| Reference Sources |
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As a general rule, the few zine reference materials—directories, handbooks, guides, and the like—are independently published and have not been collected by either the UNC or Duke Libraries. The three encyclopedias below, while not specific to women's and grrrls' zine culture, will be helpful in placing zines in their broader cultural context. Daly, Stephen and Nathaniel Wice. Alt.Culture: An A-Z Guide to 90s America. London: Fourth Estate, 1995. A nicely designed encyclopedia of brief, but thoroughly cross-referenced, articles on the "underground, online, and over-the-counter" phenomena that defined youth culture in 1990s America. "Riot Grrrls," "zines," and "Third Wave" receive credible explications, although the "zine" entry, in trying to cover the gamut of zines, doesn't do justice to the complexity of the women's and grrrl's zine culture. Still, an excellent resource for placing zines in their wider cultural context. Forman-Brunell, Miriam, ed. Girlhood in America: An Encyclopedia. 2 volumes. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001. Although Heywood's encyclopedia (below) should be consulted first, this encyclopedia of 120 signed articles contains a substantial essay on zines written by leading women's zine scholar Mary Celeste Kearney. Several key zines are mentioned by name. No parallel article on zines can be found in this encyclopedia's companion work, Boyhood in America: An Encyclopedia, further emphasizing the centrality of zines to young girls' and women's cultures. Heywood, Leslie L., ed. The Women's Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third-Wave Feminism. 2 volumes. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006. This recent encyclopedia is currently the only one of its kind. The first volume of this resource contains signed articles by leading scholars in women's studies on a variety of third wave topics, as well as a handy timeline and bibliographies, that may be usefully consulted when encountering unfamiliar topics in the zines themselves. The entry for "zines" is brief, but comprehensive, and entries related to Riot Grrrl can be found throughout. The second volume is a collection of articles, essays, and book chapters significant in the development of third wave theory and practice. While no excerpts from "true" zines are included, researchers might fruitfully turn here for assistance in compiling a bibliography of readings related to zine culture. |