From left: Alfred Ursua, me, Rocky Gocuyo,
Rey Ileto, Tin Mandigma, Richard Grimaldo.
The title of this post and the photo above were taken from the Vibal Foundation Blog. What is not mentioned in the post is that I had been invited to look at the Vibal Foundation's collection of rare books only, and that I accepted because it was also my chance to spend more time with Reynaldo Ileto, author of Pasyon and Revolution, which will be an important part of the dissertation I'm working on.
And so, the invitation to talk to the staff about blogging—the day before the scheduled visit!—caused me some anxiety. It's a good thing that I remembered a previous paper on "What I Learned Through Blogging" that I could adapt easily. But what was more significant, in my opinion, was the desire to learn more about blogging that the invitation implied, and the revitalization of Filipiniana.net that I sensed from my interaction with the people afterward.
I still have reservations about being referred to as the Filipino Librarian—I prefer "owner of the blog Filipino Librarian"—but I guess I just have to live with it. While it's flattering to think that the post title implies that I am worth mentioning in the same breath as Rey Ileto, it also places a heavy responsibility on me to think that I represent all Filipino librarians. Then again, I did make the decision to use "Filipino Librarian" as the title of my blog, and so have only myself to blame =)
