Cushing Library Releases Digitized Media Fanzine Collection

By Marketing and Communications | 08-11-2015


Cushing Memorial Library and Archives is pleased to announce that it is now able to offer free, limited online public access to select titles in the Sandy Hereld Memorial Digitized Media Fanzine Collection.  Since the collection was first initiated in 2013, access to its materials was previously restricted  to only those with a Texas A&M-approved ID until additional permissions could be obtained from the  fanzine creators who contributed to the collection.

As the collection becomes more of an important resource for understanding the development of fandom, Cushing Library sought the approval from writers and editors of the Hereld Collection to make their contributions publicly accessible. The collection, which is an unparalleled assembly of media fanworks that document generations of fans’ continued creative engagement with media productions, consists of thousands of digitized images of media fanzines, letterzines, and club newsletters — dating from the late 1960s through materials published online or in print in 2015.

Among the creators who have given their permission are Morgan Dawn, Janet Quarton, Sheila Clark, Devra Michele Langsam, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, and M. Fae Glasgow. Cushing Library anticipates that public access will continue to grow as more authorization is granted.

A few of the impressive productions chronicled particularly well in the Hereld Collection are: Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990), Blake’s 7, Doctor Who, The Professionals, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Starsky & Hutch. Additions to the collection continue steadily, with fanzines relating to numerous other productions, such as the Harry Potter book/movie series, Due South, Miami Vice, Simon & Simon, and many others, including a bevy of stories from multiple fandoms.

Sandy Hereld, for which the collection is named after, is a living, digital tribute to a popular and prolific fan writer in the 1990s and early 2000s — who was also one of slash fandom’s most visible fans. Hereld lost her battle with cancer in 2011, but her legacy of work continues to touch lives and inspire fans. She was the founder of Virgule-L, the first Internet slash mailing list, began hosting numerous other mailing lists and fan sites, and helped create the annual “Vid Review” panel at the Escapade convention, which is the longest-running slash fan convention and became the model for serious conversations about vidding as an art form.

The Sandy Hereld Memorial Digitized Media Fanzine Collection can be accessed at: http://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/149935.

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For more information on the collection, or donating materials and granting permissions, contact Jeremy Brett, Science Fiction & Fantasy Research Collection curator at Cushing Library; 979.845.1957, or jwbrett@library.tamu.edu.