Bell, Doris, Contemporary Art Trends 1960-1980. New Jersey & London: Scarecrow Press, 1981.
Valuable guide to writings about the plethora of art movements between these years. "One of the notable trends, however, was the blurring of lines between art, poetry, video, computers, and photography and, as such, delineated a completely new direction in contemporary art."

Black, Bob. "Beneath The Underground." Real Life, (21/22): 7-13, 1991.
Survey of the 80s counterculture, with particular attention to magazines circulating within this 'marginal' milieu, and the life of publisher, Gerry Reith. "To find the countercultures of our time requires burrowing beneath the underground where a lively, little-known nonconformist scene is thriving in the catacombs."

Celant, Germano. "Book As Artwork: 1960:72." Books By Artists. Art Metropole. Canada, May 2, 1981-October 30, 1982.
Excellent article giving detailed background on aesthetic preoccupations of many of the artists making books during this period. "The development of art in communications media, using either human or technological means such as body, weight, voice, mime, mind, video, radio, pamphlets, telex, xerox, film or book, dates from the early Sixties."

Dalberto, Janet. "The Viewer as Reader: artists' book exhibitions and their catalogues." Art Papers, 14(3): 10-14, 1990.
Good account of exhibitions and catalogues, with a bibliography of exhibition catalogues from 1973-1989. "...with the increasing number of exhibitions, the catalogues, and other publications, why aren't artists' books better known to the public? This article will look at exhibitions, their physical display, and catalogues to overview how successful exhibitions have been in promoting artists' books."

deAk, Edit. "Copy." Artforum, XVIII (6):1980.
A polemical article urging artists and publishers of art magazines to come up with some way of solving the hostilities between each other in order to get art via the printed page out to more people beyond the art world. "At at time when the intellectual, moral and artistic aspects of conventional media are in such a contemptible state—borrowing their ideas from a sort of circulating library of thought—art magazines could and should lend an intensity to what otherwise will become a dejuiced vehicle—the press."

Held, John. Mail Art: An Annotated Bibliography, New Jersey & London: Scarecrow Press, 1991.
An invaluable resource for articles about mail art and its tangential activities. " While mail art may not appeal to a commodity-based art mainstream, it obviously strikes a receptive chord with the general public. Perhaps it's because it offers an alternative to the growing fascination of established collectors for expensive artworks and hyped-up art stars. Anyone can participate in mail art from children on up. It democratizes art. Everyone can participate despite location. It decentralizes art. Everyone can participate no matter the level of skillfulness. It dematerializes art."

Hoffberg, Judith. "Distribution and Its Discontents." Art Papers, 14(3): 10-14, 1990.
A good survey of the growth of artists' books as seen through the network of distributors. "But ever since the first Conference on Artists' Books, held at San Jose State University in 1977, artists, publishers, bookdealers and collectors have spoken regularly about the inherent problems of this activity of putting bookworks or artists' books in the hands of those visually oriented persons who wish to 'read' these works of art with their eyes and hands."

Linker, Kate, "The artist's book as an alternative space." Studio International, 195(990): 75-79, 1980.
A good analysis of the idea of 'alternative space' and the extensions of this concept as applied to artists' books. "Termed book art, the bookwork, or the artist's book, this genre of mass-produced original art, conceived specifically for the book form, is a '60s product which has gathered momentum in the '70s. Yet it is in terms of the '70s preoccupation with the alternate space that it merits discussion in this issue. For as much as a medium for aesthetic ideas, book art has been a political tool, or means of reaction, against a series of ills in the prevailing art system. It has been hailed, indeed, as the ultimate alternative space. The following text attempts to locate its ideal and reality within the dialectic of artists' rights and public address."

LLoyd, Ginny. "Copy Art: Europe and San Francisco." Art Com, 4(4): 39, 1982.
Brief overview of copyart activities in San Francisco and Europe. "Copy Art is alive and well. Internationally it is building momentuously to become a medium bridging the gaps between technology and Art."

Lyons, Joan, ed. Artists' Books: A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook. Rochester: Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1987.
Twelve articles surveying differing aspects of artists' books. "Artists' books began to proliferate in the sixties and early seventies in the prevailing climate of social and political activism. Inexpensive, disposable editions were one manifestation of the dematerialization of the art object and the new emphasis on art process. Ephemeral artworks, such as performances and installations, could be documented and, more importantly, artists were finding that the books could be artworks in and of themselves."

McGregor, O. Periodicals and the Alternative Press. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1977.
Produced under the auspices of the Royal Commission on the Press 1974-77, the first half of this book deals with consumer magazines and the second part with alternative publications. This second section details responses to a survey that the commission sent out, and includes tables on economics of alternative publications, lifespan of publications, a section on the different types of alternative publications, and separate sections on gay publications and community newspapers.

