Reflection and observations to IRRI's IRs

IRR’s INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION:

Our class field trip to Laguna on the 4^th October 2011 was interesting and memorable. In fact, to me, the visit to IRRI library was an eye opener since I am able to see the special library with unique collections both print and e-resources.

ACTIVITIES/MISSION:

On arrival we were welcomed by the head librarian who introduced herself and further introduced her staff to us with their different ranking.

We were seated and the head librarian gave us a power point presentation on IRRI – The Library and Documentation Services.  She said IRRI library was established in 1961 and has the world’s largest collection of rice literature.

She went further to say that IRRI has been a member of national and international bodies like CGIAR-LISC and AgNIC.

The head librarian said part of the IRRI library mission is:

“To build the world’s most comprehensive collection of technical rice literature in any language and to provide open access to this body of knowledge”

STAFFING:

She mentioned that IRRI library have a total number of 12 staff:

·         4 Professional Librarians

·         1 Digital Specialist

·         7 Support Staff

COLLECTIONS:
She outline the following as their different collections:

1.    Books – The volume of books are 164,000.

2.    Theses – so many

3.    Scientific papers, proceedings and reports – They have 281, 755T of rice articles.

4.    Journals – 383T paid journal subscriptions.  They have 1,200 T free access online journals

5.    Audio visual materials - Alot

6.    Maps

7.    Online databases – 3 online databases and web of science, etc. Their collections are covered in 80 different languages.

She noted that the collection ranges from:

1.    Rice literature which includes: Breeding, Growing, Harvesting, Products, and Economic aspects.

2.    Agricultural sustainability

3.    Biotechnology

4.    Genetic engineering

5.    Climate change

6.    Population growth

She informed us that the collections are categorized from:

1.    General reference materials

2.    Travel books

3.    Recipe books

4.    Fiction books

The library has publications in:

1.    Rice Literature Update

2.    Index to Rice Theses Collection

3.    Rice Thesaurus

4.    International Directory of Rice Workers

ORGANISATION OF COLLECTIONS:

It was mentioned that:

BOOKS and THESES, uses the LC Classification Scheme and Expanded Classification Scheme for rice materials.

JOURNALS, they use Alphabetical & chronological arrangement.

CLIENTS/PATRONS:

She informed us of the following clients:

1.    IRRI Community (HQ & Country offices)

2.    UP Los Baños community

3.    Students from other institutions

4.    Los Baños community

5.    Farmers

6.    Scientists & researchers worldwide

And that the library service days and hours are from Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.

FUNCTIONS/SERVICES:

She emphasized that their services are:

·         Fully automated library services which includes: Reader’s Services, Open access (IRRI staff), Document delivery, Acquisition of reading materials.

·         Interlibrary loan

·         Centralized cataloging

·         AV Collection

·         Photocopying service

·         Bindery

·         Orientation

·         Tour

FACILITIES IN THE LIBRARY:

The following facilities are available in the library:

1.    Main Reading Room

2.    Book Stack

3.    Journal stack

4.    OPAC terminals

5.    E-Readers

6.    AV Center

7.    Wi-Fi equipped

TUTORIAL ACCESS TO THE LIBRARY:

We were supposed to access this http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org/ site to have a complete tutorial session but the system failed, perhaps due to technical problems.

Some few questions were asked and were answered by the presenter, the head librarian.

TOUR TO LIBRARY OPAC AND COLLECTIONS:

We were introduced to their OPAC terminals and open source.  We were taught how their various e-resources are accessed, manipulated and disseminated.

We were invited to see their numerous collections within the library.  They are really organized and had so much collection.

OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
I observed that library space is inadequate generally, especially where the stacks are. I also observed with keen interest the amount of money spent is taking care of those stacks since they are put under normal air conditioned temperature daily.

If it would be possible, I recommend complete digitization of all these stacks to reduce the shelves space and cost of maintenance.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

We had fun, ate, and numerous photo shots. The field trip was a very great one since all of us enjoyed it.  We appreciate our mother, leader and instructor, Professor Sharon for the wonderful class session.

Maraming Salamat po!

Reflection and observations of Lopez Library

DIGITIZATION/INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM OF LOPEZ LIBRARY

INTRODUCTION:

The experience in Lopez library was a good one.  The library is rich in rare collections in Philippines history and pictorials.  The library is conglomerate in nature since a museum is attached to it.

WELCOME ADDRESS AND FEATURES:

We all gathered and our Instructor Professor Sharon introduced us to the head librarian.  She (head librarian) took over and tried to introduce us to the various sections of the library, though most of her talking was in tagalog.  So I could not fully grasped most of the things she said.

