Fanbinding, Preservation, and Local Archives: Un-Digitizing Trends and Media Ownership in Fandom Information Practices

Fanbinding, or the practice of printing fanworks into books, creates a physical format of primarily digital content. My previous research found that a common motivation for fanbinders to participate in this craft was preservation of their personal access to beloved fanworks, which echoes broader trends of controlling media through local physical archives. This implies an understanding of the ephemeral nature of digital content and a subsequent fear of losing access to their favorite content without their intervention. Fanbinding creates a physical copy of a fanwork that cannot disappear due to platform/author takedowns or server failures, thereby establishing the fanbinders’ ownership of that story. This article discusses the results of a short survey circulated to fanbinders on the topics of preservation and media ownership in relation to fanbinding practices to establish links between fandom practices and broader trends in media ownership and physical media collection-building.