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Ephemera is transitory written and printed matter, not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, baseball cards, bookmarks, cigarette cards, greeting cards, letters, photographs, postcards, posters, stock certificates, tickets, and zines. Decks of personality identification playing cards from the war in Iraq are a recent example.

In library and information science, the term ephemera also describes the class of published single-sheet or single page documents which are meant to be thrown away after one use. It includes: postcards, event-oriented posters, transportation and show tickets, baggage stickers, stock certificates, motor vehicle licensing forms, business cards, printed wedding invitations, trade cards, and other similar printed materials. This classification excludes simple letters and photographs with no printing on them, which are considered manuscripts or typescripts.

An academic or a national library often has a rare book department that acquires and organises ephemera, to preserve them as history. Museums may also collect and preserve ephemera.

Ephemera is a noun, the plural neuter of ephemeron and ephemeros, Greek and New Latin for epi = on and hemera = day with the ancient sense extending to the mayfly and other short lived insects and flowers and for something which lasts a day or a short period of time.

• The Encyclopedia of Ephemera: A Guide to the Fragmentary Documents of Everyday Life for the Collector, Curator, and Historian by Maurice Rickards et alia. London: The British Library; New York: Routledge, 2000.
• Fragments of the Everyday: A Book of Australian Ephemera /Richard Stone (2005, ISBN 0-642-27601-3)

• National Library of Australia: National Library of Australia's Ephemera homepage; catalogue records for general printed ephemera in the National Library of Australia.
• Ephemera Society of America
• Evonian Collection of Ephemera at the British Library Collection of 5,000 items relating to Victorian entertainment, especially conjuring, in the UK including posters, catalogues, trade cards etc.
• Western Australian Ephemera in the State Library of Western Australia
• Ephemera: theory & politics in organization an open access journal dedicated to the discussion of all aspects of organization
• Hugh D. Auchincloss Middle East Book Collection at Pell Center of International Relations and Public Policy at the McKillop Library at Salve Regina University [1]
• The John Grossman Collection of Antique Images - A popular collection of printed ephemera of visual culture from 1820-1920.
• The Art of Bookmark - Bookmark Exhibition - Includes images of early bookmarks from Victorian era and later
• ephemera- a popular blog that explores the world of old paper.
• Ampersand Vintage - Seattle-based blog dedicated to vernacular photography & vintage paper.