In a zine world dominated by music rags, half-baked anarchist invective, and mind-boggling self-obsession, quirky little rags like this are a breath of fresh air. The Ghosts of Ready Reference is sort of like the shit-hot Found, but narrows its scope to one set of found items: bits from the ready reference card file from a public library, where apparently the author works as, you guessed it, a reference librarian. See, before you could just Google any random fact you needed to know, librarians were cutting out wisps of information and gluing them to little cards: sort of an analog search engine. Now these card files are going the way of the buffalo, and the author of Ghosts has salvaged some choice ones and preserved them in this zine. Interspersed throughout the entries (ranging from an illustrated guide to necktie tying, to how one properly displays the stars and stripes) are transcripts of on-the-job interactions with the drunk and insane (classic: bug-eyed freak looking for information on how to make money by fucking). Not only does Ghosts profit from the eclectic fun of anything archaic and out-of-context, it could actually be useful: if I ever go camping with a deaf person, the entries on sign language, the rates at which various kinds of wood burn, and how to determine the wind chill factor will come in mighty handy. A precious little slice of vanishing Americana. –Brian Howe (Love Bunni Press, 2622 Princeton Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118, http://www.ishitmypants.blogspot.com/)