All happening this July at the UP College of Music

 

Bulwagan ng Dangal opens to the public

President Roman leads opening of the exhibit hall (photo credits: The Diliman UP Date Online)

The Bulwagan ng Dangal (Hall of Honor) is the newest and largest exhibition hall in the University of the Philippines Diliman. Located at the basement of the Gonzalez Hall (University Library), it was inaugurated on 18 June 2009, the 101st Foundation Day of the University. In a brief program, University Librarian Prof. SALVACION M. ARLANTE welcomed the guests while Office of the Initiatives for Culture and the Arts (OICA) Director Prof. RUBEN DEFEO described a brief background of this endeavor. UP President EMERLINDA ROMAN, UP Diliman Chancellor SERGIO CAO and National Artists VIRGILIO ALMARIO and NAPOLEON ABUEVA, together with former UP president Dr. EMANUEL SORIANO and Regent NELIA GONZALEZ untied the ceremonial ribbon, marking the opening of the Bulwagan.

With the opening of the Bulwagan, Prof. Arlante noted that “In the modern concept, the university now has a library, an archives and a museum all in one place.” Its central location further emphasizes its focal presence as the geographic and cultural heart of the university. Dr. GERARD LICO, the Campus Architect and professor at the College of Architecture designed the basement of the Gonzalez Hall to serve its new purpose as an exhibit space.

The inaugural exhibit Pag-asa ng Bayan (photo credits: Ms. Ching Omega)

The inaugural exhibit Pag-asa ng Bayan (Hope of the Nation) showcases the expansive and diverse art collection of the University. The works of eight National Artists adorn the halls of the Bulwagan: Fernando Amorsolo, Guillermo Tolentino, Vicente Manansala, Abdulmari Asia Imao, Napoleon Abueva, Ben Cabrera, Hernando Ocampo and Jose Joya. Also included are the works of eminent artists Onib Olmedo, Santiago Bose, Dominador Castañeda, Ofelia Gelvezon Tequi, Neil Doloricon and Rock Drilon, among others. Prof. Defeo and Prof. PATRICK FLORES of the Department of Art Studies are the co-curators of this exhibit.

In addition to the artworks, also included are some items from the University’s archival collection: framed photograph of Florentino Collantes (Filipino poet and the second Hari ng Balagtasan, after Jose Corazon de Jesus) and his family; the portrait of Hermogenes Ilagan (The Father of Philippine Theatre); and the manuscript and illustrations by Guillermo Tolentino for his book Ang Wika at Baybaying Tagalog, published in 1937.

The provenance of some artworks in the Collection cannot be documented; they have just been with the University for so long some of them have been hanging for years unnoticed or ignored in the halls of buildings. Case in point: some guests at the inauguration were surprised at the Hernando Ocampo artwork in the University Library Collection, only to realize that it has been hanging at the Filipiniana Books Reading room since the 1990s. This exhibit is their time to shine and be noticed once again. Some are donated by the artists themselves, most are given by students, alumni, faculty and friends of the university, thereby enhancing not just the art collection, but the intellectual and artistic legacy of UP.

The opening of the Bulwagan promises a platform to showcase the works of up and coming artists; it is also hoped that this venture will encourage more artists to donate some of their works, and for donors to bequeath their collection to further enrich the cultural and artistic landscape of the university. – ECLagrama

 

ABAP opens 13th Philippine Academic Book Fair 2009

Prof. Arlante with the ABAP Officials

Now known as the Academic Booksellers Association of the Philippines (formerly, the Association of Booksellers for the Academe and the Professions), the association kicked off this year’s book fair with the theme — The Filipino booksellers: responding to academic & information needs in the midst of global challenges.

Atty. Tamano

Prof. Arlante

The opening ceremonies were held last June 23rd at the Megatrade Hall I of the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. To formally inaugurate the exhibit, guests of honors Atty. ADEL TAMANO, President of the Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU) and the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), and UPD University Librarian Prof. SALVACION ARLANTE led the ribbon cutting ceremony. A short program later followed at the main seminar room of the exhibit hall. Atty. Tamano talked about the importance of the reading culture today and how instrumental the booksellers are to address this issue. Meanwhile, Prof. Arlante shared about the UP Library experience with booksellers and how they have welcomingly bridged for the needs of the Library. The state of the ABAP and of the industry in toto was highlighted by ABAP President Mr. LINO DAGUS. Mr. NOEL CABANGON graced the occasion as well and serenaded the audience with his inspiring compositions.

