University of Oregon Mission Statement 

The University of Oregon is a comprehensive public research university committed to exceptional teaching, discovery, and service. We work at a human scale to generate big ideas. As a community of scholars, we help individuals question critically, think logically, reason effectively, communicate clearly, act creatively, and live ethically. 

Purpose 

Overview: The Oregon Digital Newspaper Program’s purpose is to digitize historic Oregon newspapers and to make them accessible to the public for free online through the Historic Oregon Newspapers website. ODNP helps to fulfill the University of Oregon Libraries’ mission to collect, preserve, and provide access to Oregon’s diverse cultural heritage. Historic Oregon Newspapers is a format-based collection, not a subject-specific one, and applies specifically to the content added to the Historic Oregon Newspapers website (https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/) as part of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program (ODNP). 

Degrees, majors, special emphases: Newspapers support many undergraduate, masters, and PhD-granting programs at the University of Oregon. These include, but are not limited to, History, Journalism, Media Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Marketing. 

Audience: The audience for Historic Oregon Newspapers is the University of Oregon, the state of Oregon, and researchers all over the world. The database is useful for a wide range of needs including academic research, K-12 curriculum, genealogy, and personal research. 

Scope 

Languages: Historic Oregon Newspapers currently features newspapers in English, Spanish, and Finnish. Other languages may be included so long as they use the Roman alphabet due to technical limitations in Optical Character Recognition software (OCR). 

Geographic coverage: The Historic Oregon Newspapers site only includes newspapers from the state of Oregon. Some Oregon-based titles include coverage of or editions for Washington. 

Chronological coverage: The chronological coverage of the Historic Oregon Newspapers is primarily affected by copyright, thus is weighted toward dates prior to the rolling date of public domain. However, we are able to add newer issues as 1) the date of public domain changes each year, 2) we conduct copyright research to confirm that titles are in the public domain, and 2) we add current content from Oregon newspapers with which we have license agreements. 

Formats 

Included: Newspaper serials that have been published in print, including digital files of print version. News serials that are published online that include discrete, cohesive editions available as a pdf file or which can be aggregated as a pdf file. 

Excluded: Due to technical limitations at this time, we do not collect news websites via web archiving, or web-only news sites that publish news posts but which do not publish discrete, cohesive editions of news articles. 

Principal Collection Areas 

Subject areas: The primary subject area of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program is “Oregon,” and as such there are no particular subjects we emphasize over any other. Most titles in Historic Oregon Newspapers are general-interest newspapers from towns and cities around Oregon. However, we also include Oregon newspapers with a particular subject focus, such as agriculture, labor activism, or religion. We also include newspapers published for specific audiences, such as women, ethnic communities, schools, military camps, and the LGBTQ community. 

Adding Content to Historic Oregon Newspapers 

Content is added to Historic Oregon Newspapers through several workflows: 

Digitization of historic newspapers: ODNP adds historic newspapers via microfilm digitization and digital photography of original newsprint (bound volumes or loose issues). The University of Oregon Libraries holds negative microfilm masters of many Oregon newspapers and is able to use these materials as a source for most digitization projects. ODNP also works with partners to borrow original newsprint materials when that format is the only available format for digitization. 

Digitization projects are done on a requested basis with sponsoring partners, including organizations and individuals. ODNP operates on a cost-recovery model that covers student labor, equipment maintenance, and supplies. For digitization, newspapers must be in the public domain, free of copyright, or allowed by the publisher.  

Current newspapers: ODNP adds print-ready pdf editions of current newspapers, typically published 2015 to present. These titles are shared with ODNP by the newspaper publishers and ingested into Historic Oregon Newspapers by ODNP staff. Participating publishers sign a license agreement to allow ODNP to host and distribute the digital content in Historic Oregon Newspapers. ODNP does not digitize current newspapers from original newsprint. 

Donated digital files: ODNP may accept donations of scanned image files of newspapers digitized by partner organizations. The digital image files must conform to National Digital Newspaper Program technical specifications. These donations are accepted rarely and on a case-by-case basis. 

Vendor digitization: ODNP occasionally works with commercial vendors to digitize microfilm for ingest to Historic Oregon Newspapers. The digital image files must conform to National Digital Newspaper Program technical specifications. 

 Other Related Collections 

UO Libraries holds an extensive collection of Oregon newspapers on microfilm, which is available to the public in Knight Library. Newspapers in their original formats are also available in Special Collections & University Archives. There are also several Oregon newspaper titles available online through an agreement with Newspapers.com. 

Gifts 

ODNP does not accept donations of original newsprint or bound volumes of newspapers. 

 ODNP may accept donations of digitized page image files of newspapers that conform to National Digital Newspaper Program technical specifications. These donations are accepted rarely and on a case-by-case basis. 

 Database Errors 

 ODNP conducts rigorous quality checks throughout the digitization workflow. However, errors occasionally make their way into Historic Oregon Newspapers. Users may encounter incorrect metadata, duplicate issues, misspelled titles, and misplaced issues. 

 Errors in Historic Oregon Newspapers are extremely difficult to fix, due to the database’s architecture and staffing constraints. Nonetheless, we welcome feedback from users who find errors. ODNP staff maintains a log of these errors in the event that technical staff are able to remediate them. Please send any corrections to the ODNP Program Manager at emp@uoregon.edu.  

 Takedown Requests and Redactions 

 The UO Libraries is committed to upholding the principle of equal and free access to unaltered historical information. Newspapers are important primary sources that document history and contribute to the scholarly record. Users may encounter some content within Historic Oregon Newspapers that contains offensive language, imagery, or other forms of objectionable or harmful content. Such information documents the past and was created within the context of its original time period. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes, prejudices, or behaviors depicted therein. The UO Libraries is a steward of these resources and makes them available to the public for research and education, but the UO Libraries is not responsible for the content of the materials.  

 Newspapers in Historic Oregon Newspapers were originally published for and distributed to the general public according to each title’s respective editorial policies and mission. UO Libraries is not responsible for the content or accuracy of the information within the newspapers in Historic Oregon Newspapers. 

 UO Libraries and ODNP staff will generally not honor requests to correct errors or inaccuracies in original materials or to redact such materials maintained by UO Libraries, except in cases where the exposure of information poses intellectual property concerns (e.g., copyright infringement), significant risks to high-risk data (e.g., Social Security numbers, personal health Information including HIPAA information, credit card and banking information, driver’s license numbers), significant risks to sensitive data (e.g., FERPA protected educational records and information covered by a non-disclosure agreement), or documented evidence of a clear and imminent threat to personal safety (e.g., a current order of protection). 

 Living individuals whose high-risk or sensitive personal information is exposed or those who believe their intellectual property is being infringed may submit a takedown or redaction request to the ODNP Program Manager at emp@uoregon.edu.  

 ODNP staff will review takedown and redaction requests and may consult with the university’s General Counsel and others to make determinations about appropriate actions. As part of the review process, ODNP staff may request additional information from the requestor. 

 Latest revision: March 2025