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New Agent Orange Subject Guide

To assist researchers studying the topic of agent orange during and after the Vietnam War, the Vietnam Center and Archive has produced a new subject guide highlighting agent orange related resources in both our digital and physical collections. The subject guide is divided by media type and subcategory, and includes links to the digital objects when available. This is the first in a series of subject guides that we will produce over the next year.


Agent Orange Subject Guide - http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/vietnamarchive/resources/agentorange/index.php

Vietnam Center & Archive Website, including Virtual Vietnam Archive, Unavailability

On December 16th thru 18th, the website of the Vietnam Center and Archive will experience periods of unavailability between the hours of 8am-5pm (-06:00 GMT). During this time we will be performing maintenance on existing systems and installing new equipment. While the website will be available during portions of these days, it will become unavailable without warning. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 806-742-9010 or vawebmaster@ttu.edu.

American Archives Month 2008

Do you have family heirlooms in need of proper storage, but aren't sure what to do with them? Are you interested in, or want to learn more about the archival profession? Then don't miss this exciting opportunity!

Kickoff Event: Thursday October 16, 2008, 3:00pm - 5:30pm in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Building. Attend a presentation about archives and then take a behind the scenes tour of both archival facilities.

Preserving Your Family Records Workshop Series: Tuesday October 21, 2008, 11:00am - 6:30pm in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Building. The series will include workshops focusing on the basic preservation of paper, photographs, textiles, audio-visuals and digital materials. Workshops will be followed by a one on one, in depth question and answer forum with archival professionals.

For more detailed information, please visit http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/archivesmonth.htm

New Duplication Guidelines, Agreement, and Fees

New duplication guidelines, a duplication contract, and a new fee schedule will take affect September 1, 2008. Any orders taken after this date will be subject to our new policies and prices.

New guidelines (.pdf) or HTML
New use agreement (.pdf)
New price list (.pdf) or HTML

Student Employment Opportunity: Collection Processing

Are you a TTU student looking for an interesting and educational work opportunity? The Vietnam Archive is currently seeking applicants for a Student Assistant (Collection Processor). This new hire will work under the supervision of Associate Archivist Ty Lovelady, and will involve processing incoming collections of documents, photographs, books, maps, artifacts, and other primary sources from the Vietnam War Era.

What does that little red sign mean?

Researchers familiar with our Virtual Vietnam Archive have probably seen their fair share of the “Ghostbusters” like sign above and many have probably wondered what that sign really means.

The red sign means that a document is not available online. Why is it not available some might ask? There are two reasons for seeing the dreaded red sign. One, the document is copyrighted. Due to the stipulations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, copyrighted documents can be digitized as a form of preservation, but can not be redistributed in that format. This stipulation means that while we can scan the document to PDF or electronic form, we can not redistribute the electronic version over the internet or by burning it to a CD and giving it to someone else. Providing electronic versions of copyrighted documents to a third party constitutes a violation of the copyright law.

The second reason for seeing the little red sign is that the material in question has not been digitized yet. Many items are difficult and time consuming to digitize, video and microfilm are primary examples, or may be too fragile to digitize. Because these materials take so long to digitize, we create documents for them in the virtual archive so they are accessible via reference request.

The real issue out of all the red sign business is how do I get a copy of those materials? For paper documents you can request a copy be mailed to you. Send us a Reference Request from our web page with a list of the item numbers and item titles and we will make photocopies of the documents and mail them to your home. For videos and photographs we can make copies of the materials, but only if they are not copyrighted. If the videos and photos are copyrighted you will have to order copies of them from the copyright owner. Reproduction and postage fees do apply for reproduction requests. See our price list for the current charges.

Student Spotlight: Sebastian Arandia

Sebastian Arandia graduated from Texas Tech University on May 10, 2008 with a BA in History. He has been accepted into Texas A&M University's History graduate program and will begin in August of 2008. Sebastian started working at the Vietnam Archive in May of 2007 and began working on the Familes of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association (VAHF) collection on July 17th 2007. He has proven himself a very conscientious, dedicated, and hard working student assistant with a passion for History and learning. Sebastian chose to work at the Vietnam Archive so that he could have “… the opportunity to have a hands-on experience with the history of the Vietnam War.” Sebastian enjoys working with the FVPPA (VAHF) collection because by doing so he is “…preserving and making known the history of the thousands of Vietnamese refugees who left their country after April 30, 1975.” Congratulations and Good Luck Sebastian. We wish you best. We know you are on the road to a bright future.

