My role in this project
Between July and November 2008, I worked part-time at the
Stanley Parr Archives and Records
Center (SPARC), a service offered by the Auditor's Office of the City of Portland, Oregon. The main
thrust of my work consisted of digitizing an increased number of archival photographs in SPARC's custody,
thereby extending public access to this collection. A special focus of my work was to broaden SPARC's
photographic digitization to parts of the City of Portland that had previously been under-represented in
electronic format.
Giving most of my attention to the traffic engineering collection, which I came to believe was a
wonderful view into what everyday Portland looked like generations ago, I paged through countless
hard-copy photographs, identified the neighborhood or neighborhoods that those images represented,
and scanned several hundred of those images into the city's database system. Over the course of my
time at SPARC, I built a small database of my own that correlated these photographs with Portland
neighborhoods, a separate database that eventually served as the basis for this online exhibit.
My website presents the data that I compiled during my time at SPARC in a user-friendly manner.
The actual images and descriptions, however, are stored in
Efiles,
the City of Portland's online database application that makes not only archival photographs but other
records in the public domain available via the internet. (For each entry on this website, you will find
a link to the Efiles page for that photograph.) In other words, this website provides only links to
resources maintained in City of Portland databases.
By hosting the mechanism by which users can access the city's holdings more easily than they may
have through Efiles, I hope that users do not confuse
this mechanism with the actual photographs that are within the custody of the City of Portland.
A trip up to SPARC in person is always a rewarding experience. On behalf of the friendly staff who
work there, I think it is more than a safe bet for me to say that they are always very willing and eager
to assist any member of the Portland community in exploring the rich history of their city. Due largely
to the labor-intensive nature of describing and digitizing archival photographs, the images that are
available in electronic form represent only a small fraction of SPARC's entire collection, which consists
of around three-quarters of a million images. To get a truer perspective of the breadth of their treasures,
I encourage you to
visit SPARC in
person.
Additionally, for a concise chronology of the City of Portland's history since William Overton and Asa
Lovejoy's original land claim in 1843, see
SPARC's
Portland Historical Timeline. Also see the
Portland Timeline Images online
exhibit.
Appropriate usage of these archival resources
According to the City of Portland:
Unlike federal documents, most local government records are subject to copyright, which is
held by the agency that produced them. The City of Portland does consider its non-exempt records under copyright
and reserves the right to enforce that copyright if its records are used for negative, defamatory or illegal
purposes. Otherwise, as long as any requisite duplication or delivery charges have been paid, City of Portland
documents and images are considered free for use.
In addition to documents produced by the City, the archival collections contain documents
and images for which it does not hold copyright. The City provides such document for researchers under what
is referred to as "Fair Use" in copyright law. Researchers who wish to use these documents and images should
be aware of the copyright restrictions. It is also incumbent upon the researcher to investigate any
restrictions that may apply to each item they intend to use. It is the sole responsibility of the user
to conduct all research regarding the restriction of copyrighted items. The City of Portland does not
give legal advice to anyone regarding the use of copyrighted materials.
For more information about appropriate usage of these records, please
see SPARC's policy statement
concerning the use of the City of Portland's archival collection.
Technical requirements for viewing images on this online exhibit
The majority of images presented here are in PDF format. You will need
Adobe Reader (free download) or other
software capable of opening PDFs.
A handful of images are stored as TIFF images, a large file format requiring especially long
download times.
Most PDFs range from 500 KB to 1.5 MB in size; TIFF images can be up to 100 MB or more in size.
Patience is required when downloading most images accessible through this website especially if you
do not have a high-speed connection to the internet.
return to Portland archival photographs home