meet deaccessioning guidelines by donor request, damage/deterioration, or violation of the collection criteria
Evaluation of the item by members of the Archive Team
Contacting the creator/donor
1. If deaccessioning due to damage/disrepair, the creator will be contacted and informed of the removal and reasoning. The creator will be offered the opportunity to donate another copy if they choose. If the zine is also in the digital archive, it will remain there even if the physical copy is removed.
2. If deaccessioning due to the item not fulfilling or violating collection criteria, the creator will be contacted and informed of the removal and reasoning.
If deaccession is the final determination, the item is recycled when possible, and disposed of when recycling is not possible.

End of Collection Development Policy.