how to build a trans literature microlibrary

[tozka]

I stumbled across a series of posts about building a trans literature microlibrary, which includes a WHOLE BUNCH of detailed info about what to download, how to download it, where to keep your downloads, how to do backups, and so on. The first post also has guidelines and advice for a wide range of people, including academics, librarians, booksellers, etc.

It's really good info, especially if you've never considered saving anything for offline use or why you might want to in the first place.

Here's the posts in order:
1. The Trans Literature Preservation Project: A Practical Guide to Resisting Censorship
1b. There's also a printable zine version (PDF)
2. How to Build Your Trans Microlibrary
3. Archiving Your Trans Microlibrary, Part One
4. Hardware and Storage: Archiving Your Trans Microlibrary, Part Two

Comments

a favorite quote from the first article

[tozka]

Think about this like a fun hobby! Your library is a great opportunity to express yourself and what you value both in literature and in life. Get weird with it. Find obscure books. Collect that one short story series from 2012 that nobody else remembers. Print 500k word fanfictions. Invest joy in your books, and it will be waiting for you when you need it the most.

The joy of collecting and finding weird one-off things that nobody but me cares about (and maybe some of you) are exactly why I started datahoarding! ;P

[grayestofghosts]

I have been dipping my toe into this (though probably not very well) and one thing I feel like pointing out, especially for digital content, is that digital purges are likely going to be done with an extremely broad brush. Remember the LJ purge, and the purges of data in the US government are done by stupid keyword. Prioritizing trans content is a good goal but it's likely going to be going after everything labeled "LGBTQ," "gay", "diverse", "nsfw", etc so I think when it comes to especially free content you come across, slurping that up might be a good idea too.

[bedes]

Thank you for sharing these!! I've always been a datahoarder (I mean, I'm here, after all), but reading these was finally what kicked me in the ass and inspired me to get around to printing off pieces of literature online that are important to me (starting, of course, with trans literature).

[tozka]

Definitely a good thing to remember! I've been making it a habit to at least download my fanfic regularly since the first LJ purge, but now's the time to start saving everything else, too.

[tozka]

Yay, you're so welcome!