Malditang Librarian

Since the CPD Act of 2016 had been approved and the points system started this July 2017, attending seminars for CPD points is a must for librarians. Here are two events by PLAI (Philippine Librarians' Association, Inc.) this year you shouldn't miss: PLAI-WVRLC's Regional Annual Seminar in Iloilo City on September, and the PLAI National Congress in Bacolod on November. Details: PLAI-WVRLC Regional Seminar-Workshop and Librarians’ Summit 8-9 September 2017 at West Visayas State University, Iloilo City This seminar-workshop aims to identify, build capacities of librarians/­paraprofessional librarians/LIS students to become competent information professionals. Specifically, it aims to: 1. Critically discriminate, evaluate, and retrieve information from various sources. 2. Identify reliable/­authoritative references against fake sources. 3. Design library programs/activities/­instructional materials to enrich the users’ skills in identifying and utilizing reliable in...

If you are a Library Science student, whether in the graduate or undergraduate degree, a library tour might be part of one of your subjects. In my undergrad BLIS, our tour for the Management subject was in Cebu City . I decided to take a graduate degree in Library Science, and in my first year we toured around libraries in Iloilo City and notable university libraries in Manila . If you are in the Philippines, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) now has stricter policies regarding educational tours due to some recent accidents involving students killed during travel and during their tours. The proposed tours for the subjects must be approved by CHED first before the school year. This is the reason we had a difficult time securing permits for our own tours (even local ones), but we still asked permission from school authorities. We took their advice and travelled on our own risk since we are in graduate school anyway. Though, these strict policies also apply for graduate sch...

Image source: pexels.com In the book Enduring Love by Ian McEwan, a hot-air balloon falls from the sky one beautiful morning when everyone was enjoying picnics in a park. In an attempt to save the children in the balloon, someone dies. In this critical moment of death, the protagonist shares a momentary but eternal smile with another stranger. The old science writer living with his fiance got unwanted attention from the male stranger who turned into an unwanted stalker . Then his life started going to hell. The stalker claimed that the other guy was in love with him, when in truth, he had no feelings for him at all. Still, the other person was living in a world of delusion - interpreting the other's rejection as a sign of deep love. The book describes the stalker as having a mental disorder - while the story is fiction, the disease is real - De Clerambault's Syndrome. It was named after a French Psychiatrist who had treated a delusional woman who thought that the King G...

Image source: pexels.com Last week, I had a short dinner with batchmates from high school. I went because I had one friend there, for the rest, I honestly didn't care. The conversation was interesting with one of them I haven't met for a long time, about teaching. But seriously, I think I should stop seeing them because I'll be fake and plastic anyway. I want to review the past and show that I'm so different from before, but the "me before" is what they will remember - they can't help it. I feel off like I'm pretending to be something I'm not. After dinner, they will still go out late at night to meet others - but I didn't go because I wasn't allowed by my parents. So I went with them, they're drinking beer, talking about their travels and I can't help but feel off. Maybe jealous? They have money now and can afford trips together abroad. They still call each other the same nicknames they did when we were teenagers. They are so...

Image source: pexels.com This is the Code of Ethics for Professional Librarians in the Philippines. You can download the official PDF document at the PRC Website. PREAMBLE Librarians, mindful of their role in the development of knowledge and culture and the enrichment of people’s lives, seek the highest standards of ethical behavior in their relations with their schools, their clients/employers, the librarianship profession and colleagues, agencies and associations and the public. Librarians with the State, Society and Public Librarians shall uphold the Constitution, obey the laws of the land, and respect duly constituted authorities.  Librarians shall promote literacy and education of the public by making the resources and services of the library known and accessible to its users.  Librarians shall uphold and promote the right to information as well as abide by the provisions of the intellectual property law.  Librarians shall be partners with the com...

Image source: Pixabay Social media has become ubiquitous in recent society, especially in the Philippines. The country is now dubbed as the 'social media capital of the world', with over 40 million Filipinos with active accounts in social media in many popular websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Filipinos who have a computers and mobile devices, and an internet connection usually have more than one social media accounts in the many available and growing number of platforms (Igna, 2015). According to the research of Wave7, the primary reason that most Filipinos use social media is to 'stay in touch with friends and family'. Other reasons include: to meet new people, to have fun, and to share new experiences to friends and followers (Locsin, 2014). Social media is also a primary tool to share pictures. With the prevalence of mobile devices with digital cameras, capturing and sharing pictures is easier than ever. Users share pictures of themselves, f...

