Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive News and Updates

Friday, August 15, 2008

Random Image Page

The Vietnam Archive has added a new feature to our website – a Random Image page. This new page will load an image from our holdings of over 100,000 digitzed photographs, slides, and negatives, and you can refresh the page to see a new image.

Additionally, this Vietnam Archive Random Image page is available as a Google Gadget. You can add the gadget using this gadget url: href=”http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/108667873740680159525/vncaimage.xml, or using the button below. You can also add the gadget to your own webpage using this interface, which will allow you to customize the width, height, and border color of the gadget. If you do this, please note that all images displayed through this gadget are property of the Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech University, and this should be noted on your page.

Add to Google

Monday, July 28, 2008

View this blog as an RSS feed

For users interested in viewing the Vietnam Center and Archive Blog as an RSS feed, use this link [ http://feeds2.feedburner.com/VietnamArchive ] in your favorite RSS reader. For more information about RSS, see About the Blog and RSS feed page.

Posted by at 9:43 am
Labels: website
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Ways to Access Digitized Materials, Part III

This is the conclusion of a three part series on ways to access the digitized materials of the Vietnam Archive without using the Virtual Vietnam Archive search page (see Part I and Part II).

Other methods to access digital materials include our Teachers Resources Web, which, under the Subject Searches section, includes links to digital materials on a variety of subjects, including historical figures and equipment. These subject searches are setup for Primary, Secondary, and College level users.

We also have a Resources by Topic section of our site that contains links to bibliographies on a variety of subjects related to Vietnam and the Vietnam War. Some of these bibliographies include links to subject searches on the topic, or oral histories or collection finding aids related to the subject. We are currently working on expanding the section of our site with new subject guides.

Finally, for researchers interested in the conferences and symposia offered by the Vietnam Center, pages have been created providing links to the videos of each conference (when available). These links can be found on the Past Conferences, Symposia, and Events page.

We are always striving to make our site as useful and user-friendly as possible. If you have any suggestions or requests, please feel free to email us at vawebmaster@ttu.edu, or use on online survey.
Monday, June 23, 2008

Ways to Access Digitized Materials, Part II

Last week, I started a post on Ways to Access the Digitzed Materials of the Vietnam Archive. This is a continuation of that series.

The newest method we have added to our site is through our new RSS Feed (see earlier posting of June 11, 2008). This feed will allow users to view the previous day’s newly added records, or records that were updated with new information. A link to the RSS Feed can be found on our homepage.

If you are interested in maps, there is a search page that exclusively searches our map collection. This page functions in much the same way as the Virtual Vietnam Archive search page (through which maps can also be accessed), but also includes additional search features such as latitude/longitude, country, and scaled. Links to gazetteers are provided to assist researchers in determining coordinates for towns or villages. There is also a “Navigate the Country” section that allows users to click through a map of North or South Vietnam to the province level, and see the individual 1:50000 AMS maps for that province. These maps are all linked together within the records as well, so users can navigate from map to map without returning to the search page. This linking can be found in the “More Information” section of each record.

Look for conclusion of this series later this week.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Ways to Access Digitized Materials, Part I

Did you know that there are a number of ways to access the digitized materials of the Vietnam Archive other than through the Virtual Vietnam Archive search page?

One way to access digital materials, or just to browse through the holdings of the Vietnam Archive, is through the Browse the Collections page. This section of our website contains alphabetical listings of all of the collections in the Vietnam Archive (arranged by last name for individuals, or first word for other collection types). Each browse page contains some basic information about the collection, including a Scope and Content note (when available) that provides an overview of what the collection contains. There is also a link to the full finding aid for the collection (a finding aid is basically an inventory of the collection). When materials from a particular collection have been digitized, links will be provided at the bottom of the finding aid to the digital materials. Please note, though, that due to system limitations, these links will only generate up to 250 records. To access the remainder of a collection, you will have to utilize the Virtual Archive search page. Additionally, the finding aid will have a link to an oral history if one has been conducted with the donor of the collection. A link to Browse the Collections can be found on our homepage.

Speaking of Oral Histories, there is also a Browse the Oral History Interviews page (link available on the homepage). This page is arranged alphabetically by last name of the interviewee, includes a description of each interview, and links to listen to the audio of the interview and/or a transcript, when available. In addition to the browse pages, there are also pages listing just interviews or collections added within the last few months.

I’ll post more ways to access digital materials here next week. (see Part II, Part III)

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Virtual Archive Updates and New Additions RSS Feed

To assist frequent users of our site with staying on top of new additions to the Virtual Vietnam Archive, as well as updated items, a RSS feed of new and updated records has been created. This feed will update automatically at 5:00am (-0600 GMT) Tuesday-Saturday and will list items added to the Virtual Vietnam Archive the day before. Additionally, any existing records that have been updated, such as collection Finding Aids, Oral Histories, or Audio or Moving Image records, will be listed as well. Each RSS item listing will include the title of the item, some basic information about the item, and a link to a more complete record for the item, including links to the digitized version for non-copyrighted materials. Please note that the RSS feed does not include a direct link to download the item, just a link to a page where you can download the item, if available.
Using this feed will allow users to view new and updated records without having to go through the Virtual Vietnam Archive search engine.

More information about the RSS feed can be found on the About the Blog and RSS feed page, or you can .

Monday, June 9, 2008

Why do the Vietnam Center and Archive website and this blog have these colors and design?

The colors and design of both this blog and the Vietnam Center and Archive website have been used to comply with the Texas Tech University (of which the Center & Archive is a part) identity guidelines. In 2006, the University hired a consulting firm to develop a unified look for all media, including both print and online, produced by the University and its organizations. This firm extensively utilized the University’s colors of Red and Black as the basis for all of the designs, and developed a shield symbol for use by all academic units. The guidelines also include guidelines for other colors that can be used, usage of images, fonts and typography, etc.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Session Videos and Presentations from the March 2008 6th Triennial Symposium Now Available Online

Session videos and presentations from the 6th Triennial Symposium are now available online at the link listed below. There are versions of the videos for both high-speed and slower connections.

6th Triennial Symposium Session Videos and Presentations

Friday, November 17, 2006

Session Videos from the 2006 Intelligence in the Vietnam War Conference Now Available Online

Conference session videos for the Intelligence in the Vietnam War Conference are now available online at the link listed below. There are versions of the videos for both high-speed and for slower connections.

2006 Fall Conference: Session Videos

Friday, May 19, 2006

New: Vietnam Project Website User Survey

The Vietnam Project is asking website visitors to complete a user experience survey when they visit the Virtual Vietnam Archive and Vietnam Project websites. Participation in the brief, anonymous survey will allow us to better understand how and why our online resources are being used, and will provide important information that we can use to more effectively manage our resources. To complete the survey, please use the link below.

Website User Survey

Posted by at 2:58 pm
Labels: virtual vietnam archive,website
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