Ephemera

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Ephemera are items which were not originally designed to be retained or preserved, but have been collected or retained. The word is etymologically derived from the Greek ephēmeros ‘lasting only a day’.^[1] The word is both plural and singular.^[2]

One definition for ephemera is "the minor transient documents of everyday life".^[3][4] Ephemera are often paper-based, printed items, including menus, ticket stubs, newspapers, postcards, posters, sheet music, stickers, and greeting cards. However, since the 1990s, the term has been used to refer to digital artefacts or texts.^[5]

Since the printing revolution, ephemera has been a long-standing element of everyday life. Some ephemera are ornate in their design, acquiring prestige, whereas others are minimal and notably utilitarian. Virtually all conceptions of ephemera make note of the object's disposability.

Collectors and special interest societies have contributed to a greater willingness to preserve ephemera, which is now ubiquitous in archives and library collections. Ephemera have become a source for humanities research, as ephemera reveal the sociological, historical, cultural, and anthropological contexts of their production and preservation.