This year’s fair features 43 exhibitors in the book publishing/bookselling industry in the country. It is a perfect venue for librarians, students, professionals and book buffs to take advantage of this event, as books are offered at fair price. The five-day fair will run from June 23 to 27, 10AM-8PM at the Megatrade Hall I, 5th level Mega B, SM Megamall. – CMAbrigo

 

Lapuz presents paper at the IATUL 2009 in Belgium

30th Annual International Association of Technological University Libraries (IATUL) Conference 2009

by Elvira B. Lapuz*

Lapuz at the IATUL 2009

The International Association of Technological University Libraries (IATUL) is a voluntary, international, non-governmental organization of a group of libraries, represented by their library directors or senior managers, who have responsibility for information services and resources management. The Association was formally established on May 1955 in Dusseldorf, Germany with Dr. E. Hemlin of Sweden as its founding president. IATUL holds an annual conference, which provides members and other interested professionals the opportunity to discuss issues facing libraries of institutions of higher education. Conference convenor for this year is Mr. Ludo Holans, Campus Librarian of Bibliotheek Arenberg, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Stephen Abram, immediate past President of Special Libraries Association (SLA) and past president of the Canadian and Ontario Library Associations gave the Keynote Speech. He talked about Library Innovation Processes Toward Quality Enhancement. It was a great pleasure listening to him as he elucidate on the many ways that libraries can innovate and how librarians and information specialists be that catalysts to the much needed change.

Close to 200 participants listened to invited speakers who covered topics on innovation management, reengineering work through information technology, benchmarking for best practices, e-accessibility for visually impaired customers, new tools, Web 2.0 applications for quality enhancement, library innovation for teaching, learning and research.

Some of the more notable presentations include the paper presented by Martha Kyrilidou from the USA on Library Quality Assessment Through LibQual. LibQual is an evaluation protocol that allows libraries to collect information about user perceptions and expectations and act on users’ opinions so they can improve library services. This is noteworthy because this evaluation tool that can be applied in libraries here in the country. There is an acknowledged need to revisit our current approaches to evaluating our services and LibQual should be considered. The presentation by Dr. Jan Engelen on E-accessibility for Visually Impaired Students focused on the various e-formats that should help most of the library users with a reading impairment. The Conference also included poster presentations with accepted entries coming from different countries. There were quite a number of truly interesting posters on the topics of library innovations, improved processes, library associations and e-learning.

Truly keen on participating to this conference (plus of course the attraction that is Belgium!) I submitted a paper on the topic Web 2.0 applications for enhancements which was accepted and scheduled for presentation. I was able to secure my place in the Conference through the IATUL Conference grant. This is a grant given to first time participants and is a way of encouraging membership to the Association. The grant covered the registration cost and the accommodations for the duration of the Conference. My paper entitled “Teaching Web 2.0 Applications in the Planning and Development of Information Literacy Programs: Reaching Out to Librarians and Information Professionals” was scheduled for presentation on June 4. I can say that it was a well received presentation. I got truly interesting questions and encouraging comments from the other participants and some are quite generous on their praises and congratulations. It is also worth mentioning that there are 3 other participants from the Philippines, they are Joseph Yap of ACTMalaria, Stephen Alayon of SEAFDEC and Nhyrma Fe Cab of St. Joseph’s College Butuan. Their attendance to the IATUL Conference is part of the program of the International Training Course STIMULATE9.

After each day’s sessions, participants were treated to Belgian hospitality through cocktails and dinners. Everyone was given the opportunity to partake and have a taste of the wide variety of wine and dishes that Belgium has to offer. The end of the conference dinner was made more enticing and special with live music and dancing.

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*Ms. ELVIE B. LAPUZ, Head Librarian of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Library, UP Diliman, was in Leuven, Belgium last 1-4 June 2009 as paper presenter at the 30th Annual IATUL Conference held at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Campus Library Arenberg. This year’s conference theme was “Just for you, quality through innovation”.