Malditang Librarian

Launching of UPV Digital Repository. Source: UPV IPO In a groundbreaking development for academic research and knowledge sharing, the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) has unveiled its Digital Repository (UPV DR), establishing a comprehensive online platform for scholarly works and institutional publications. Born from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and launched in 2022, the UPV DR represents a collaborative effort between the university administration and the Digital Innovation Center. According to College Librarian Ms. Rosemarie Canson, this initiative responds to the increasing demand for digital accessibility and aims to enhance the academic community's online presence. The repository serves as a centralized digital archive for: Electronic theses and dissertations Research publications from various UPV departments Academic works published in local and international journals Institutional documents and publications Scholarly contributions from faculty and alum...

The University of the Philippines in the Visayas Library is set to launch an Institutional Repository. In line with this goal, the Library conducted a three-day training-workshop for library staff on January 3-5, 2023. Four trainers from SEAFDEC-AQD, Central Philippine University, and West Visayas State University conducted the training workshop. The activity proceeded after the approval of Chancellor Clement C. Camposano. The Data and Information Services Program (DISP), co-proponent of this project, assisted in the maintenance of the server. Dr. Philip Ian P. Padilla, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, delivered a message during the opening program. An Institutional Repository (IR) is a digital service that an academic institution can offer to the members of its community by providing an online warehouse that is designed to archive, manage, organize, preserve, and showcase the intellectual output of students, faculty, and staff to a broader audience. It also aims t...

Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian recently proposed Senate Bill No. 477 or the Philippine Online Library Act. This bill proposes the creation of a Philippine Online Library that houses free educational materials that Filipino students and teachers can access online. In the proposed bill, the Department of Education will be tasked to create digital copies of textbooks and reference materials; to be compiled in an online library to be managed by DepEd and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). This bill "aims to establish the Philippine Online Library which will emerge as a vital pathway to high-quality e-books and educational content as it will be the repositoiy of the digitized copy of all textbooks and reference materials necessary for the public education of our elementary and secondary learners. It envisions an entire online library of essential reading materials easily accessible to all learners for free and without disruption." Sen....

The University of the Philippines Library Science Alumni Association (UP LSAA) will be conducting a three-part webinar series, "Research, Innovation, Synergy, Empowerment (RISE)". This theme of this webinar series is "Open Culture for Outstanding Services." RISE "aims to advance the role of libraries, archives, and museums professionals by fostering an open culture leading to an outstanding service; introduce strategies and innovations that libraries, archives, and museums may adapt in developing their programs and services to achieve operational excellence and support and build a community of LAMs practitioners in the forefront in the proliferation of research and scholarship (UP LSAA)." In line with the 32nd Library and Information Services Month this November 2022, the first part of the webinar series will be held on November 19, 2022 (Saturday), 2-5 PM. RISE 1 will discuss "Building Digital Collections using Minimal Computing: A Workshop with ...

An online Presidential library dedicated to former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos is set to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2022. This would be the first digital Presidential library in the country. This was announced last March 18 in time for his 94th birthday. It was launched online and the stream is available on the FVR Legacy Facebook page . Fidel V. Ramos served as the President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. Formerly a chief of staff for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), his term was known for economic progress for the country. For updates on this project, follow the FVR Legacy on Facebook. Share on Facebook: Source: Cal, B. (2022 March 18). FVR turns 94, online presidential library unveiled .  https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170089

S haring my setup for library digitization for an institutional repository in an academic library. I show the scanners and equipment I am using for digitization, processes such as optical character recognition (OCR). I use both an overhead scanner and a flatbed scanner. Visit the online repository at https://repository.cpu.edu.ph to see the final digitized materials (usually theses and dissertations). Correction: The Canon scanner can range from 3500 pesos and up Timestamps: PC for digitization 1:12 Overhead scanner 1:55 What is Optical Character Recognition (OCR) 3:20 Other types of scanners 4:16 Flatbed scanner 4:33 External hard drive for backup 6:00 CD/DVD Drive 6:20 Desk vacuum cleaner 6:40 Logitech speakers 7:14 Products mentioned and where to buy them online: Fujitsu Scansnap SV600 Overhead Scanner Lazada: https://invol.co/cl9pz3p Shopee: https://invol.co/cl9pz4w Canon CanoScan LiDe400 Flatbed Scanner Lazada: https://invol.co/cl9ypdg Shopee: https://invol...

