Military, naval, aerospace, and veterans studies: Veterans: for and about

Resources for veterans studies researchers

Veterans studies is an emergent, interdisciplinary, but diffuse field field on scholarly, creative, and applied research. You can get a sense of the breadth of publications about veterans with a simple keyword search for veterans in Virginia Tech Discovery Search (which includes articles and books restricted to current VT students and employees) and the OADTL (which identifies open-access resources, especially in humanities and social sciences, available to anyone in the world who can access the web).

At this time, no research databases are devoted specifically to the study of veterans. Given the volume of results in Discovery search, it is more efficient to work through tools for specific disciplines that might have a stake in your veterans-related research -- veterans in art or agriculture or governance or history, and so on. Think of disciplines as scaffolds, not silos.

Journal of Veterans Studies
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Peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary ejournal for scholarship on all aspects of military veterans and their families. E-ISSN: 2470-4768 and accepted in the Directory of Open Access Journals. JVS is hosted by the University Libraries' Virginia Tech Publishing unit, but editorially independent of Virginia Tech. JVS articles are indexed in VT Discovery Search.
Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)
Unit of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Includes training materials for collecting and preserving oral histories.
VoxGov Trendline: Veterans
Visualization and links to US government agencies' and officials' documents and social media outputs.
National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics NCVAS supports planning, analysis, and decision-making activities through the collection, validation, analysis, and dissemination of key statistics on veteran population and VA programs.
The Veterans Metrics Initiative Public-private research partnership comprises diverse teams of experts from industry, academia, veteran advocacy organizations, and government agencies and institutes, to design and conduct translational metrics-related research aimed at ultimately improving the well-being of veterans and their families. TVMI is led by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine. Linking Program Components to Post-Military Well-Being. Longitudinal research study that is dedicated to developing evidence-based methods to measure what works to improve transitioning veterans’ long-term well-being outcomes.
Institute for Veterans and Military Families (Syracuse University) The IVMF is the first interdisciplinary national institute in higher education focused on the social, economic, education and policy issues impacting veterans and their families post-service. Through our focus on veteran-facing programming, research and policy, employment and employer support, and community engagement, the institute provides in-depth analysis of the challenges facing the veteran community.Veterans Strategic Analysis & Research Tool. V-START consolidates veteran demographic, education, socioeconomic, and unemployment data into a user-friendly interface that allows users to quickly analyze and explore geographic areas of interest to uncover trends and inform decisions related to veteran programs and services, emphasizing the current landscape for transitioning veterans.
National Center for Veterans Studies (University of Utah) Research and advocacy center promotes research, education, outreach, and advocacy for improving the lives of US veterans, particularly regarding psychological health and well-being and recovery from traumas.
Veterans in Society Conferences: proceedings, 2013- . (Virginia Tech) Texts of research papers (many with supplementary materials) and videos of panel discussions presented in biennial conferences supported by the Virginia Tech's department of English and the University Libraries, and (as of 2018) the University of MIssouri--St Louis, and Arizona State University.
Veterans in Society Initiative National network based at Virginia Tech to promote scholarship about veterans and the civilian societies around them -- of any era or country. Includes resources developed for and by a 2016 summer institute for college faculty from around the US, Veterans in Society: Ambiguities & Representations, held at Virginia Tech and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities: selective reading list, participants' annotated bibliographies and instructional modules, and institute syllabus.
Standing Together: the Humanities and the Experience of War (NEH) Identifies current and past projects about veterans and their experiences funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Includesprojects specifically inviting veterans to participate with other veterans, projects for public engagement, and scholarly research.
VA History Office (VAHO) Online exhibits, videos and podcasts about the history of US policies and agencies to support veterans, and progress reports on the development of the National VA History Center in Dayton, OH. From the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) is a database containing information about the men who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Other information on the site includes histories of Union and Confederate regiments, links to descriptions of significant battles, and selected lists of prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records, which will be amended over time. The CWSS is a cooperative effort between the National Park Service and several public and private partners,
Civil War Photo Sleuth Virginia Tech-based project is a reference database of ~40k Civil War-era portraits that uses facial recognition technology to identify unknown soldiers in those portraits.
Virginia Military Dead Pulls together basic service information from a wide variety of sources and makes that information more accessible. From the Library of Virginia.
VPI in World War I Virginia Tech crowd-sourced research project to compile biographies of VT students, alumni, and employees who service in the First World War.

Portals to resources for veterans

Veterans' Resources: Publications and Research Data (UIUC)
Extensive esearch and resource guide to information of interest to US military veterans and US military personnel planning their transition to civilian life. From the library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Veterans and Military Health from MedlinePlus People who serve in the military and veterans face some different health issues than civilians. During wartime, the main health concerns are life-threatening injuries. These include shrapnel and gunshot wounds, lost limbs, and head injuries. Some service members might also have health problems from exposure to environmental hazards, such as contaminated water, chemicals and infections, as well as mental health problems including anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance abuse.
Veterans Resources (NASPA Veterans Knowledge Community) Portal to sources of information for faculty and administrators supporting student veterans as well as for veterans themselves. NASPA is a professional association for student affairs administrators in higher education.
Video Library: Center for Veteran Transition and Integration (Columbia University Collection of videos for veterans transitioning into higher education, mainly drawn from free courses: "Attaining Higher Education," "Find Your Calling:Career Transition Principles for Returning Veterans," and "University Studies for Student Veterans."

Don't overlook public libraries' resources for veterans

Many public libraries provide databases and community events that address veterans' needs to residents with appropriate library cards. (Virginia Tech students qualify for cards at the Blacksburg library and other branches of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library District [MFRL] no matter where their homes are.) For example, the Library of Virginia makes Brainfuse VetNow available to public libraries across the commonwealth.

MFRL: under eLibrary: learning
Alexandria: under Books & More: Digital Collection: Databases
Arlington: under eCollection: Learning Tools
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Check with your local and/or hometown public library about language-learning options it makes available to its members.

Virginia resources for veterans

Office of Veterans Services (Virginia Tech)
The Office of Veterans Services is Virginia Tech's primary resource to support military veterans and their dependents who wish to join the university, navigate bureaucracy, and succeed in the university. It works with the US Department of Veterans Affairs as well as university administrative units including the registrar and human resources, the Veterans@VT student organization, and the Virginia Tech Veterans Caucus of employees.
Virginia Department of Veterans Services
Virginia Department of Veterans Services advocates for Virginia veterans and connects them to benefits and services they have earned. Information on current federal, state and local veterans’ programs, entitlements and referral services is available in Virginia through a network of 26 benefit service offices. All services are provided free of charge.
- Other states' departments of veterans affairs
Virginia Veteran and Family Support VVFS serves Virginia veterans coping with the impact of military service, deployments, traumatic brain injuries, and stress- or trauma-related conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. VVFS provides peer and family support, and comprehensive care coordination services. VVFS serves as a healthcare safety net with an integrated medical and behavioral healthcare focus for all Virginia veterans, including National Guard and Reserve Component service members, and their families. VVFS also provides dedicated outreach and care coordination to Virginia’s most vulnerable veterans, including those exiting jail or prison and veterans experiencing a housing crisis or homelessness. Formerly called the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program. Service of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services
We are Virginia Veterans Online Employment Program OEAP is intended to provide veterans as well as the general population with employment information and spread online employment awareness.