What We Do

The Oregon Digital Newspaper (ODNP) is a digitization and preservation program for Oregon newspapers. The program has two primary components: 

• Digitization of historical newspapers 
• Providing access to and preservation of current, born-digital newspapers 

Users can access digitized newspapers through our free online database Historic Oregon Newspapers. This full-text searchable database contains over 2.4 million pages from Oregon newspapers dated 1846 - 2024, and we are continually adding new titles. 

ODNP is committed to providing free online access to historic Oregon newspapers. This is made possible with the support of external project sponsors, federal and state grants, the UO Libraries, and through private donations. 

Get Involved

Digitize a Newspaper 

Digitization of the newspapers available online in Historic Oregon Newspapers is made possible through funding from local organizations—historical societies, museums, libraries—grants, donors, and individuals. The newspapers we digitize are based on specific criteria relating to the funding sources. 

Partner organizations supply funding (usually via grants or fundraising) and specify content for digitization, at a cost of $.65 per page when scanning from microfilm negatives. For scanning from print papers, the base cost is $.85 per page but will vary depending on the condition of the papers. 

These costs cover the entire digitization process from start to finish: project estimates, copyright research, scanning, cropping images, putting images into folders by issue and date, running each page through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to ensure keyword searchability, adding metadata to every page image, doing quality checks throughout, hosting the issues in our free online database, and providing long-term digital preservation of the page images on University of Oregon servers. 

If there is a specific newspaper title or geographical location you would like to see included on the website, we encourage you to consider working with a local library or historical society, or forming a group with other like-minded researchers, to fund a digitization project for newspapers from your area.  

Please contact us if you’d like to sponsor a project, get a project estimate, or recommend titles for digitization. 

Join the Current Newspapers Preservation Program 

The UO Libraries ceased its newspaper microfilming service in 2015. In order to preserve current newspapers, ODNP now works directly with publishers to add their digital issues to Historic Oregon Newspapers. Each publisher must decide whether or not they want to participate in the digital program. Current newspapers will only be added to Historic Oregon Newspapers with permission and participation from publishers. There is a free service for publishers, and all content on Historic Oregon Newspapers is freely available to the public at no cost. 

Please contact us if you’d like to participate in the Current Newspapers Preservation Program. 

Donate to ODNP 

We rely on donor support and project sponsors to digitize newspapers and sustain the program. Donate today to see more newspapers digitized and support the work of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program at University of Oregon Libraries. 

Make a Gift

History 

The University of Oregon Libraries has been collecting and providing access to newspapers for over a century. In 1952, the Libraries established a microfilm service with a goal of preserving all available Oregon newspapers on microfilm. The UO Libraries now has the most comprehensive collection of Oregon newspapers in the state.  

The Oregon Digital Newspaper Program began in 2009 and continued through 2015 with three rounds of funding from the National Digital Newspaper Program. An advisory board selected titles for digitization with a goal of assembling a list that was regionally diverse, culturally inclusive, and ideologically balanced. Thanks to the Libraries’ microfilm service, we were able to use microfilm negatives from our own collection as source material for digitization. 

In 2015, the microfilm service ended, and the newspaper program adopted a new model of collecting and preserving current newspapers. We partner directly with publishers to collect and provide access to digital editions of current newspapers. Learn more about current newspapers here. 

In 2016 ODNP shifted to a cost-recovery funding model and established an in-house digitization service with generous support from the Oregon State Library. Many of our digitization projects now occur through partnerships with historical societies, museums, libraries, and individuals who sponsor newspaper titles for digitization. We also rely on donors and grant funding for special projects. 

Copyright 

Public Domain 

Newspapers published 95 years ago or before are automatically in the public domain and are free of copyright restrictions. As of January 1, 2025, public domain applies to newspapers published in 1929 and earlier. Content in the public domain may be re-used in any way, although we appreciate a credit/attribution for Historic Oregon Newspapers. 

• April 1989-present

  Newspapers published April 1989-present are covered by copyright for 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first. For newspapers published during this time period, ODNP obtains permission from the rights holder before digitizing and adding titles to Historic Oregon Newspapers. 

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  1930-March 1989 

  Newspapers published 1930-March 1989 may be covered by copyright. ODNP staff conducts copyright research on titles to determine if a newspaper was registered for copyright, if the copyright was renewed, and if a copyright notice appears on the publication itself. If a newspaper is still protected by copyright, ODNP obtains permission from the rights holder before digitizing and adding the title to Historic Oregon Newspapers.