CORVALLIS, Ore. - A new mobile website provides a convenient way for visitors to Portland to learn about the city's architectural variety and history.

Launched by Oregon State University Libraries and the OSU Press, "Bart King's Architectural Guide to Portland" can be found at http://pdxarchitecture.library.oregonstate.edu/.

Architecturally, Portland strikes a graceful balance between the rich traditions of its past and the creative developments of modern design. This new mobile site features rotating content selected from An Architectural Guidebook to Portland, a popular resource rich with photographs and stories about Portland's celebrated cityscape.

Portland's civic planning, historic preservation, and overall attractiveness are explored in detailed profiles of structures ranging from 19th-century cast-iron front buildings to sleek modern skyscrapers. Arranged by district, the guide offers information on downtown Portland, the cultural district, government center, Yamhill, Old Town, the Pearl District, city bridges, and northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast Portland.

Portland visitors and explorers can access the site online or through any web enabled mobile device.  Within each entry, users will find King's detailed and often witty narrative about the site, photographs, and an interactive map providing real-time walking or driving directions.

As mobile devices become more ubiquitous, providing new ways to present available content is increasingly important for publishers.

"Users don't just want access to the core content in new formats, but access to the content in ways that make sense for how they use their mobile devices," said Faye Chadwell, the Donald and Delpha Campbell University Librarian at OSU and director of the OSU Press. "'Bart King's Architectural Guide to Portland' is the first example of numerous planned collaborations between OSU Press and OSU Libraries, leveraging the Libraries' knowledge of mobile development and user-centered design with the press' mission to provide better understanding of our region."

Source: 

Faye Chadwell, 541-737-7300

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