Filipino Librarian

Non-BLIS, Non-MLIS Can't Take Exam — PRC

PRC Legal Opinion on Extension Request

The letter above, written by the chief of the PRC's legal division, closes the door on the non-BLIS and non-MLIS graduates who were unable to take the Librarians' Licensure Exams last year, the deadline prescribed by R.A. 9246.

The 2009 Librarians' Licensure Exams will be held in Manila, Baguio, Cebu, Davao, Legazpi & Zamboanga on 10-11 November 2009. The deadline for the filing of applications is 21 October 2009.

Thanks to Fe Angela Verzosa for sharing the letter above at the Filipino Librarians Googlegroup.

FO: Blair and Robertson

| Labels: Filipiniana Online

Its official title is The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, but this 55-volume collection—primarily English translations of books and documents originally written in Spanish—is more popularly known as "Blair and Robertson," after its editors. The entire collection is freely available online at The United States and its Territories: 1870-1925: The Age of Imperialism (USIT), which I have previously dubbed "the best and largest online collection of Filipiniana materials available for free."

To see all the volumes on USIT, you can click here: "Blair and Robertson." But the USIT list can get confusing because, as I noted before in relation to Philippine Journal of Science, "volume 1 is followed by volume 10, 11, 12, etc.; 2 by 20, 21, 22, etc.; 3 by 30, 31, 32, etc." I recommend that you check out Primary Sources in Philippine History, which reproduces the tables of contents of all 55 volumes, and provides links to the different books and documents in each volume on USIT. Here are my notes from a previous post on how to maximize USIT's interface:

The interface isn't the easiest to use, but make sure you explore the site's toolbar at the top. Changing "Format" allows users to view a... page as an image, as text or download it as a pdf file. "Page no." may be used to go directly to "Title Page" or "Table of Contents," which may in turn be used to jump to a specific page... And then, of course, "Page size" and "Search this text" are self-explanatory =)

I've linked to "Blair and Robertson" before in "Filipiniana Online: Links Shared at Rizal Library International Conference," but very few people seem to have seen it. Thanks to Maita's "reference question," I decided that it was time to give "Blair and Robertson" their own post.

I Luv New York 2009

| Labels: About Vonjobi, Broadway

The photo above was taken on Times Square last June. I arrived just as the plan to let people "Walk, bike or sit, car-free, in Times Square and Herald Square" was implemented. In the next few days, I will be writing about what I did in New York from May 30 to June 6. As in previous trips, I'll be sharing my opinions about the shows I saw, as well as tips for Broadway-bound travelers (see my posts labeled "Broadway"). I suspect very few of my regular readers will be interested in these posts, but some librarians and bloggers might find my comments about Book Expo America useful, so stay tuned =)

FO: The Original Spanish Edition
of Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere

| Labels: Filipiniana Online

Rizal's Noli Me Tangere (Original Spanish Version)

When I posted "FO: Books in Spanish," I linked to a reprint of Noli Me Tangere in Spanish, but it was not the original edition printed in Berlin. Thanks to John Nery, I am now able to link to the original 1887 Spanish edition of Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal on Scribd, which may also be downloaded as a pdf file.

Incidentally, a new English translation of Noli Me Tangere is now available as part of the Penguin Classics series. Hear Harold Augenbraum, the translator, explain his involvement with Rizal's book in an interview by Elda Rotor in a podcast on "José Rizal and the Novel That Sparked the Philippine Revolution." Unlike the original Spanish edition above, which is freely available, the Noli's new English edition and Augenbraum's forthcoming translation of El Filibusterismo (the sequel to the Noli) are available in print and eBook editions for a fee.

Is Augenbraum's translation of the Noli better than previous ones? See what Nery has to say in "Erasing Ateneo" (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 16 June 2009).

Why am I doing what I'm doing?

| Labels: About Vonjobi

"The Filipino Librarian asked: Why is a the used with Philippines?" This reference by Eric Ambata to one of my very first posts in 2005 led to the discovery that Manuel Quezon III recently posted several links to my blog in relation to a discussion on whether "Philippines" is plural or singular. Then I learned that Gibbs Cadiz referred to a foreword I wrote for a book as a "succinct introduction," and even quoted a lengthy passage.

All these, on top of articles in Philippine Star, Pinoy Herald and the Department of Foreign Affairs website (based on press releases [1 2 3] from the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC) about my lecture at the US Library of Congress, made me think that perhaps the writing I've done in the past has made a bit of a difference. (Never mind that the articles about my lecture seemed to miss my point about the oldest books—not book—printed in 1593.)

And then I found out that Rev. Ed Bentley, a Canadian pastor, cited my experience on "Kapamilya Deal or No Deal" (KDOND) several months ago as "a true illustration of counter-consumerism" in a sermon (pdf), and said that,

We come into this life with nothing and we necessarily leave empty-handed. All that matters about whatever we win, earn, or acquire in the meantime is what we do with it, the good we make of it, the benefit we provide with it.

I never thought of my KDOND experience this way, but what he wrote reminded me of an old post entitled "I'm Just Trying to Matter", where I asked "Why am I doing what I'm doing?" Thanks to Rev. Bentley, I am reminded that I do what I do not so my words can get quoted in blogs or newspaper articles, but so that others can benefit from whatever I have learned.

