Immortalizing the Mayfly: Permanent Ephemera: An Illusion or a (Virtual) Reality?

Abstract

Ephemera (an underrepresented and underresourced area of librarianship for many years) are finally coming of age—changing from nymph to adult mayfly, one might say. To be taken seriously by such an august body as the American Library Association’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Section is something that ephemerists only dreamed of a decade ago. In preparing this article, it has been beneficial for me to address some of the issues surrounding ephemera: to think more generally (even philosophically) about what ephemera are, what we are trying to do with them, and for whom.

I am privileged to be Librarian of ...