IRRI Library: Huli Man Daw at Magaling, Habol Pa Rin

“Is digitization synonymous to preservation?” This question lingers on my mind on our visit to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) last 4 October 2011.

The collection of IRRI is highly specialized and it is what gives its library a strategic and advantageous position in the library marketplace.  But as I have noticed, there are only a few users of the library.  This cannot be attributed to failure in marketing and promotions since as explained by the librarians of IRRI, most of their users utilize the organization’s electronic journal collection.  This prompted me to ask why are they allocating so much space and expending resources in housing the print format of their journals when most of their users no longer physically visit the library. Isn’t it about time that the library moves closer to clients?  Advances in technology have changed or affected our attitude and lifestyle.  Hence, IRRI library must reinvent itself in order to adapt to changes, if it does not want to stagnate.  The librarians should start digitizing their print collection and make it accessible to users through remote access since their clients have shown inclinations to it in the first place.  

In relation to my initial observation, the IRRI Library also has to set its role in preservation and conservation vis-à-vis as a support research unit of the International Rice Research Institute.  If the library intends to preserve this collection for archives purposes then it is doing a good job (since in archives study, the object of preservation pertains to the original medium of the document); however if it intends to preserve these materials for circulation, then it must start identifying the ones worth preserving and the ones for weeding, provided that everything has been digitized.

In the long run, the organization cannot keep all its collection.  There will come a time when the aforesaid issues have to be addressed; so while there is abundance in resources, the IRRI Library ought to begin, now.

Lopez Museum and Library: Hitting Two Birds with One Stone

The title aptly describes my visit to the Lopez Museum last 27 September 2011.  The visit served not just the purpose of being able to observe a digitization process for my LIS 260 class but it also enabled me to have a glimpse of how archival materials are preserved for my LIS 212 (Introduction to Archives Administration).

The project of the Lopez Museum and Library to digitize film and mass media materials among others is a commendable effort.  However, the length of time that it has spent on scanning and other germane activities in this stage has taken its toll.  It appears that the library is so enamoured with the idea of digitization that it has neglected equally important issues on reference and access, such as providing the appropriate index and description for the images.  This is crucial as it affects the effective retrieval of information, needless to say the system has high-recall but low precision.  I just hope that in its migration from Alchemy to Docu1, the issue on reference and access would be address; otherwise the cost and effort exerted on the project would be futile.  As often said in the library and information field, “materials are useless if they are not made accessible to users”; hence the ball is in their hands.

Another thing that caught my attention during the visit was the instance when Prof. Esposo-Betan asked the head librarian of the Lopez Museum as to the purpose of the entire digitization project, and the latter answered something like “to uphold Filipino culture and history”.  Somehow, the scene kept me silent for a few seconds and I just had to ask myself the same thing, what is exactly the purpose of all these?  Looking at their daily activities and practices, I cannot help but consider the economic side of things.  The amount of resources that the organization has spent and is spending for the project is quite hefty; and there has to be a return of investment for it.  Acquiring in bulk archival issues of newspapers from different publishers entails cost; not to mention that their website only features the titles of their scanned collection are more of a business strategy. I have the fear that once all the materials in their field of interest are acquired in their collection, then they have the monopoly of trade.  I understand the cost of maintaining these high heritage materials but nothing beats making it available to the public.

Museums in the Philippines have an elitist stigma.  We only get to visit museums during field trips or for research and educational purposes. This contributes to the alienation of most Filipino to its history and cultural heritage.  In the tourism industry, a lot of places in the Philippines are now becoming popular especially for local tourists.  This can be attributed to the sales or promotional packages offered by airlines companies; perhaps museums should learn from this. Unless they try to be more active in reaching out and making themselves accessible to the middle and working class, then their noble cause is not fully served.