My good friend Bryan tried to interpret some to me.  By implication what I saw there was how their rare collections are being kept.

In fact, these rare books are digitized into their computer system.  So the print book is still kept carefully while the digitized formats are made available to readers who come to do research in the library.

The library has a server system which is connected to some few terminals there. Again, most of their digitized collections are stored in the main server.  The server has 4 terabytes memory space (Not very sure).

COLLECTIONS:
we were shown some rare books, pictures, etc which are de-acidified for long storage purposes.  The head librarian showed us their collections which are mostly Philippines materials. What amazed me was that books published in 1900s are there, and they were able to preserve a lot of them.

MUSEUM TOUR:

After entertaining some questions we were further introduced to the different facilities they have in the museum. We practically had test of them, I cannot recall the names of those facilities.  We were given some flyers which introduce the library at a glance.

OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
I observed they used to collect newspaper captions to digitize daily.  But I think if they can lease with the newspaper agency, they may give them the softcopy of those headlines instead of the hardcopy.  This would facilitate accurate and faster digitization and/or indexing processes.

The library/museum space is inadequate. One can see that from their shelving arrangement. They may need more terminals for users to use.  I guess their digitization process is only for in-house purposes and it is not online.  Though the head librarian said they hope to go online soon.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND LUNCH:

We all had some photo shots and collective lunch.  It was so memorable. Thank you Prof for the opportunity to see a digitization processes of the Lopez library.

Cloud Computing!

READING ASSIGNMENT:  CLOUD COMPUTING

TITLE OF THE ARTICLE(S): “21^st Century Librarianship”

AUTHOR (S): 

PUBLISHER(S):  

URL: http://21stcenturylibrarianship.wikispaces.com/Cloud+Computing

Abstract of the article(s): (1-2 paragraph/s):

Cloud computing has something to do with computation, software, data access, storage services etc that does not need the users knowledgebility of the physical location of the system that provides the services globally.

The uniqueness of cloud computing is that the computing is ‘in the cloud’ which is to mean it has no specified processing unit in a particular location.

Three things I learned from my Reading Assignment:

-          There is no cloud computing before 21^st century.

-          Cloud computing represent a new way business is to be done in the contemporary era.

-          Provides ease of access to remote computing that is provided by the Internet via the use of web-based tools application.

Application/Implication of the new things I learned to my work/to me as a person:

It is imperative that I keep up with the new technological advances.  Cloud computing have tremendous benefits to libraries by using a universal cataloging that can be more extensive that any singly library could provide.

ICT innovativeness might be provided by cloud computing services that small or rural libraries could not otherwise provide for their clients.

OPEN ACCESS (OA) ONLINE JOURNALS FOR LIBRARIES!

READING ASSIGNMENT:  OPEN ACCESS ONLINE JOURNALS FOR LIBRARIES.

TITLE OF THE ARTICLE(S): “Open Access and Libraries”

AUTHOR (S):  Charles W. Bailey, Jr.

PUBLISHER(S):  

URL:  http://www.digital-scholarship.org/cwb/OALibraries2.pdf

Abstract of the article(s): (1-2 paragraph/s):

Open Access online journal articles are to be disseminated as widely as possible, the journals will no longer invoke copyright to restrict access to and use of the material they publish. Instead they will use copyright and other tools to ensure permanent open access to all the articles they publish.

For these reasons price is a barrier to access, these new journals will not charge subscription or access fees, and will turn to other methods for covering their expenses.

Three things I learned from my Reading Assignment:

1.    Open access materials can be used with minimal restrictions – Access is granted for any purpose but there should be correct attribution and integrity of the content work.  No permission is needed in order to gain access or payment.

2.    There is disagreement among scholars about whether the removal of price barriers is sufficient to achieve open access or whether, as is more commonly believed, the removal of permission barriers is also required.

3.    The open access movement partially succeeds, resulting in a mixed scholarly communication system that has elements of both traditional and open access publishing as it is found in libraries now.

Application/Implication of the new things I learned to my work/to me as a person:

Open Access came as a result of the development of new scholarly communication strategies that will function effectively in an environment where access is freely given to user/surfers. Of course, there are also prominent open access advocates who are librarians, and they bring to the table strong concerns with fundamental scholarly publishing issues.

Open access gives some of these benefits among numerous other ways according to Suber:

- You would own, not merely license, your own copies of electronic journals.

- You would have the right to archive them forever without special permission or periodic payments.

- Access and usage would not be limited by password, IP address, usage hours, institutional affiliation, and physical location. You would not have to authenticate users or administer proxy servers etc.