Review of VN Famous Pagodas CDROM

["Nguyen.Hoang" <Hoang_Nguyen@ftb.ca.gov>]

Tha^'y quy' vi. ga^`n dda^y ba`n ve^` dda.o Pha^.t hang say qua', to^i
xin ddu+o+.c go'p pha^`n vo+'i ba`i phe^ bi`nh ve^` cuo^'n Multimedia
CDROM dda^`u tie^n cu?a VN.  Cuo^'n na`y co^ng phu va` dda(.c sa('t
la('m.   Ra^'t tie^'c la` kho^ng ddu+o+.c pho^? bie^'n ba'n ro^.ng ra?i
o+? xu+' My? na`y.
Nguyen Dang Hoang
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Vietnam's Famous Pagodas CD ROM by Vo Van Tuong, May 1997.
Price: $45.00 including shipping charge.
Publisher: Tin Viet, Inc.  362-364 Vo Van Tan St, District 3, HCM City,
Vietnam
Reviewed by Nguyen D. Hoang, ndhoang2@aol.com

Readers in Vietnam and abroad had warmly welcomed the 1995 book
'Vietnam's Famous Pagodas'  written by the Buddhist scholar and
dedicated photographer  Vo Van Tuong.  It was well-written  and
beautifully printed with discourses on the history of the development of
Buddhism in Vietnam, historical records, and 1500  color photographs of
243 pagodas (out of an estimated total of 14,000) located throughout
Vietnam.   The book  had received many awards, got excellent reviews,
and is often considered as one of the most important  research documents
about the culture, history, and architecture of  Vietnamese Buddhism.
This CD-ROM is the book's electronic version.  It is the first truly
multimedia commercial CD-ROM ever produced by a private company in
Vietnam.   Having read the book, I awaited impatiently to review this
historical CD-ROM.  I was not disappointed.  The electronic version, in
many aspects, is better than the book.   The CD ROM disk contains  more
than 2,200 high-quality color photographs of  300 pagodas,  documents on
the history of Vietnamese Buddhism,  and other multimedia goodies, all
combined in an appealing package. 

The CD-ROM came with a pleasing User's Guide in both Vietnamese and
English.  Following the instruction, I installed the program easily
within 10 minutes in my Compaq Deskpro 5120 Pentium  computer.  Users
can choose to run the program in either Vietnamese or English.  The
Vietnamese option requires Vietnamese fonts such as VPSTIMES.  I found
both options equally easy to use.  

The main screen or menu offers three choices - About the Book, The
Reading Book, and Searching for a Pagoda.  About the Book option allows
users to read and hear the Forewords, Introduction, and Author's Words
of the book "Vietnam's Famous Pagodas".  In addition,  one can listen to
Vietnamese Buddhist chanting as well as a song sung in traditional
Vietnamese style.  

The  Reading Book option allows users to read and/or listen to two
discourses in either English or Vietnamese - The Pagodas in the History
of Vietnamese Buddhism, and Characteristics of Pagodas In North,
Central, and South Vietnam.  I found these two discourses full of
interesting facts about Vietnamese Buddhism.  

The Pagoda Search option allows the viewers to search for the historical
information as well as the many photographs of a pagoda in four
different ways.  Searching by location is probably most useful to
tourists.  Upon clicking on a city on a map of Vietnam, the program
takes users to the selected pagodas of that city.  Detailed street maps
for many cities, such as Hanoi, Hue, HCM, etc., are also shown.
Searching alphabetically is the easiest way, if you know the name of the
pagoda.   Clicking on any letter from A to Z displays a list of pagodas'
names beginning with that alphabet.  Clicking on the name of the pagoda
takes the users directly to its folder of historical information and
photographs.   One can also search for a pagoda by chronological order
or from  proof sheets (album) which display small slides of the pagodas
in alphabetical order.  I used all of the above methods to search for
the three pagodas at Hue that I am familiar with - Dieu De, Tu Dam, and
Thien Mu.  The search took very little time, and in a few minutes, I was
able to see high-quality photographs of these famous pagodas as well as
learning about their historical backgrounds.  

After playing with this CD-ROM for about a week, I began to develop a
true appreciation  for its ease of use and well-designed interfaces.
Its author and the multimedia technical team should be commended for a
solid, high-quality  product.  The ease of use and the well-integrated
video, sounds, and pictures make the task of viewing of this massive
collection of high-quality photographs and historical facts of 300
well-known Vietnamese pagodas enjoyable.  While far from being a truly
multimedia odyssey, this CD-ROM offers an appealing photographic 'visit'
to the many pagodas of Vietnam.  I have only two minor complaints.
First, the selection commands on the main screen are not very visible.
These commands are highlighted only when one moves the cursor across
their areas.   Second, the pictures in the user's guide are not  sharp.
These are minor complaints since the CD ROM is so easy to use that users
probably do not need the user's guide.   

This CD-ROM represents an important contribution by the author in the
promotion and preservation of Vietnamese culture.  It is also a solid
first step for the Vietnamese multimedia industry.   This CD-ROM is a
must have for people interested in Vietnamese culture, especially those
interested in the history, development, and architecture of  Buddhism in
Vietnam.  

Note: I was under the impression that  Tenet Computing  in  Australia (E
Mail:  Tenet@van.oz.au) is a distributor of this CDROM.  However, I was
not able to contact Tenet recently.  Can Tenet or someone clarify the
situation?


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