Published on:

Whatever Happened to the Oregon Ballot Measures Archives Project (BMAP)?

By
The last I heard (in 2009) Joshua Binus was trying to save Oregon Ballot Measure files from being tossed into the recycle bin by the Secretary of State’s office (which was complying with state records retention laws).
With the help of other librarians, I tracked Joshua down and the good news is he will be getting back to the BMAP in the near future – hurray!  He says records are at PSU and with any luck, he’ll find a permanent home for the project and its own advocates so he doesn’t have to be a one-man-BMAP-band.
1) You can see my previous blog post on the project:
2) There was also an excellent presentation by the BMAP founder, Joshua Binus, at the Oregon Library Association annual meeting: NW Central (Oregon librarians) 2009 program on the BMAP.
3) If you’re interested in other Oregon history and civics websites, try these websites:
By
Published on:
Updated:

One response to “Whatever Happened to the Oregon Ballot Measures Archives Project (BMAP)?”

  1. Anonymous says:

    A friend gave me a heads-up that you were seeking an update on BMAP, though I see this posting is more than a year old at this point.

    The Ballot Measure Archive Project is alive and well. While I have personally had to take some time off from the collection development part of the effort, at some point I expect that work to pick up again. At present, my biggest challenge is finding time to dedicate to this project (on top of the time already dedicated to my family, a full-time job, and some part-time teaching).

    The biggest news to report of late has more to do with the movement of the collection into a permanent repository. Portland State University's Special Collections has formally adopted BMAP and has been working to organize it for public access over the past year. We will do some media outreach once it's ready.

    Hope this is helpful to those of you with interest in the state's history of direct democracy.

    Best,

    Joshua Binus
    Director, Ballot Measure Archive Project
    Adjunct Instructor, Portland State University
    University Studies/Dept. of History

Contact Information