Awarding of the Outstanding Professional Librarian 2017 to Mila M. Ramos.  Image Source Last June 23, 2017 at the Manila Hotel, the Professional Regulation Commission awarded the Outstanding Professional Award to distinguished professionals in their field. Secretary Martin Andanar of the Presidental Communications Office was the event's guest of honor and keynote speaker. The awardee of the Outstanding Professional Award for Librarians this 2017 is Mila M. Ramos. Her citation reads ( Source ): For her distinguished contribution in the field of librarianship as demonstrated by her exemplary service to her profession through sharing of her expertise as resource speaker in local and international fora and providing free on-the-job training to local and foreign librarians; for her strong commitment and professionalism having served as member of the Board for Librarians and conducting reviews for takers of the Librarians Licensure Examination; for promoting the library professio...

The 2017 Librarians' Licensure Exam will be on September 19-20, 2017. This week, we started the review class for those who will be taking the board. Around 5-8 students from CPU will be taking the exam, and we hope and pray that they will all pass and that all of them will be on the top 10 and I pray, even top 1. It is my first time to teach a review class, so before I started on the subjects the first thing I did was present a simple presentation about things to remember and tips about passing and landing a spot in the top 10 in the board exam. I posted it on SlideShare and I will post it here to inspire other test-takers. I hope more librarians pass the exam and be great professionals in the field! I included things we don't usually think about: rest, proper diet, physical, emotional, and spiritual preparation. Here it is: All the secrets of passing (and maybe even topping) the board exam from allana33193 Description:  Sharing some important things to r...

If you’re going to take a professional board exam in the Philippines, I’m sure it is a nerve-wracking experience. There’s the pressure from yourself, your family, or your school. If you graduated with honors, there is more pressure for you to land a spot in the top ten or even number 1 . Topnotchers of board exams are always applauded for their hard work and schools are always proud to have them. If you have this dream, I encourage you to pursue it and pray for it. Nothing is impossible for those who have faith! But I need to also warn you of its danger if you do happen to land the top spot, and you have to be careful about it as well. But I am not here to discourage you. Topping the board is a once-in-a-lifetime moment you should enjoy but it isn’t everything, you shouldn't get too attached to it. Here are 5 reasons to motivate you: 1. It gives you an edge in job searching. If you're the topnotcher, there's little question about your knowledge and hard work. I...

Advantages of an MLIS (Masters of Library and Information Science) degree in the Philippines A graduate degree in Library Science offers an advanced and exciting educational experience. There is a balanced learning of theory and their application in libraries. The best thing about a graduate degree is meeting other professionals to share knowledge, experiences, problems, and best practices. This keeps us updated about emerging trends and issues in the library world. It strengthens the profession when librarians learn from each other, as this not only helps our own professional growth but also give us ideas to improve our own libraries. With the relationships built and knowledge shared, this leads to better librarians and libraries. With the small number of librarians in the Philippines, schools of Library Science are a rich ground for collaboration and research. We librarians cannot remain stagnant in our libraries and be content with the knowledge we already have, we must learn ...

Note: When I topped the librarians' board exam in 2015, Panay News writer Roma Gonzales sent me these questions for an article that never came into being. Still I want to post this small reminder and keepsake to inspire and motivate future test-takers. This is a flashback to my 2015 self. Well I hope this doesn't sound like I'm lifting my own chair. When the 'news' got out, a writer sent me these questions about the recent librarian's board exam for a newspaper but it wasn't featured so anyway since I wrote them I'm just gonna post it here. 1.) What’s your favorite book and why? I like so many books, but my favorite Filipino novel of all time is 'Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag' by Edgardo Reyes, it is about a guy looking for his girlfriend in Manila, and goes through the worst of despair and crime. I like the dense and poetic language, beautiful words despite the ugliness it describes. 2.) Why did you decide to be a librarian? I’ve always loved...

I'm on and off on Facebook. I have a love-hate relationship with it, but I usually hate it more than I love it and now I'm off it again. Even if we don't outrightly say it, we only show the best side of our lives on Facebook and we all like the dopamine hit of likes and notifications. I remember the icky things I posted on Facebook. Would you believe it, when I topped the board exam I made my profile public, changed the name I used to my real name (so that people can search for me), and generally made a stupid fool of myself now that I'm 'popular'. Little did I know then that the happy and smart and deep person I projected wasn't the real me at all. Then I realized that being a topnotcher and that top spot has a negative side too and I cringed at everything I posted and did on social media. In the end, it made me depressed. It makes me a creepy stalker. It makes me waste so much time viewing my profile, as if it was a mirror where I check my appearan...