The problem ZUC will address:
One sentence version
Zine readers, researchers, and librarians need a unified resource for finding finding and sharing zine metadata and location information.
Expanded
For the same reasons readers, scholars, and information professionals benefit from resources like WorldCat and DPLA (Digital Public Library of America), people concerned with zines would be well-served by a union catalog for zines. ZineCat will aid academic and independent readers who want to find information about individual zines, as well as about the breadth of zine resources available on particular topics. A ZineCat user could type < cutting > into a search and find zines that reference cutting/self-injury in libraries all over the world. As WorldCat does, at a later point in its development, ZineCat will facilitate loans between zine libraries, even beyond the scope of WorldCat because ZineCat will include among its members the types of independent libraries that are not typically OCLC members, libraries without budgets, paid staff, or formal status.
ZineCat will offer a similar benefit to zine librarians, allowing them to share catalog records, metadata, and knowledge. Further, having developed a Zine Librarians Code of Ethics, the zine library community has proved itself thoughtful, loving, and critical, which bodes well for a carefully built tool informed by deep processing and cooperation.
