This is from an International Librarianship panel that took place March 24, 2010 at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College in Boston. I spoke about my time teaching at Can Tho University in Vietnam.

1. ADVENTURES IN
VIETNAM
LINNEA JOHNSON

2. 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.

3. 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!

4. 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

5. Cần Thơ

6. Images from the city

7. More images

8. 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/

9. 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

10. Learning Resource Center
Pictures

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

12. 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

13. 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/

14. 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

15. 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

16. Teaching

17. Hands-on Classroom Time

18. Challenges
 Speed and reliability of computer network
 Internet access turned off completely for 2 hours
at lunch
 State of computers in the lab
 Virusprotection 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

19. 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

20. Vietnamese Food

21. New & Interesting Flavors
 Any guesses on this type of fruit?

22. Wedding

23. Wedding

24. Weekend Adventures

25. Last Class & Celebration

26. Additional Resources
 GSLIS Dispatches Blog
 http://gslis.simmons.edu/blogs/dispatches/categor
y/vietnam/
 International Initiatives at GSLIS
 http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/about/initiatives/int
ernational.php
 My photos of Vietnam on Flickr
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonnea/sets/721576
05425944234/

27. Thank You For Listening!
 Any Questions?
 Contact Information:
 linnea@simmons.edu
 (617)-521-2834
 Office: P-204W