Sponsored by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Harvard Yenching Institute

Vietnamese newspapers & serials
Produced at National Library of Vietnam. (update 2/20/07)

History of the Project

The Center for Research Libraries, on behalf of The Southeast Asia Microform Project (SEAM), submitted a proposal to the Henry Luce Foundation in October 1993 to carry out preservation microfilming activities of important historical material in Viet Nam. The Luce Foundation awarded $180,000 to SEAM for this project in 1994; the Harvard Yenching Institute provided an additional $35,000 to support the purchase of camera equipment. Project funds have been used to purchase filming and processing equipment, support travel for researchers and consultants involved in negotiations and training with Vietnamese institutions, and pay for project staff engaged in the administration and duties of the project. The objective of the project is to make available specific materials to U.S. researchers, while providing Vietnamese research institutions with the capacity for sustained preservation activities.

The proposal successfully drew attention to the urgency of the preservation issue in Viet Nam, where much valuable information has been lost due to poor storage conditions, dislocation and destruction during the years of war and political unrest. Despite this destruction, there still exist important dynastic and colonial records currently inaccessible to researchers. Many extant dynastic sources in Chinese (Hán) and the vernacular (Nôm) remain in danger of destruction, and large volumes of more recent translations and original works in the romanized script quoc ngu are equally in peril. One important category that remains to be filmed is the châu bàn, or vermilion records. These are a collection of documents (including correspondence, memorials from various offices of court, memorials from the provinces, and even materials relating to medical practices of court doctors) that were passed up to the Emperor for comment; the name is derived from the vermilion ink used by the Emperor. Since the establishment of the SEAM project, much attention has been paid to the châu bàn, with a digitization project underway at the National Archives. Despite these efforts, access to the collection remains limited, and no plans are in place to generate a permanent microfilm copy.

Other important sources include vernacular literature from the period of the Ly and Tran dynasties (1010-1425), which include texts in both hán and nôm scripts; stone inscription texts (van bia) dating from the Ly to Nguyen dynasties; land registers, tax statements, and geographical records (dia chí) from the nineteenth century; huong uoc, or village regulations; and legends of imperial appointed guardian spirits (than tích) from the sixteenth century. These collections remain scattered in many repositories and, to date, are not being included in the SEAM project.

There also exist exclusively in Viet Nam many recent historical sources important to scholarship of the country. Early quoc ngu literature produced prior to the establishment of legal deposit by the French in 1922 exist in a variety of archives including the National Library in Hà Noi, the General Sciences Library in Sai Gon, and the Social Sciences Information Institute. In addition, material published in Resistance Zones in the period 1946 to 1954 sheds light on the social and political movements of the region.

Conditions in Vietnamese archives are very poor. The humid climate and lack of preservation awareness threatens the historic record of Viet Nam. Despite the commendable progress of upgrading facilities and staff training over the last couple of decades, the problem of endangered collections remains one of overwhelming scope and urgency. The problem of conserving archival paper records in the punishing climactic conditions of Viet Nam is one that is being faced by a variety of institutions, from the largest of state facilities in Hà Noi to the smallest provincial museums.

Project Plan

The project was divided into three phases. The initial phase would establish filming facilities at the National Library in Hà Noi and provide training in micrographics and conservation technologies to staff of all the important research repositories. Filming would commence at the National Library based on an agreement to film early quoc ngu newspapers. Negotiations to film the Resistance Zone materials have proved politically sensitive. For the second phase, a portable camera would be used to film smaller format materials at off-site repositories; it was hoped that this project would be based in Hoi An, where many interesting documents remain in private family houses. In the final phase of flexible duration, project participants would continue to film materials as they are made available.

The bulk of initial project activities has been based at the National Library in Hà Noi (Thu Vien Quoc Gia). SEAM and the Harvard-Yenching Institute assisted in the provision of full microfilming facilities for the National Library. John Dean of Cornell University and Robert Mottice of Mottice Micrographics, Inc. conducted preservation workshops in 1995 to train a number of staff from various libraries across the country in microfilm techniques, film processing, and film archiving technologies.

SEAM's initial collaboration with the Hoi An Service of Vestiges Management (Ban Quan Ly Di Tich Hoi An) met with difficulties following a restructuring of the province boundaries and the local offices of the Culture Ministry. Collaboration with the Social Science Information Institute in Hà Noi (Vien Thông Tin Khoa Hoc Xã Hoi) and the General Sciences Library in Ho Chi Minh City (Thu Vien Khoa Tong Hop) also remain under negotiation.

Current Status of the Project

The first films produced under the project have arrived in the United States, and filming of several newspapers from the 1920s and 1930s continues in Hanoi.

The project has progressed slower than anticipated due to a number of challenges that seem generally typical of all assistance efforts in Vietnam. A lack of inter-institutional cooperation has hampered efforts to establish a central filming facility for preservation, and restrictions on moving material from one jurisdiction to another have limited the variety of materials filmed. Negotiations with institutions in Viet Nam have proven difficult, and SEAM has been unable to acquire permission to film many of the resources addressed in the proposal. Supply problems and inadequate equipment have further limited progress, and a lack of in-country representation for the project has slowed the rate of success.

Nevertheless, SEAM has received more than 200 reels of film from the National Library to date, representing a number of early journals and publications not held elsewhere in the world. A list of titles is appended below. In each case, the depository retains the archival negative and a positive copy. SEAM receives a print (second-generation) negative and makes one positive copy for scholarly use. SEAM does not have permission to make copies of the material without the consent of the depository.

Vietnamese newspapers & serials
Produced at National Library of Vietnam. (update 1/2/07)

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