Most Vietnamese historical and literary works of the last two millennia were written in two languages, Vietnamese (written in Chu' Nom, which is a Chinese character-based script) and Chinese. Many centuries of warfare, political instability, and harsh climate have severely damaged the Vietnamese Nom heritage. Designing a keyboard input method for typing Vietnamese Chu' Nom and Quo'c Ngu' (a Latin alphabet-based script of the Vietnamese language) is a necessity in the preservation and dissemination of the Nom heritage. This dissertation (1) describes the extent to which both Vietnamese Quo'c Ngu' and Chu' Nom are currently presented on multilingual web pages, (2) presents a method for drawing fonts of Nom characters, (3) suggests keyboard input methods for typing both Vietnamese Quo'c Ngu' and Chu' Nom, and (4) designs a course for adult education programs at community colleges, which enables a layperson to draw and to type the scripts of any languages.; The findings show that Microsoft Word and associated programs can be utilized to create Nom fonts and to type Nom characters. The findings also reveal a feasible keyboard input method editor for typing most, if not all, of the scripts of the languages in the world, simple or sophisticated, old or new, dead or living. The findings give two examples of typing---an Indian picture writing letter and a Japanese poem. In addition, the findings provide users of the keyboard input method editor with enough Nom vocabulary and input sequence entries stored in a compact disc (CD) attached to the APPENDICES to help globally and digitally preserve, store, and disseminate the Vietnamese Nom heritage.*; *This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following system requirements: Adobe Acrobat.
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