On the morning of April 7, 2021, the French Embassy in Viet Nam cooperated with the National Library of Viet Nam to hold the opening ceremony of the France-Viet Nam Information Portal/Hoa Phuong Vi Digital Library. Mr. Nicolas Warnery, Ambassador of the French Republic to Viet Nam and Ms. Kieu Thuy Nga, Director of the National Library of Viet Nam co-chaired the ceremony.
Attending the event, there were Ms. Trinh Thi Thuy, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism); Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hoa, Director of International Cooperation Department, Mr. Pham Quoc Hung, Director of Library Department (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism); Mr. Tran Dac Hien, Director of National Agency for Science and Technology – Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. Michael Croft, UNESCO Representative to Viet Nam, Mr. Philippe Le Failler, Representative of the French School of the Far East in Ha Noi. Also attending the event were leaders of libraries, research institutes and bookstores in Ha Noi, representatives of central and Ha Noi press and television agencies.
France-Viet Nam Information Portal/Hoa Phuong Vi Digital Library is a collaboration project between the National Library of Viet Nam (NLV) and the National Library of France (NLF), opened to the public on the first day of the Viet Nam Traditional New Year. The project has been implemented for almost 2 years (2019-2020) with the active collaboration of both national libraries to mobilize resources and integrate digital data.
The Portal’s content aims to reproduce the cultural, historical and scientific interactions between France and Viet Nam from the 17th century to the middle of the 20th century. As a connection between French and Vietnamese memories, the documents are divided into 8 main categories: Circulations, Tradition, Thought, Literature, Cultural Transfer, Dynasties and Government, Science and Society and Economic Life.
The Portal introduces 2,146 typical documents from the collections of the two national libraries and their partners. In which, the NLV contributed 1,157 documents.
Formats of the documents on the Portal are diversified, including print materials, manuscript, paintings, photos, especially audio documents (traditional Vietnamese music). These documents are selected harmoniously in quantity, topics and languages – Vietnamese and French.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Ambassador of French Republic to Viet Nam congratulated the effective cooperation between the NLV and the NLF and emphasized that the France – Viet Nam Information Portal/Hoa Phuong Vi Digital Library demonstrates the will of the two national libraries of Viet Nam and France in improving access to documentary heritage in the digital age.
As a co-organizer of the event, the NLV Director introduced about the implementation of the the France – Viet Nam Information Portal/Hoa Phuong Vi Digital Library, and the prospects of the Portal after its official opening. At the same time, she stated that after over a month opening the service, according to statistics as of March 21, there have been 5,313 visits to the Portal, of which, 4,350 visits on the French version; 1.525 visits on the Vietnamese version with 1,254 hits from Viet Nam. This is a very positive figure showing the public interest in this Digital Library.
Also at the ceremony, delegates, guests and journalists also had the opportunity to better understand the formation and development of the Central Library of Indochina, now the National Library of Viet Nam, explore the interface and some typical documents on the Portal. Many delegates, researchers, lecturers of Vietnamese universities and bookstores shared the importance of historical documents, the benefits and convenience of exploiting digital information resources through the France – Viet Nam Portal to serve activities of research and publishing.
Access address of the France – Viet Nam Information Portal/Hoa Phuong Vi Digital Libraryhttps://heritage.bnf.fr/france-vietnam/vi
Overview of the Opening Ceremony
Ms. Trinh Thi Thuy, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism at the ceremony
Ms. Kieu Thuy Nga, Director of the National Library of Viet Nam introduces the France – Viet Nam Information Portal/Hoa Phuong Vi Digital Library project
Mr. Le Hong Ly, President of Vietnamese Folk Arts Association shares his interests related to the Traditional topic on the France – Viet Nam Information Portal
Delegates answer questions of the press agencies
Commemoratives photos with delegates
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News: Huong Giang; Photos: Viet Duc