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Conference seeks to unleash potential of old photo archives at Vietnamese institute

The Institute of Social Sciences Information (ISSI) under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) on November 25 held an international scientific conference to seek ways to unlock potential of the photo archives of the French School of the Far East (EFEO) at ISSI.
Conference seeks to unleash potential of old photo archives at Vietnamese institute ảnh 1The French School of the Far East (EFEO) in Hanoi. Now the building belongs to the Vietnam National Museum of History. (Photo: vnu.edu.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Institute of Social Sciences Information (ISSI) under the Vietnam Academy of SocialSciences (VASS) on November 25held an international scientific conference to seek ways to unlock potential ofthe photo archives of the French School of the Far East (EFEO) at ISSI.

ISSI Deputy Director Assoc. Prof., Dr. Le Hai Dang said the big collection of EFEO photos archived at ISSI has become a valuable heritage for researchersin studying national culture and provided evidence for the restoration ofcultural and historic relics damaged by wars or natural disasters.

The social science library operated by ISSI has been preservinga large number of original photos and documents handed over by the EFEO since1957. They include a collection of 60,000 photographs, one of the rarest andmost valuable photo archives in Orientalism in Southeast Asia. However, thearchives have not been used to the fullest extent. 

Speaking at the event, Isabelle Poujol from the EFEO inParis shared how technology has been used to preserve and keeprecords of more than 200,000 old photographs stored for decades at the EFEO headquarters. 

These photos are of great interest to the scientificcommunity; in some cases, they are even the only historic evidence, she said.The EFEO in Paris has been digitalizing them in order to not only archive thembetter but also offer researchers easier access to such a big collection,according to Poujol.

Dr. Nguyen Huu Tam, a former staff from the VASS’s Instituteof History, said to protect and promote the values of the photo archives atISSI , first and foremost, librarians must be provided with comprehensive knowledgeon archiving photos and main content of the archived photos.

During the event, attendees discussed social science andhumanities issues through the EFEO photo archives and how to preserve and makeuse of the photo collection.

The French School was established in Vietnam in 1900 in SaiGon (HCM City today). It was closed in 1959 and re-opened in Hanoi in 1993. Itmainly focuses on history, archaeology and philology, as well as the study ofmodern Asian societies./.

VNA
#Institute of Social Sciences Information #ISSI #photo archives #French School of the Far East #EFEO #historic evidence #Vietnam #Vietnam News #Vietnam Plus #Vietnam News Agency
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