Outstanding Librarian 2009:
Candida C. Agcaoili

| Labels: Librarians: Awardees

Candida C. Agcaoili
Discipline Consultant/Professor
University of Sto. Tomas

The Professional Regulation Commission conferred the Outstanding Professional Librarian of the Year Award on Candida C. Agcaoili on 19 June 2009. The citation reads:

For devoting 59 long years of her professional life in the development of the library profession; for her exemplary leadership as the First President of the Integrated Philippines Library Association now Philippine Librarians Association, as the Founding President of the Philippine Foundation for Library Science and Scholarship which gave 27 awards of recognition and distinction; for exemplifying the true meaning of commitment by sharing unselfishly her knowledge and expertise as Professor of UST, as delegate, speaker, lecturer and presenter of 28 papers in librarianship here and abroad and as a writer and publisher of articles in Library and Information Science Bulletin and Journals; and for her active and unrelenting involvement in community services such as medical missions, sports development for the youth, donation of books to the Quezon City Public Library, establishment of reading center for senior citizens, acquisition of hydrants in San Juan City and as Benefactor of Duyan ni Maria in Pampanga supporting programs of unwed mothers.

Thanks to Elvie Lapuz for providing the photo and citation.

The awardee is joined in the photo by, from left: Nora Conti, Cora Nera and Beth Peralejo (Board for Librarians).

Category: Librarians—Awardees

The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American
and Philippine-American Wars

| Labels: Technical Services

The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars is a new 3-volume set published by ABC-CLIO early this month. I haven't examined it thoroughly, and it's possible that it doesn't reflect the Filipino point of view, but I think the fact that its third volume is devoted to reproducing the texts of more than 150 primary-source documents will make it very useful. Some libraries probably have the earlier one-volume edition published in 2001, but it looks like this one is very different, starting with its editor.

Note: I learned about the set only because I'm at SLA 2009, where I've posted more in the last two days on the SLA Blog than I've done on my own blog in the past two weeks =)

Filipino Identity and the Non-Filipino

| Labels: The Philippines

Once again, we celebrate the declaration of Philippine independence. It might be good to reflect on the fact that this declaration was written in Spanish, and that the document indicates that independence was obtained "under the protection of the Powerful and Humanitarian Nation, the United States of America." With a little more digging, I’m sure it can be established that some of the signatories were of Chinese descent.

I bring up these details because it is not just where we were born that makes us Filipino. A Filipino is someone who bears traces of the non-Filipinos who occupied or visited—whether welcome or not—the group of islands now known as the Philippines. These traces are embedded in our language, history, food, habits, dreams, prejudices, etc. Whether these "souvenirs" from the Spaniards, Americans, and Chinese were good or bad for Filipinos is debatable. And while there are those who will blame non-Filipinos for everything that is wrong with the Philippines today, I think it's time to accept that this is who we are, that we each have the freedom to make our own decisions, and ultimately we are responsible—and not the non-Filipinos—for who we have become.

Filipino Librarian Speaks
at Library of Congress

| Labels: About Vonjobi

If you happen to be in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, 9 June 2009, I'd appreciate it if you would consider attending my presentation on "The Doctrina Christiana of 1593 and the 'Other' Book" at Library of Congress, 12 nn-1 pm. Here's the exact address:

Asian Division Foyer, Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
10 First Street, SE, Washington DC 20540
Nearest Metro Station: Capitol South (Orange/Blue Lines)

The full press release may be found at the website of the Library of Congress Asian Division Friends Society. The event is also on the calendar of the Philippine Embassy, Washington, DC.

"The Great Book Blockade of 2009" is over

| Labels: Book History

It all started with Robin Hemley's "The Great Book Blockade of 2009," which laid bare the plan to start taxing books imported into the Philippines—contrary to the Florence Agreement—because a customs undersecretary decided that she was the only one in more than fifty years who could interpret the Agreement correctly. There's more in my post on "Libraries and 'The Great Book Blockade of 2009'," but all's well that ends well because today it was reported that "Taxes on book imports lifted." Finally, here's the summary of events and reflection written by Hemley for the Far Eastern Economic Review on the role he played in all of this: "Notes from a Blockade Runner."

I'm happy, of course, that it's over. But the very first question I asked when I learned about the blockade remains: "why did it have to take a foreigner to write about it in a foreign publication?" (see 2nd comment on "The Great Book Blockade of 2009 (updated)"). If bookstore owners and book dealers already knew about it weeks and months ago—some were even at that infamous meeting with the undersecretary herself—how come we never heard from them until after Hemley broke the story? I have nothing against Hemley or foreigners, but I really think it's amazing that scandal-sniffing Filipino reporters didn't pick up on this right away.

In "The Great Book Blockade of... 1959," I linked to an article by Joaquin Po, a bookstore owner. I haven't found out how that "blockade" ended fifty years ago, but I'd like to think that Po's efforts were rewarded eventually. There's a lesson here... and not just for bookstore owners and book dealers. Someone has to speak up. How do we work together to solve a problem if very few know the problem exists?