The problem with the internet is the volume of materials available on it. A simple search for "Vietnam" in Google brings up 32,400,000 results. Basic searches are themselves problematic. The first webpages to come up are not always the most useful; the ones on the top of the list frequently pay to be there. In addition, my search for "Vietnam" brought up a large number of different topics -- vacation spots, vacation photos, facebook -- not just the war. Narrowing the search to "Vietnam War" brought up a mere 4,900,000 results. Obviously a basic Google search is not the way to proceed with this project.

Google is a useful search engine, but I often find it frustrating on basic searches. The reason for my frustration is clearly illustrated above. For basic searches, I frequently use Vivismo. A search on Vivismo brought up a 103,190,601, which would be more intimidating than the Google search if not for one small detail: Vivisimo clusters its search results. See below:

I can narrow my search to Vietnam Veterans, Travel, Books, and so forth [1]. I can also see at a glance how the search engine interpreted my search. This frequently helps me refine my search terms.

When I narrowed my search to "Vietnam War," I had much more success, with a mere 10,150,000 results. See below:

Google's search software is likely better since they have more resources, but for basic searches, I prefer the clustering features of Vivisimo. I can figure out the types of resources I want quicker. I also find it intriguing that Wikipedia was not the first entry in either of my Vivisimo searches, as it was on Google. Clearly the order of the results depends on the search engine, not the search terms.

For more advanced searching, I prefer Google's advanced search page. I can do my specific keyword searches and narrow my search by language, domain (.edu, .com, .org), and so forth. By doing the "Vietnam" search again and narrowing my search to webpages with .edu domains, I cut my results by thirty-two million.

The disadvantage of narrowing my search this way is that I cut out useful non-university resources. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to tell if normal webpages are reliable. I could, for example, find a webpage by a Vietnam Veteran. But what proof do I have that the person actually served in the war? Therefore, for a project of this nature, where I am just trying to find three primary source documents on Vietnam, narrowing the search to University pages is the logical way to proceed.

One of the first resources on my "Vietnam" search page was Vincent Ferraro's collection of primary sources [2]. (Ferraro is a Ruth C. Lawson Professor of International Politics at Mount Holyoke College.) The page contains hundreds of links to documents, starting before World War II and ending in 1975.

I also found Edwin E. Moise's bibliography on Vietnam using this search method. (Moise is a history professor at Clemson University.) Although not as thorough as Ferraro's page, Moise does provide a nice collection of resources on a variety of different subjects [3].

By narrowing my search to a .edu domain, I not only reduced the number of result but also weeded out many of the more unreliable materials. If I can find two interesting webpages using the more or less useless search term of "Vietnam," what could I do with a search using "Vietnam War Documents"?

The "Vietnam War Documents" search produced an entirely different set of results. I found a collection of Vietnam War Documents and Photographs at the Gerald R. Ford Library [4]. (All of the documents and photographs appear to be from the end of the war.) I also found Vassar College's website on Vietnam. It includes a brief history of the war, a collection of documents, links to other Vietnam websites, and a collection of resources on the Battles of the la Drang Valley [5].

Using an Advanced Google search is clearly a useful way to find primary sources. In many ways it resembles a library catalog. I noticed that even with a .edu domain, I still found a variety of different resources. Some websites were professors' collections of primary sources, some were University Websites, while others were library collections. All three are reliable places to find primary source documents. (Assuming, of course, that the University in question is reputable.)

2. Vincent Ferraro, "Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy Vietnam," undated, <http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/vietnam.htm> (8 December 2007). <return>

3. Edwin Moise, "Vietnam War Bibliography," 18 October 2007, <http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/bibliography.html> (8 December 2007). <return>

4."Vietnam War Documents and Photographs" in Gerald R. Ford Library, 7 February 2005 <http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/exhibits/vietnam/vietdocs.htm> (8 December 2007). <return>

5. "The Wars for Viet Nam: 1945 to 1975," Vassar College, undated, <http://vietnam.vassar.edu/index.html>, (8 December 2007). <return>