Alinet or the Academic Libraries Information Network in Mindanao, Inc. in partnership with PLAI-Northern Mindanao Librarians Council (PLAI-NMRLC) and Regalo Touching Lives (RTL) will be conducting a webinar on April 8, 2022 (Friday) with the theme "Accelerating Digital Transformation in Libraries." The webinar will be conducted online via Zoom. This webinar has 4 CPD points . The topics include Digital Transformation: Modernizing IT Infrastructure, Copyright Law in Digitization of Library Materials, and Collection Digitization in Libraries Online Education. Objectives: 1. To promote the importance of digitization in libraries; 2. To provide guidance on how libraries may effectively transform their services virtually; 3. To strengthen librarians’ capabilities in transforming their libraries digitally; and, 4. To understand copyright issues relevant to digitization of the collection. The registration link is: tinyurl.com/ALINETWebinar22RegLink and registration fee is Php...

Logo of the Metropolitan Museum of Art You might know The Met from the Met Gala held every year.  The MET or New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is the largest and one of the most-visited art museums in the West, with over 2 million items in their collections. The museum also publishes books on art. Since its founding in 1870, they have published exhibition catalogs, collection catalogs, and guides.  Their online publications are available through MetPublications. It is the "online portal to The Metropolitan Museum of Art's comprehensive art publishing program. It features over 1700 titles, including books, guides, Bulletins and Journals from the last six decades. The full contents of over 1400 out-of-print titles may be read online, searched, or downloaded as a PDF for free. Publications still in-print may be previewed and fully searched online through a link to Google Books." Periodicals published by the Met such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin a...

Most Rev. Bishop Abel Apigo of the Diocese of Mati and ADDU EVP Bong Eliab. The San Salvador del Mundo Church in Caraga, Davao Oriental is digitizing its important historical documents. This project is made possible with a memorandum of understanding between the Diocese of Mati and the Ateneo de Davao University. The University's Archives will digitize these documents. The church is 137 years old and is considered the oldest Catholic church in Mindanao. It was established by the Jesuits in 1877 and finished in 1884. 19th century documents written by missionaries will be digitized, which covers 16 volumes and 2,500 pages. The documents include baptisms, confirmations, marriages, deaths, and financial accounts. These are considered valuable sources of historical and cultural information for the region. According to Bishop Abel C. Apigo of the Diocese of Mati, "Digitizing these documents will give us a guarantee that we can still have access to the very rich records of the Ch...

Commission of Human Rights (CHR) launched the Philippine Observatory on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or PhORPD last July 16, 2021. This is an electronic library of data regarding the human rights of persons with disabilities in the Philippines. Data in the eLibrary is curated by specialists on disability rights. This is foreseen to be useful as a reference for stakeholders on developing policy and programs for persons with disabilities. According to the PhoRPD website, "In 2020, against the backdrop of uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Commission on Human Rights has initiated the development of the Philippine Observatory on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (a.k.a. PhORPD), in active collaboration with the six disability rights specialists, who represented the children with disabilities, persons with chronic/psychosocial disability, deaf/hard of hearing, with orthopedic impairment, speech impaired, and visual impaired. Visit the Phil...

