ADVENTURES IN VIETNAM

LINNEA JOHNSON

GSLIS & Vietnam

Simmons has been involved with educating Vietnamese librarians since 1993.

GSLIS faculty member Pat Oyler received a $1.8 million grant from Atlantic Philanthropies to train a new generation of Vietnamese librarians for leadership roles.

In 2006, a cohort of students from Vietnam came to take GSLIS classes in Boston, which is when I worked closely with them and supported them with their technology needs.

GSLIS & Vietnam

Teaching in Can Tho (and other cities in Vietnam) is a progression of our established relationship with Vietnamese librarians.

I was recommended to staff at the Learning Resource Center at Can Tho University as a possible instructor and because they remembered and trusted me, we were invited to teach there.

Networking was a key component!

Cần Thơ

Regarded as “western capital” of Vietnam

Population of 1,121,000 (as of 2004) Biggest city in the Mekong Delta Located on south bank of the Hậu River,

the biggest branch of the Mekong River About 170km from Hồ Chí Minh City,

Vietnam’s largest city

Cần Thơ

Images from the city

More images

Cần Thơ University

Founded in 1966 35,038 undergraduate students 1,806 graduate students (with 40 Ph.D

candidates) 1,908 staff members

927 teaching staff 981 supporting staff

http://www.ctu.edu.vn/en/

Learning Resource Center

Opened on April 25, 2006 Situated at entrance of the University’s main

campus Air-conditioned, 4-story building Houses a library collection of 300,000 items 460 computers with internet access Wireless access 900 seats and carrels for the community, including

common learning spaces, discussion rooms, and post graduate study zone

http://webapp.lrc.ctu.edu.vn/english/?p=1

Learning Resource Center Pictures

Teaching

Taught a 2-week Emerging Technologies for IT in Libraries workshop with Terry Plum in June 2008

Workshop Participants

Librarians and IT staff from Can Tho University

Librarians from the Learning Resource Center in Danang

Librarians from An Giang University Public librarians from other areas of

Vietnam: Ca Mau province Ninh Kieu district Soc Trang province

Class Format

Lectures and presentations Hands-on training for installation,

implementation, and use of various applications

Discussions, group-work and problem-solving

Action plans and presentations by participant

Class Wiki: http://gslis.simmons.edu/wikis/lrcitcantho08/

Class Schedule

1st Week: Computer workstation management &

support Learning Management Systems

(installing/administering) Remote access tools for patrons & staff Problems & opportunities for LRCs in

Vietnam

Class Schedule

2nd week: Content Management Systems Archives & Metadata Advanced applications for online teaching &

learning Assessment – what do the patrons want? Outcomes for IT staff and LRC librarians

Teaching

Hands-on Classroom Time

Challenges

Speed and reliability of computer network Internet access turned off completely for 2 hours

at lunch State of computers in the lab

Virus protection was non-existent & spyware was everywhere

Lots of thinking on our feet & feverous downloading when network connection was online

Adjusting to teaching with a team of translators

Current Can Tho LRC Project Started a trial of open source software on desktops and

servers in late 2009. Installed Asianux 3.5 on 66 users’ desktops Installed Ubuntu 9.10 on 150 users’ desktops Strong support from LRC’s Director Board and from the

School’s Information and Network Management Center Planning training sessions for community and designing

a forum on web site for online assistance More info here:

http://www.lrc-tnu.edu.vn/bantin/en/it/can-tho-university-lrc-deploys-open-source-operating-system

Vietnamese Food

New & Interesting Flavors

Any guesses on this type of fruit?

Wedding

Wedding

Weekend Adventures

Last Class & Celebration

Additional Resources

GSLIS Dispatches Blog http://gslis.simmons.edu/blogs/dispatches/

category/vietnam/ International Initiatives at GSLIS

http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/about/initiatives/international.php

My photos of Vietnam on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonnea/

sets/72157605425944234/

Thank You For Listening!

Any Questions? Contact Information:

linnea@simmons.edu (617)-521-2834 Office: P-204W