Editions of You: A DIY Archive of DIY Practice

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Busby, Lisa. 2015. Editions of You: A DIY Archive of DIY Practice. In: Sarah Baker, ed. Preserving Popular Music Heritage: Do-it-Yourself, Do-it-Together. 11 New York: Routledge, pp. 227-240. ISBN 9781138781436 [Book Section]

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Abstract or Description

There is a growing awareness around the world of the pressing need to archive the material remnants of popular music so as to safeguard the national and local histories of this cultural form. Current research suggests that in the past 20 or so years there has been an expansion of DIY heritage practice, with the founding of numerous DIY popular music institutions, archives and museums around the world. The edited collection of which this chapter is part seeks to explore the role of DIY or Pro-Am (Professional-Amateur) practitioners of popular music archiving and preservation. It looks critically at ideas of "DIY preservationism," "self-authorised" and "unauthorised" heritage practice and the "DIY institution," while also unpacking the potentialities of bottom-up, community-based interventions into the archiving and preservation of popular music’s material history. With an innovative format this collection brought together the voices of heritage scholars with those of on the ground archivists.

Editions of You is an archive project celebrating and showcasing self-publishing and self-releasing musicians and the handmade editions and releases they create – through a small archive of handmade releases and zines, a not-for-profit distro, and live events. This chapter used this archive and my role as archivist as a case study for some of the issues facing micro-archives today, and highlighted broader concerns for popular music archiving and DIY heritage frameworks, including pertinent issues of support, access, curatorship, and the shift from physical to digital.

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