Our archive consists of a variety of punk memorabilia- zines, videos, songs, and other items collected by fans starting in the 1970s. Zines served multiple purposes within the queer punk subculture. Authors used them to spread ideas and information about various bands and artists, as well as conventions, festivals, and other punk-related events. Their use as modes of communication indicates a complex network at the intersection of queer and punk that varies according to geographical location. However, locating copies or images in the digital era of zines that were in circulation over 40 years ago presents certain challenges. Zines exist as a temporal form of media, serving little purpose outside of the archive once the zine’s contents become out of date or seemingly irrelevant. As a result, these precious relics of the past are often thrown out or forgotten, only to be remembered many years later as part of a digital archiving class. In the era of the Internet, many zinesters have shifted their platform from paper issues to online website publications, citing motivations such as instant gratification and automatic archiving, increased accessibility to a wider “invisible” reader base, and smoother and cheaper publication processes. This shift then begs the question if an online zine can be considered a true zine. Bruce LaBruce and other zine authors believe that the essence of the zine is unique to its paper form and cannot be transferred to an online format. Cutting, pasting, crafting, and going to the post office are all a part of the larger zine experience that cannot be replaced with modern technology. Online publications reach a larger, farther audience, but eliminate the human contact involved in zine exchanges. Luckily for those who have caught “archive fever,” academics such as Kelly [last name? Bessemer?], who we had the pleasure of zine-ing with, work to preserve and collect these zines for future generations of queer punks. Kelly works at UCLA’s Punk Archive to document various punk narratives throughout Los Angeles. Additionally, sites such as the Queer Zine Archive Project [link], contain a database of searchable zines.
 
Low-budget/ diy videos and shows
Not everything always uploaded to internet
Difficulty of locating things unique to los angeles
Would’ve visited places, explored network connections more thoroughly