- Amy Lau
So much for the digital revolution. In an amazing slidetackle move, the library has beaten the internet to archiving the Oregonian. While the Oregonian‘s own website makes it nearly impossible to find any of their stories, the Multnomah County Library now has a full database of their archives, including all articles, pictures, illustrations and advertisements clear back until 1861 when the newspaper began.
“The library is committed to removing barriers to access for our patrons,” says Director of Libraries Vailey Oehlke. “As the only institution to make this invaluable historical record available to the public for free, we believe this resource will benefit everyone in our community.”
So thanks, Multnomah County Library! And as for the Oregonian… maybe this could be your new website.
oregonlive.com is an atrocity! Is it owned by the Oregonian publisher’s son-in-law or something? There HAS to be some sort of familial/personal interest between the two, because the paper should have ditched the third-party crapfestival long ago.
Way to go Multnomah County Library.
This has been pretty much the biggest revolution in the nerdy world of Portland amateur historians since pretty much anything ever. One of the most amazing things about the whole collection is that it’s largely text-searchable! So now instead of spending four hours a week combing through the micro-fiche to find one good story, I can now spend every waking hour (sorry, fiance) falling down the rabbit hole of 120 years of archived Oregonian.
Also: the image that goes along with this post was made in what, 1993? 1995?
Oh, also: The Oregonian started publishing in 1850, not 1861. The first ten years aren’t available on the site.
Okay, so I will go back to my mom’s basement now.
It is quite a pity that the self-hating Oregonian commenters’ bitching and moaning wasn’t possible until the last decade.
I am sure they would have valuable insights about the moon landing, Japanese during World War II, legalization of interracial marriage, and how those new fangled talkies are a Hoover conspiracy.
Maybe the library can add a comments section so the Oregonian commenters can make up for lost time?
I’m with Khris on this one. This really may be the biggest cultural development for Oregon since the Dave’s coffee cart in front of the art museum opened (no worries kids, Dave got a real job about ten years later, about 1989).
I spent pretty much all of 1977 and 1978 in the basement of the Central Branch scrolling through microfilm and successful evading academic professionalization but limited by visiting hours. With this terrific interface (well terrific by today’s standards) will alter scholarship for the next generation.
Oh man – there are 339 articles on Coe’s Morningside Hospital. See ya.
Nice clip-art.
The Oregonian Historical Archive currently covers the years 1861 – 1972, with many dates still missing. For more current articles, the library has a text-only Oregonian database that covers the years 1987 – present, although it doesn’t include ads, pictures or articles that the Oregonian published but doesn’t own the copyright to, such as material from the AP or New York Times.
That leaves a big hole for the years 1973 – 1986 (so, nothing from Nixon’s second term, the Ford or Carter administrations, or the first half of Reagan’s second term). Oregonians from these years are available are available on microfilm at the Central Library, but the only indices that cover that time period are the Oregon Index at the Central Library (an actual card catalog — you know, one of those big wooden things — in the Periodicals Department on the 2nd floor) and the University of Oregon’s online index:
http://libweb.uoregon.edu/dc/newspaper/ind…
@ humanclock: Comment of the week, sir or madam.
This is because libraries fucking rule. Support them at every opportunity, please and thank you.
I’m a librarian and a computer geek. It made for a good combo when, several years ago, I took part in a focus group (but it was just me — what do you call that?) about Oregonlive. I was very clear about the abysmal site and my inability to find anything (even articles in the print edition) on the site. I was assured they were working on it. This is not a situation of nepotism — look around the country — many dying print newspapers have the exact same “structure” as Oregonlive. Its parent company is Advance Internet, Inc., based in Jersey. Perhaps the Oregonian should subcontract with Multcolib for a product that works.
@Commenty Colin: wow, quite an honor coming from you since I have really liked a lot of your comments in the past.
@alan cordle: I have noticed that too when clicking links on the net and ending up on a newspaper’s site that looks like the Oregonian’s but is not. (such as http://www.nj.com, the sad irony being that their two letter domain name is probably one of the newspaper’s greatest financial assets by this point).