VSU Library digitizes Filipiniana to preserve our cultural heritage

To secure the rare and special collections of books about the Philippines called Filipiniana, VSU Learning Commons (Library) worked on a project converting the physical copies to digital forms which will be accessible online soon.

VSU is granted with a budget of PhP 700,000 to implement the digitization and access to Filipiniana resources from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the governing agency mandated to preserve, develop, and promote Philippine arts and culture.

In an interview with the concurrent VSU Chief Librarian Mr. Vicente A. Gilos, he was grateful that the project was finally realized this year after the unexpected delays prior to the implementation.

The crafting of the proposal initially started in 2021 during the pandemic according to Mr. Gilos. But to some extent, the proposal was completed and submitted to NCCA the year after. 

“In 2022, the proposal was submitted to NCCA for funding since we needed the financial support to realize our plan. However, we really didn’t expect that the proposal would be accepted and granted with funds,” he shared.

On December 12, 2022, NCCA sent a letter to VSU informing them that their proposal was approved by its Board of Commissioners. In the following year, VSU and NCCA sealed their partnership through signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).

But since VSU has to follow procurement law and procedures, the implementation of the project took longer than expected because they need to hire reputable imaging/digitizing companies to partner with them with the digitization.

“Before the implementation [of the project], our library had a digitization machine already, but we had no staff who could handle the machine. That’s why, in this project, we hired a third-party personnel to help us and so we can see firsthand how digitization is done.”

VSU owns a ScanSnap SV600, an overhead, contactless scanner that directly scans various document types such as books, magazines, and fragile items.

Previously, they had collaborative project with the Department of Science and Technology - Science and Technology Information Institute (DOST-STII) and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) on digitizing VSU’s research publications related to Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources (AANR).

Right now, the digitization process of the Filipiniana materials has commenced. However, there are Filipiniana books they collated that can no longer be restored because of the severe damage it got from termites.

“We have another problem right now because we found out that some of our additional materials were already eaten by termites.”

Mr. Gilos hopes that after all the resources are converted into digital forms, they can upload the materials to their official website, Destiny Library Manager (DLM), that houses all the library resources and bibliographic databases both online and print.

“This project will help retain our cultural heritage. And once it will be integrated online, everyone will be able to access it even at the comfort of their homes. It will provide viable resources for researchers and scholars and be shared to the community.”

Aside from the preservation value, Ms. Shiera May T. Camacho, Head of Reference and Readers’ Services highlighted that this project will enhance the promotion of VSU’s Filipiniana resources to the world and that our culture will be remembered and embraced by the next generation.

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