Minority Press Group. Here is the Other News: Challenges to the Local Commercial Press. London: Minority Press Group, 1980.
Covers specifically the background to the development of the local radical press in the UK, with reports from six local community presses: Aberdeen People's Press, Alarm (Swansea), Brighton Voice, The Islington Gutter Press, Response (Earls Court, London), Rap (Rochdale). "During 1967-68, the first local radical papers were founded—in Cambridge (The Shilling Paper), Bristol and Glasgow. By 1969 there were 10, by 1975 over 60."

Nelson, Elizabeth. The British Counter-Culture, 1966-73. Basingstoke & London: Macmillan, 1989.
An examination of the counter-culture based on an analysis of three underground publications of the period: International Times, Oz and Friends. "The underground press functioned in many ways. It was designed to both serve and promote the counter-cultural community and its ideals. Although the 'news' and other articles presented through this medium were articulated by the seemingly committed intellectuals of the movement, the absence of a strict editorial policy—or any editorial policy at all—enabled a variety of often conflicting views and emphases to be expressed. In a very real sense, these publications have recorded a process of dialogue between the writers and the community, and...they have also recorded the various phases in the counter-culture's development and decline."

Pindell, Howardena. "Artists' Periodicals: An Event for 1984 or Page 2001." Art Journal, 39 (4):282-283, 1980.
A tongue-in-cheek proposal for an exhibition titled, "Artists' Periodicals: An Event for 1984 or Page 2001," that would include all the artists' periodicals produced since 1900. "Perhaps the exhibition could be housed in a twenty-lane linear accelerator structure spiraling the globe from pole to pole, each lane representing a continent with subdivisions by country, state, and city."

Relyea, Lane. "How To Secede As An Artist: Introduction." Real Life, (21/22): 2-3, 1991.
A useful introduction to the DIY culture, mentions networking and its relation to 'official media,' self-published magazines and their role within this culture, and other manifestations outside of the mainstream. "Moreover, by sending out these exhibition announcements and magazines to fellow do-it-yourselfers around the country, they are able to contact and cross-pollinate with scores of distant correspondents, develop reputations in faraway places, reach across borders and time zones to give and take advice and inspiration, enter into and break away from fragile and far flung alliances of the disenfranchised, disgruntled, flirtatious, and just plain bored."

Schumann, Max. "Introduction." By Any Means Necessary: Photocopier Artists' Books and the Politics of Accessible Printing Technologies: Printed Matter. New York, 10 April - May 12, 1992.
This catalogue is comprised of writings by artists in the show, responding to a request from the curator for their statements regarding the, "...politics of photocopier artists' books." Schumann states in his essay, "Photocopying remains the most immediate printing process, in terms of physical access and price, for making small artists' publications quickly. Thus, photocopier books raise questions about access—access to printing technology, and access to audiences."

Snodgrass, Susan. "Some Notes on Alternative Arts Publications: The Alternatives' Dance for Money or Walking on a Tight Rope." Artpapers, 15(4): 2-7, 1991.
Introductory essay to an issue devoted to essays/statements by various national alternative arts publications. This article provides an overview of the development of alternative arts publications, (edited by a mixture artists and paid staff, and therefore not strictly artists' publications), and concludes by commenting upon the current situation of alternative arts publications. Concluding this article, Snodgrass comments, "The important point here is that the alternative arts publications have come to a difficult and important crossroad. Although both alternative and commercial publications are being affected by our current economic slump...alternative arts publications are being further pressured by conservative politics. Perhaps, this period of questioning and challenges is actually a blessing in disguise, as it causes alternative arts publications to re-examine what it means to be alternative and to redefine just what our role is in the larger cultural arena."

"Special Issue on the Alternative Arts Press." Artpapers, 15(4): 1991
A useful issue with good introductory article by Susan Snodgrass, and reports of the travails of publishing alternative art periodicals. Includes statements from: Whitewalls, New Art Examiner, Artpaper, Dialogue, Bloatstick, Video Guide, Heresies, Women Artists News, Art issues, Art Papers, Artweek, Frame-Work, P-Form, Parallélogramme, Number, Public Art Review, Parachute, The Arts Journal, New Observations, Reflex, The Act, and High Performance.

Whitaker, Cathy, ed. Alternative Publications: A Guide to Directories, Indexes, Bibliographies and Other Sources. Jefferson, N. Carolina & London: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1990.
Produced under the auspices of the American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table Task Force on Alternatives in Print, this is a useful starting point for researching further into a broad range of alternative publications, publishers and distributors.