Forester Glenn Estudillo working on wood samples, photo from DOST-FPRDI The Department of Science and Technology - Forest Products Research and Development Institute’s (DOST-FPRDI) is preparing to launch a digital repository of their Herbarium and Xylarium (Wood Library) collection. Their herbarium contains around 20,000 samples of local and foreign wood specimens, with 4,000 tree species from 108 countries. This serves as a research source for archaeologists, researchers, and students to for identification of species. It has the most comprehensive collection of wood specimens in the country. Their oldest sample is a 117-year-old specimen of a Yakal tree collected in Tayabas, Quezon , by W.H. Wade. The sample was first collected in 1903. The herbarium and xylarium also has a rich history. According to DOST FPRDI Material Science Division Forester Glenn B. Estudillo, American experts during the American occupation in the 1900s donated their collection of speciments to the Bureau of Fo...

Globe Telecom recently announced that free data access to selected educational websites in the Philippines has been extended until 2022. Since 2020, these websites could be accessible through Globe's free data as a service to teachers and students during the pandemic. These include the websites of DepEd Commons, Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Globe eLibrary. With free data acess for Globe and TM customers, students using these platforms do not have to pay data charges for access. However, this does not apply to websites visited outside the list.  According to Globe's chief sustainability officer Yoly Crisanto, “We endeavor to help enhance opportunities for self-learning by making quality content available to teachers and students. We hope our customers will take advantage of this free service to DepEd, CHED, and TESDA for their online learning requirements.” The following websites are accessible thr...

Spirit of America digital collection [ website ] Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Libraries launch the Marvin & Sybil Winer 'Spirit of America' digital collection The collection was donated by Marvin and Sybil Weiner in 2006. Marvin Weiner collected over 13,000 books and pamphlets pertaining to 16th to 18th century America. This collection is housed in the library's Special Collections and Archives. The digitized version of the collection includes almanacs, documents, letters, speeches, rare books, newspapers, and government publications. It is open and accessible for users not just in the university but globally. The librarians and staff of FAU digitized the materials. There are currently over 500 digitized documents available, with more being added daily. According to Carol Hixson, dean of the Libraries, "The Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection brings the history of the United States and its founding principles to life. The ongoing digit...

The British Library is making 40,000 historical maps in its collection available for free online. The maps are part of the Topographical Collection of King George III or the "K. Top" Collection. Aside from maps, the online collection also includes images of atlases, cartoons,  watercolors, and architectural drawings.  These images are free to view online on their Flickr Commons collection . According to the Library, "Over seven years, a team of expert cataloguers, curators, conservators and imaging specialists at the Library have worked to catalog, conserve and digitize the K.Top collection.  The collection is a distinct part of the larger King’s Library which was presented to the Nation by George IV in 1823. As a collection of maps and views that was built during the formative period of the British Empire, it is an important resource for the study of how Britain viewed and interacted with the wider world during this period. The collection consists of printed and han...

Image by Alex Myers from Pixabay NASA's Hubble Space Telescope with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in the US has began a new project to survey and catalog nearby stars in the Milky Way galaxy and other galaxies.  Project ULLYSES, which stands for UV Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards, is said to be Hubble's most ambitious observing program.  "One of the key goals of ULLYSES is to form a complete reference sample that can be used to create spectral libraries capturing the diversity of stars, ensuring a legacy dataset for a wide range of astrophysical topics," said Julia Roman-Duval, program lead. ULLYSES intends to help astronomers understand the birth of stars and how this relates to space, planets, and galaxies.  According to Hubble's official website, "Hubble will build this dataset not with images, but by gathering spectra, which spread light into its component wavelengths and reveal details about each star’s size, tempe...

Stephen Alayon (photo used with permission) Stephen Alayon is one of 2020's Outstanding Professional Awardees for the year 2020 for the Business, Education, and Social Services Sector. He is the only Librarian in the group of professionals who have been awarded. According to PRC, the “Outstanding Professional of the Year is the highest award bestowed by the Commission upon a professional as recommended by his/her peers for having sufficiently demonstrated professional competence of the highest degree and conducted himself/herself with integrity in the exercise of his/her profession, meaningfully participated in professional activities through the professional organization; significantly contributed to the advancement of the profession; and sincerely and effectively discharged personal and professional social responsibility through meaningful contribution/participation in socio-related activities.” Alayon is currently the Information Specialist 2 (Head) of the Library and Data Ban...