May 28th FVPPA Collection Opening Ceremony

The Vietnam Center and Archive’s May 28th, 2008 opening ceremony of the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association (FVPPA) Collection, donated by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation (VAHF), was a great success. The Vietnam Center and Archive co-hosted the event, entitled “We Did Not Forget Those Left Behind,” with the VAHF. The ceremony marked the collection as fully processed and available to researchers. The Vietnam Center and Archive held the ceremony to raise awareness of the FVPPA collection and to thank those individuals and organizations who helped these Vietnamese refugees emigrate to the U.S.

Speakers at the event included: Dr. James Reckner, Executive Director, Institute for Modern Conflict, Diplomacy, and Reconciliation; Ms. Nancy Bui, President, Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation; Ms. Khuc Minh Tho, Founder and President, Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association; An Hoang Le, Humanitarian Operations Participant; Dr. Stephen F. Maxner, Director, the Vietnam Center and Archive; Mr. T. Kumar, Advocacy Director for Asia & Pacific, Amnesty International; Ms. Anna Mallett, Project Archivist, the Vietnam Center and Archive; Dr. William M. Marcy, Provost, Texas Tech University; and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) deputy regional representative Thomas Albrecht was scheduled to speak, but had to cancel his flight and attendance due to events in East Africa, Kenya.

Distinguished guests at the May 28th Opening Ceremony included Khuc Minh Tho, T. Kumar of Amnesty International, Major General Dudley Faver, representatives of the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation, and Texas Tech University Provost William M. Marcy.

Awards were given from the VAHF to Dr. James Reckner, Dr. Stephen Maxner, Mary Saffell, and Ann Mallett. The Vietnam Center and Archive also presented an award to Ann Mallett.

Letters of written for the May 28th Opening Ceremony by Senator John McCain, Senator Bob Dole, President George H. W. Bush, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Robert L. Funseth (Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Acting Director of the Bureau for Refugee Programs) are posted on our website for researchers to read when they look the FVPPA collection. These letters, along with the FVPPA collection’s scope and content note, administrative history, finding aid, and names search database, may be viewed on the following webpage of the Vietnam Archive’s Virtual Archive: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/vietnamarchive/fvppa/index.htm

-All photos are were taken by The Vietnam Center's Victoria Lovelady

View more pictures of the opening ceremony

Vietnamese Delegation Visit

A delegation from Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training visited Texas Tech University today to discuss plans to bring 100 Vietnamese students to TTU annually for graduate programs. The Vietnam Center and Archive was the first stop of a day packed with meetings and tours. After a presentation on our mission and our projects and partnerships in Vietnam, the delegation spent time viewing and photographing the Tram diaries. More information about the visit and the role of the Vietnam Center and Archive in Texas Tech's interactions with Vietnam can be found here.

The Diaries of Dr. Dang Thuy Tram

In 2005, the Vietnam Archive received the diaries of Dr. Dang Thuy Tram, a woman who served in a medical detachment for North Vietnamese Army. Dr. Tram was killed in action in 1970, but the diaries she kept for the last three years of her life were captured by U.S. soldiers. A U.S. Army Intelligence officer, Fred Whitehurst, was ordered to burn Dr. Tram’s diaries when they were found to contain no significant strategic information. Whitehurst’s astute translator advised him, “do not burn these, they already have fire in them.” He kept the diaries for thirty-five years, and eventually donated them to the Vietnam Archive. Dr. Tram’s family was found and contacted in Hanoi and given an electronic copy of the diaries. Tram became a national hero in Vietnam, and her diaries a bestseller. The Vietnam Archive was honored to host her mother and sisters in October 2005 in which the family was able to hold her diaries. Random House published an English translation last year titled Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: the Diaries of Dang Thuy Tram.

Dr. Tram made both of the diaries by hand, using supplies she had with her, including cardboard from boxes of medical supplies. Her writings detail the day to day danger and anxiety of war, and express Tram’s compassion for her patients and fellow soldiers, and her dedication to their cause. For more information about the diaries, and to view them online, please visit our website.

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.