Ancient fanzines as eBooks?

[chrinFinity]

Hello,

Does anyone know how to acquire (legitimate) digital editions of early Star Trek fanzines? In particular I am interested in Spockanalia. Thanks in advance, hive mind

 

[F. King Daniel]

There are a couple of pages of Spockanalaia online somewhere, but not much.

Here is the ScoTpress archive with loads of Enterprise Log Entries and IDIC Newsletters

 

[chrinFinity]

Thanks for the link. I've been by there before, meant to bookmark it. However, I'm really interested in Spockanalia though... In particular, one individual story from the third edition. This one: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Visit_to_a_Weird_Planet

 

[chrinFinity]

Well. I found the story I was looking for (though the copy I found may be of murky legality). I'm still interested in somehow reading copies of the entire zines though, without paying out hundreds of dollars for paper copies on ebay. I'm going to hunt for libraries that may have them.

 

[chrinFinity]

Aha! I found exactly what I wanted.

So I'm going to need to ask for a mod to clarify the policy on this before I post specific links, but in a nutshell I've found PDF versions of 60's and 70's paper fan zines available from the website of the library at an accredited U.S. university.

I'm inclined to think that such an institution must have resolved any rights issues before making this material available online for free, but IANAL and I especially don't want to get banned from TrekBBS. So... With material like this obviously not available today from the original rights holders via legitimate means, what's the forum policy on accessing / sharing it?

TYVM

 

[Daddy Todd]

Aha! I found exactly what I wanted.

So I'm going to need to ask for a mod to clarify the policy on this before I post specific links, but in a nutshell I've found PDF versions of 60's and 70's paper fan zines available from the website of the library at an accredited U.S. university.

I'm inclined to think that such an institution must have resolved any rights issues before making this material available online for free, but IANAL and I especially don't want to get banned from TrekBBS. So... With material like this obviously not available today from the original rights holders via legitimate means, what's the forum policy on accessing / sharing it?

TYVM

Which university is that?

Asking for a friend /s

 

[David cgc]

I'm inclined to think that such an institution must have resolved any rights issues before making this material available online for free, but IANAL and I especially don't want to get banned from TrekBBS. So... With material like this obviously not available today from the original rights holders via legitimate means, what's the forum policy on accessing / sharing it?

Most libraries and universities have a field labeled "Rights/Usage" or something like that on their online collections (that, at best, will usually say "No known restrictions," because even if a document is a thousand years old, they want to be clear it's your ass on the line if it turns out there's still a copyright claim on it) which could shed some light on the situation.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Any links you provide are also likely better served if they're posted in the Fan Fiction forum.

 

[Kor]

Which university is that?

Asking for a friend /s

They probably only make it available to students and faculty who have a login to their site. I've run into this a lot when finding some rare resource on a university library site.

Kor

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

A Google search on

"Visit to a weird planet" lorrah

will find copies of that particular piece easily enough.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Spockanalia was reduced from the original 8.5x11 size to a "digest" configuration and frequently reprinted in the '70's and '80's, and while some dealers want crazy money for copies, I put together a complete run for under $40 last year. A complete run is only 5 issues, but still...

I'd still like to acquire a set of first printings, but those go for hundreds of dollars a copy, and I just haven't bitten that bullet yet...

 

[trampledamage]

Aha! I found exactly what I wanted.

So I'm going to need to ask for a mod to clarify the policy on this before I post specific links, but in a nutshell I've found PDF versions of 60's and 70's paper fan zines available from the website of the library at an accredited U.S. university.

I'm inclined to think that such an institution must have resolved any rights issues before making this material available online for free, but IANAL and I especially don't want to get banned from TrekBBS. So... With material like this obviously not available today from the original rights holders via legitimate means, what's the forum policy on accessing / sharing it?

TYVM

I'll ask

 

[Mysterion]

I have found these guys to be a vey good source when I've had occasion to need an old ST 'zine or two:

http://www.crossovers.net/makeitgoaway/fanzinehome.htm

(I am in no way affiliated with this site other than having been a customer in the past)

 

[Daddy Todd]

I have found these guys to be a vey good source when I've had occasion to need an old ST 'zine or two:

http://www.crossovers.net/makeitgoaway/fanzinehome.htm

(I am in no way affiliated with this site other than having been a customer in the past)

Yeah, I like those folks. I’ve picked up some cool stuff from them over the last few months for reasonable prices.

(No connection either, just another satisfied customer.)

 

[trampledamage]

Aha! I found exactly what I wanted.

So I'm going to need to ask for a mod to clarify the policy on this before I post specific links, but in a nutshell I've found PDF versions of 60's and 70's paper fan zines available from the website of the library at an accredited U.S. university.

