Compilation of Vietnamese Encyclopedia

On the morning of June 18, in Hanoi, the Steering Council for the compilation of the Vietnam Encyclopedia was launched with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam and representatives of leaders of central agencies, ministries, branches, research institutes, universities, etc.

The Vietnamese Encyclopedia was approved by the Prime Minister and a Steering Council for compilation was established consisting of 16 members, with Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam as Chairman of the Council.

The Vietnamese Encyclopedia consists of 36 volumes, of which volume 36 is the introductory book compiled in phase 2 when publishing mixed volumes in alphabetical order, including all fields of social sciences, natural sciences, science and technology, national defense science, diplomacy, security, etc.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that throughout history, we have had many encyclopedic books, but a national encyclopedia has yet to be created. This is a very sacred task, a great responsibility to the nation and the community.

If we do it right and do it well, it will be an honor for all participants, but on the contrary, the responsibility to our descendants, history and ourselves when we no longer work is extremely heavy.

Therefore, the Encyclopedia must be basic knowledge about Vietnam, especially knowledge applied to the country, must be in accordance with the viewpoint of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's thought, with the criteria of national, scientific, modern, systematic and popular, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

The reason why developed countries, countries with high culture and civilization all attach importance to compiling encyclopedias is because encyclopedias are "books of books", "universities without walls" that serve the most practical and useful purpose for education and training.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang - President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Vice President of the Compilation Council affirmed that the Institute is very honored to participate in compiling the Encyclopedia. This is a long-awaited job, since 1978. Vietnam is a civilized country, with a rich and long-standing culture and civilization with its own identity, and cannot do without a national Encyclopedia.

Before embarking on this important task, the Council briefly reviewed the situation of compiling the World and Vietnamese Encyclopedias to have a panoramic view. According to Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, during the preparation process, an important fact is that the Council needs to distinguish between dictionaries and encyclopedias because dictionaries are explanatory while encyclopedias are knowledge and reference.

Another thing is that the Vietnamese Encyclopedia must focus on Vietnam, while in reality and in the editorial viewpoints, there are more world entries than Vietnamese entries, so this issue needs to be clearly distinguished. To what extent will pre-1975 knowledge be included in the Encyclopedia...

To carry out this task, the Council needs to establish 35 specialized editorial boards. It is expected that about 2,000 scientists from all scientific fields in the country will participate, and at the same time, Vietnamese scientists working abroad are welcomed to participate in compiling this massive work. At the earliest, the Council can start working on the first contents of the Encyclopedia by 2016.

According to News