PSU helps fund new online Oregon database

Portland State faculty and the Oregon Historical Society met with local residents downtown last Saturday to brainstorm content ideas for an online encyclopedia about significant Oregon culture and history.

The meeting, held at Portland’s Central Library, marks the first gathering of the Oregon Encyclopedia Project in Multnomah County.

Project members have been gathering ideas since March from residents across the state about what information should be included, said Linda Tamura, editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia.

Reaching outAfter presenting an overview of the project at Saturday’s meeting, Tamura held a forum with project coordinator Susan Martin to discuss topics that local citizens felt should be included.

At the meeting, project coordinators referred to the online encyclopedia as a “living document,”–an online database, which would be continually updated with topics, essays, photos and maps as significant events in Oregon occur.

Martin also said that through an education advisory board, the encyclopedia will have a section dedicated to students. The point is to make the Web site as interactive as possible through videos, images and maps, she said.

Several suggestions for entries were also voiced from an eclectic group of residents, including members of Portland’s Church of Elvis and people representing Mills End Park, a local park touted as the “world’s smallest.”

With funding from both PSU and the Oregon Historical Society, the encyclopedia will include entries on history, culture, events and institutions, Tamura said.

Martin said the encyclopedia “will be the one-stop place where people can go for reliable and accurate information about Oregon history.”

The project’s Web site, which houses the encyclopedia’s work-in-progress, launched in February, Martin said.

A different approachThe idea for the encyclopedia was initially spurred by PSU professor Bill Lang’s vision to have an authoritative and creative source regarding Oregon history, Martin said.

“We wanted to be a nontraditional encyclopedia,” Tamura said.

The first online edition of the encyclopedia will launch in 2009, with a print edition coming out the following year, Tamura said.

Previous attempts at documenting Oregon history have left out underrepresented populations, such as rural communities and women, Tamura said. The encyclopedia is also taking a particular interest in the history of immigration in Oregon, she said.

Another goal of the encyclopedia was to involve people from all over the state, Martin said.

“Our goal has been to go to every county in Oregon,” Martin said.

Thus far, many meetings have had special attention for smaller communities, including writing workshops with literary experts to help authors through the process.

The processWhether through suggesting a topic, writing an entry or making a correction to a previously written entry, every Oregonian is encouraged to be an active participant in the creation of the encyclopedia, Martin said.

To date, there have been over 3,000 topics identified and 500 entries by writers, she said.

All recommended topics will be reviewed by the project’s editorial board, and the process takes about two months, Tamura said.

To view a complete list of the project’s scheduled events as well as submission guidelines, you can visit the encyclopedia’s Web site at www.oregonencyclopedia.org.