Editing Ephemera (section)

{{about|temporary objects|the genus of mayflies|Ephemera (mayfly)|other uses}}
{{short description|Transient items, usually printed}}
[[File:Ephemera Collection; QV; Advertising; 1850-1 Wellcome L0031705.jpg|thumb|A historical example of ephemera]] 
'''Ephemera''' are items which were not originally designed to be retained or preserved, but have been collected or retained. The word is [[Etymology|etymologically]] derived from the Greek ephēmeros 'lasting only a day'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ephemera |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095754277 |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en }}</ref> The word is both plural and singular.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Solis-Cohen |first=Lisa |date=April 4, 1980 |title=Ephemera Society is Group Devoted to Throwaways |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/665639718/?terms=ephemera&match=1 |access-date=May 14, 2022 |work=[[Bangor Daily News]]}}</ref>

One definition for ephemera is "the minor transient documents of everyday life".<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Garner |first=Anne |date=2021 |title=State of the Discipline: Throwaway History: Towards a Historiography of Ephemera |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/788356 |journal=Book History |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=244–263 |doi=10.1353/bh.2021.0008 |issn=1529-1499 |s2cid=242506527|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Dugaw |first=Dianne |date=2020 |title=Transcendent Ephemera: Performing Deep Structure in Elegies, Ballads, and Other Occasional Forms |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/758817 |journal=Eighteenth-Century Life |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=17–42 |doi=10.1215/00982601-8218591 |issn=1086-3192 |s2cid=226080511|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  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.<ref name=":18" />

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 [[Learned society|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 [[Sociology|sociological]], historical, cultural, and [[Anthropology|anthropological]] contexts of their production and preservation.