Malditang Librarian

Photo from their Facebook page @DSSCOfficial Davao del Sur State College planning to build a Virtual Library The Davao del Sur State College is planning to build a modern virtual library worth 10 million pesos. According to the University President Dr. Augie Fuentes, the planned online library is funded and supported by Sen. Sonny Angara. Construction is expected to start on the first quarter of 2021. According to Dr. Fuentes, "The project is indeed vital not just in the students’ journey but to the teaching and non-teaching personnel of the institution. The virtual library can be an ideal venue to blend face-to-face with virtual meetings, allowing the broad population of students who commute or telecommute to join their teams in project discussions. It would also invite students to devise their own approaches to their work and to transfer what they learn in one course to the work they do for another." Importance of digital libraries and online resources She also added...

Ever since I started this blog, I would post every new year about how the past year has been and what I hope to accomplish in the next. (My new year posts since 2016 is under the ' new year ' tag) 2020 has been very interesting (not in a good way, though). A pandemic that started in another part of the world, which once seemed far away, has affected every aspect of our lives and caused tremendous change like no other. It has been so overwhelming and I don't feel like mentioning it all. It's been talked about too much. Started a new job When the year began, I was looking for a job and waiting for opportunities. I started working in Henry Luce III Library of Central Philippine University in March, but two weeks later in my new job, it was lockdown until May.  When we got back in June, we had to adjust to changes at work and everyday life. Jobs, lives, and many things were lost. This is my first job after I finished my Master's degree and the first regular job (mean...

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby in the 2013 movie adaptation (© Warner Bros.) F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby , the famous novel set in 1920's America, is now in the public domain 95 years after its original publication in 1925. The story has been adapted to a movie with the same title in 2013, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. This means you can create your own works based on Fitzgerald's story without fear of breaching copyright. What does Public Domain mean? Simply put, works in the public domain are those whose copyright has expired. It means that these works are now free for the public to use, modify, or build upon without the restrictions of copyright. Works usually enter the public domain when the copyright expires. In the US, intellectual property law usually stipulates that works are protected by copyright under the following options:  within the author's lifetime plus 70 years after their death 120 years from its creation 95 years after...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched the world's first national crypto library to protect and secure confidential information in the country. This was initiated by the Cryptography Research Center of the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC). According to Faisal Al Bannai, secretary general of ATRC, "The ever-evolving sophistication of cyberattacks should not be taken for granted. By developing a national crypto library in the UAE and integrating this within critical digital infrastructure, we can increase our security levels and build sovereign capability simultaneously." The library consists of algorithms that cryptographers use to protect information in different data-driven fields such as health care, telecommunications, and finance.  The research center have already released several versions of the library and are working on integrating it into UAE's data infrastructure. They work with scientists in cryptography and related fields such as post-qu...

Globe launches Ugnay, a learning platform using text or short messaging service (SMS). Though SMS has limited capabilities, it can be useful for those who have limited internet access. Ugnay aims to deliver accessible content to learners. Text messaging has its advantages as a fast and effective way to deliver information, and it can reach thousands of learners with less effort. Lessons can also be delivered in a short and concise way through text. It also saves the user from the hassle of logging in and out of different platforms. “This pandemic heightened the need for distance learning but there are a lot of challenges -  from the adjustments that have to be done by teachers and students to accommodate distance learning to the availability of content and limitations of accessing learning media that rely heavily on compatible devices and stable internet connection. This prompted us to look for ways to address these concerns,” said Ariane Nava, Globe Head of Channel Governance an...

A new Banned Books Museum recently opened in Tallin, Estonia. The museum houses banned books in several countries and aims to educate the public about literary censorship. According to museum founder Joseph Dunnigan, "We want to raise people’s awareness of the long history of censorship and the importance of freedom of speech. Freedom of thought and expression is not a universally accepted human right to this day. I am happy to contribute to the dissemination of freedom of speech with the museum.” They have a collection of over 100 banned books, classified by country. The museum features banned and controversial books such as Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code , Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale , and William Golding's Lord of the Flies . They also have collections of burned books, children's books, and books on censorship. The museum's vision states that "We dream of a world in which people can freely share, challenge, and refine their ideas. The value...

Camarines Sur 2nd district Representative Luis Raymund Villafuerte is proposing a bill for textbook publishers to allow the scanning and digitization of books for educational purposes, as long as it complies with the Philippines' Intellectual Property Code. House Bill 8020 or "An Act amending R.A. 8047, otherwise known as the 'Book Publishing Industry Development Act,' providing for the scanning and conversion of public school textbooks into eBooks and other digital formats"  was filed last November 17, 2020. It has been forwarded for review by the Committee on Basic Education and Culture. This proposed act mandates the digitization of eBooks by publishers under the government's Public School Textbook Program. The digital copies of these textbooks shall be available in 'any manner deemed appropriate and reasonable by the DepEd' for access by public school students in the country. According to Rep. Villafuerte, "It is no secret that textbooks i...