The Guns and Forts of Vung Tau:
making it even more useful.
By Paul Rowe
A few months ago Ern started requesting any info I might have on forts on Vung Tau island. A week or so ago I had a beer with Ern and he had with him a hard copy of some work he had been doing on Vung Tau’s forts. This was followed by more requests for more information I might have on this topic. Yesterday, over yet another few beers with Ern, and yet another plea for more stuff, I realized that Ern was not just asking for content but, in a round about way, he was seeking some help to slap his new creation into shape. When I questioned him directly about this, he seemed to think wading through a 30,000 word document would be too big a task to ask a buddy to do. Ha, mere child’s play! To someone who has spent more than a decade at uni, this barely rates. So, let’s start looking at this document.
But first. I am definitely NOT reviewing, or marking, or rating, or critisizing Ern’s work.
Next, Ern has repeatedly told me that he is not attempting an academic work – he knows that he has probably set some new record for plagiarism. So, I am definitely not attempting to morph it into something that is academic.
It is real simple, Ern has endeavored to find everything he can about the forts of Vung Tau island and put it all in one place. In a nut shell, he has created a USEFUL document which he is willing to share with everyone.
And so in the same spirit of usefulness, let’s make it even more useful.
………
But first. I am definitely NOT reviewing, or marking, or rating, or critisizing Ern’s work.
Next, Ern has repeatedly told me that he is not attempting an academic work – he knows that he has probably set some new record for plagiarism. So, I am definitely not attempting to morph it into something that is academic.
It is real simple, Ern has endeavored to find everything he can about the forts of Vung Tau island and put it all in one place. In a nut shell, he has created a USEFUL document which he is willing to share with everyone.
And so in the same spirit of usefulness, let’s make it even more useful.
………
Hi Ern.
After our chat at The Office bar last night, I decided to put pen to paper to collaborate (of sorts) with you on this. As I work through the document, I will publish my thoughts on my website (as I do for all my work). So this entry will evolve much the same as your book will evolve. Readers from my website can feel free to contribute also.
Regards,
Paul
After our chat at The Office bar last night, I decided to put pen to paper to collaborate (of sorts) with you on this. As I work through the document, I will publish my thoughts on my website (as I do for all my work). So this entry will evolve much the same as your book will evolve. Readers from my website can feel free to contribute also.
Regards,
Paul
I will simply start at the beginning and work through the article.
The book title:
Book or article titles need to be specific, very specific. The only clue as to what is in a book is on the cover. These days in the era of the computer, the title is even more crucial. The title needs to hold the keywords for the omnipresent, omnipotent Google God search engine. As your history of Vietnam starts in th 1850s may I suggest the keyword “French” be added to the title. While this excludes Warring Warlords, Nguyen dynasty and Cham forts it will definitely make finding your work via internet searching much easier. An adjective or two will also make the title more useful.
The Old French Guns and Forts of Vung Tau.
The French Guns and Forts of old Vung Tau.
The French Guns and Forts of old Cape Saint Jacques (The PC might have trouble with that one ;).
The title of an article also needs to, whenever possible, give a hint at the type of document the reader will encounter. The Guns and Forts of Vung is a compilation. This fact would be helpful to readers. The Guns and Forts of Vung Tau: a compilation. Or even better The Guns and Forts of Vung Tau: a compilation work in progress. This gives researchers a much clearer idea of the type of content within the document. The pros and cons of compilations will be discussed as this article unfolds.
An index:
Ern, add an index. Now that your article has some content, you are the only person on the planet who now knows what is in the article. Researchers and book buyers are ruthless. A quick look at the title, flip it over, read the blurb jacket, and finally, a three second scan of the index. Move onto the next book.
Indexing as you write is easy to set up on Word and other writing packages. These days indexes can automatically change page numbers as the author makes changes to the evolving document.
If you find you are having trouble indexing, it probably is your work trying to tell you that it is too ad-hock. This forces the writer to do some tidying up of the document, and tidying up an article is always a good thing. If the author has problem indexing the content, imagine the problems faced by the readers.
………
The book title:
Book or article titles need to be specific, very specific. The only clue as to what is in a book is on the cover. These days in the era of the computer, the title is even more crucial. The title needs to hold the keywords for the omnipresent, omnipotent Google God search engine. As your history of Vietnam starts in th 1850s may I suggest the keyword “French” be added to the title. While this excludes Warring Warlords, Nguyen dynasty and Cham forts it will definitely make finding your work via internet searching much easier. An adjective or two will also make the title more useful.
The Old French Guns and Forts of Vung Tau.
The French Guns and Forts of old Vung Tau.
The French Guns and Forts of old Cape Saint Jacques (The PC might have trouble with that one ;).
The title of an article also needs to, whenever possible, give a hint at the type of document the reader will encounter. The Guns and Forts of Vung is a compilation. This fact would be helpful to readers. The Guns and Forts of Vung Tau: a compilation. Or even better The Guns and Forts of Vung Tau: a compilation work in progress. This gives researchers a much clearer idea of the type of content within the document. The pros and cons of compilations will be discussed as this article unfolds.
An index:
Ern, add an index. Now that your article has some content, you are the only person on the planet who now knows what is in the article. Researchers and book buyers are ruthless. A quick look at the title, flip it over, read the blurb jacket, and finally, a three second scan of the index. Move onto the next book.
Indexing as you write is easy to set up on Word and other writing packages. These days indexes can automatically change page numbers as the author makes changes to the evolving document.
If you find you are having trouble indexing, it probably is your work trying to tell you that it is too ad-hock. This forces the writer to do some tidying up of the document, and tidying up an article is always a good thing. If the author has problem indexing the content, imagine the problems faced by the readers.
………
Across the next episodes of The Guns and Forts of Vung Tau: making it even more useful, I want to discuss the pros and cons of a shoe box, the importance of providing an answer to a problem, and other useful stuff.
Paul Rowe June 30th 2016