alternative press

Publisher's Weekly, and others' near-monopoly on library collections

answer: 

Very briefly, to help with suggestions of library world publications with more of a lefty perspective:

Counterpoise often reviews lefty publications regularly. I know that they depend on volunteer reviewers to provide content (I am not sure how this might compare to the other library publications you mention above).
For more info: www.counterpoise.info

You may also want to look into the Alternative Press Index:
"The Alternative Press Index (API) was born with the New Left of the 1960's. It was launched in 1969 to provide access to the practices and theories of radical social change. The Index is international and interdisciplinary, spanning the social sciences and humanities, with its central focus on the practice and theory of socialism, national liberation, labor, indigenous peoples, gays/lesbians, feminism, ecology, democracy, and anarchism. It strives to be as comprehensive as possible."

API indexes and annotates more serial (magazine or newspaper) articles, but includes a wide variety of small press titles.
Their website: www.altpress.org/mod/pages/display/8/index.php?menu=

I am not sure how either of these would play into requirements for librarians to have materials (positively) reviewed before they can be added to library collections. I am eager to hear what information others may have on this topic.

Related Question

QUESTION: Alternative subject thesauri

question / pregunta: 

I'm not sure if this is an appropriate "Radical Reference" question but I'll give it a try. I'm currently cataloguing a zine collection for the Anchor Archive Zine Library in Halifax. Each zine record has a broad category plus multiple subject terms/keywords describing the content. Assigning subject terms to each zine is challenging, and I think it would be a lot easier if I had a thesaurus of subject terms to refer to, such as Library of Congress Subject Headings but for collections of alternative media. I've tried looking up online catalogues for other zine libraries and alternative bookstores for lists of subject headings, but I haven't found anything yet. Most don't seem to index their content by subject, which is probably smart considering how time consuming it is. I've also posted a message on the Zine Librarians Yahoo Group listserv but I didn't get many responses. Do you have any other suggestions of where I could find alternative thesauri, for alternative media in general or in specific subject areas, such as feminism and anarchism? I would really appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks!

Getting Alternative Materials into Library Collections

Laura's post on the talk at Thinking Ahead reminded me of a question that I was asked by two (or more?) people at the recent Grassroots Media Conference in NYC, where I was Radical Reference liason.

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