I'm inclined to think that such an institution must have resolved any rights issues before making this material available online for free, but IANAL and I especially don't want to get banned from TrekBBS. So... With material like this obviously not available today from the original rights holders via legitimate means, what's the forum policy on accessing / sharing it?

TYVM

The decision is no, don't post the links - it's too risky without knowing if the university has obtained the rights or not.

Thank you for thinking to ask

 

[chrinFinity]

Well fair enough. How about a slight change of topic then...

Can anyone recommend particularly good titles of early fannish work, like from the 60's and 70's, that would be worth seeking out? I was an '84 birth and I find the early era of fandom fascinating.

 

[Daddy Todd]

I started collecting vintage fanzines last year as part of my re-read of the Bantam Star Trek titles. When I got to the “New Voyages” anthologies, I decided to do a side-by-side comparison of the versions as published by M&C, and the original versions as published in ‘zines. So, I sought out publications like Spockanalia, T-Negative, Quartet Plus One, Showcase, etc., that contained the original versions.

That whetted my appetite, and I went from there. Joan Marie Verba’s Boldly Writing was a great source for the names of fanzines worth acquiring. I also learned that favorite pros like James Tiptree, Joanna Russ, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diane Duane had published fan fiction back in the day. Fanzines with those stories were high-priority acquisitions (still looking for Russ, Tiptree and Duane.)

 

[klangley56]

Jumping into this discussion waaaay after the fact, because I was only just linked to it.

Looking at the subject line, I would like to request a little less of the "ancient," please and thank you. :-)

Specific to this thread, I have been reading/collecting fanzines for 46 years (and counting!), I still have over 2000 zines in my collection, covering some three-four dozen different fandoms. My ST zines still form the largest subset of my zine library (which includes the original mimeo printings of Spockanalia, as well as the later reprint copies).

As has been noted in this thread, it would not be kosher to post links to digital copies of zines or PDF versions. The thing everyone in zinedom seems to forget is that the individual contributors to those zines did *not* give permission, in perpetuity, for their work to be distributed hither and yon. They were writing for very small publishers and very out of the mainstream. Back in The Day, it never entered anyone's mind that (a) there would be a demand for this material decades later or (b) technology to make it available globally. Even for such printed reprints as were done back then, many zine publishers included some variation of "rights revert to contributors."

:-)
ksl

 

[DeepSpaceYorks]

Back in the Day, it never entered anyone's mind that (a) there would be a demand for this material decades later or (b) technology to make it available globally. Even for such printed reprints as were done back then, many zine publishers included some variation of "rights revert to contributors."

:-)
ksl

However, we find ourselves in the situation where both your a) and b) points are a reality. I find it a real shame, and something of a missed opportunity, for these fan writings to remain unavailable. Not only are they an important tool for understanding fandom but are often thought provoking pieces of writing which stand on their own merits.

I am much more au fait with Doctor Who fanzines and they often feature some of the best writings I've ever read on the series and from what I've read from the Best of Trek pb's I've picked up from eBay there's a lot of excellent Trek fan writing out there as well. Fanzines are objects of great cultural importance as they present an often unvarnished and free view of the relationship between fan and object of fandom. How sad to think we won't be able to read and experience this. :-(

 

[klangley56]

However, we find ourselves in the situation where both your a) and b) points are a reality. I find it a real shame, and something of a missed opportunity, for these fan writings to remain unavailable. Not only are they an important tool for understanding fandom but are often thought provoking pieces of writing which stand on their own merits.

I am much more au fait with Doctor Who fanzines and they often feature some of the best writings I've ever read on the series and from what I've read from the Best of Trek pb's I've picked up from eBay there's a lot of excellent Trek fan writing out there as well. Fanzines are objects of great cultural importance as they present an often unvarnished and free view of the relationship between fan and object of fandom. How sad to think we won't be able to read and experience this. :-(

Doctor Who is another of my fandoms and I have many of those zines in my collection. :-)

But, to reply to your point--I fully understand the urge to know earlier fannish culture. I felt like that too. Zine publication had begun for ST some six years prior to my buying my first zines, and I was tremendously eager to find what I had missed.

Many other fans have felt the same. The book "Star Trek Lives!" by Lichtenberg, Marshak, and Winston (1975), which included a chapter on fan fiction, created a huge influx of fans into zine fandom, many of whom wanted very badly to get the zines mentioned in the book.

Our solution was the same as yours--pursue reprints, zine sales, and auctions. So, we do have options to access that culture--just not digital ones. :-)