Search Tip 1: If you find a digitized item that is of particular interest make a note of the unique Item Number OR save the Permalink so that you may quickly find it again. You are also welcome to download the file (the default Filename is the Item Number). The URL in the browser window is only a temporary search URL and will expire. The Item Number and Permlink are the archive's permanent access points for each item record.

• Permalink: Click on the Item Title or "More Information" ; Click on the Permalink button at upper right ; Copy Permalink.

Search Tip 2: You may enter search words/terms into one or more fields. Keep "phrases together" for exact searches using "straight" quotation marks. The more terms you enter, the smaller the results set. NOTE: If one quote is missing, you will get an Unable to Access Database error message.

Search Tip 3: Using a Date Span reduces results, as items with "No Date" do not retrieve, but some of them may be relevant. You might want to try your search both with and without a Date Span.

Search Tip 4: We do not have a set keyword list for search terms. Instead, we use the terms found in each item to describe it, it is necessary to be creative and try several combinations of terms to find the highest number of relevant materials. Look for related terms in the era documents or in our built-in keyword Thesaurus for additional search terms, such as operation names, locations, etc., which can quickly expand your search to include more documents related to your search.

• Be creative and try a variety of terms and combinations of terms, check our built-in keyword thesaurus, etc.

Search Tip 5: During a long search session the search engine in the database may get overloaded and the results do not match your search or you get No Results. To reset it, either

• 1) use CTRL-F5 to clear and reload the webpage,
• OR
• 2) close that tab, open a new tab, and return to the Virtual Vietnam Archive to start a new search session.

Search Tip 6: Occasionally the database is temporarily unavailable for maintenance or data re-indexing – if you receive error messages, please wait an hour (or until the next day) for maintenance to be completed and try again.