CURATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE THROUGH LIBRARIES

Libraries, museums and archives hold valuable collections in a variety of media, presenting a vast body of knowledge rooted in the history of human civilisation. These form the repository of the wisdom of great works by thinkers of past and the present. The holdings of these institutions are priceless heritage of the mankind as they preserve documents, ideas, and the oral and written records. To value the cultural heritage and to care for it as a treasure bequeathed to us by our ancestors is the major responsibility of libraries. The past records constitute a natural resource and are indispensable to the present generation as well as to the generations to come. Libraries preserve the documentary heritage resources for which they are primarily responsible. Any loss of such materials is simply irreplaceable. Therefore, preserving this intellectual, cultural heritage becomes not only the academic commitment but also the moral responsibility of the librarians/information scientists, who are in charge of these repositories. The high quality of the papers and the discussion represent the thinking and experience of experts in their particular fields. The contributed papers also relate to the methodology used in libraries in Asia to provide access to manuscripts and cultural heritage. The volume discusses best practices in Knowledge preservation and how to collaborate and preserve the culture. The book also deals with manuscript and archives issues in the digital era. The approach of this book is concise, comprehensively, covering all major aspects of preservation and conservation through libraries. The readership of the book is not just limited to library and information science professionals, but also for those involved in conservation, preservation, restoration or other related disciplines. The book will be useful for librarians, archivists and conservators. We thank the Sunan Kalijaga University, Special Libraries Association- Asian Chapter for their trust and their constant support, all the contributors for their submissions, the members of the Local and International Committee for their reviewing effort for making this publication possible

Stress between the shelves: A study of DLSU Libraries personnel’s “stress life”

Stress is not unique to those working in corporate settings. It can also be felt by those in the academe - the administrators and other members of the community, including librarians. The study aims to investigate the “stress life” the library personnel and identify factors which cause their strains. Respondents were all DLSU Libraries personnel who are with the department six months and more. An online survey ran for two (2) weeks to obtained data needed in the study. Frequency, mean, and regression analysis were employed to analyze the data gathered, Incorporating the mean rating of the stress level of all groups, the most stressed group is the 41-50 age bracket. However, the regression analysis yielded a non-significant relationship between stress level and demographic profile. According to the respondents, technology, time pressure and pressure at work stressed them the most, however, when asked to identify stressful instances, most of the responses are on work overload, management and co-workers and patrons. As stress is proven to affect the work, respondents have identified high absenteeism, poor decision making, and low job satisfaction, low morale, and low motivation as effects of stress in their workplace. To manage stress, most of the respondents pray, listen to music, and travel or take a vacation. Finally, the respondents suggested some activities and action for the library administration to help them manage and relieve their stress. The findings of the study suggest that stress is not isolated in any group of personnel. Stress level is manageable as implied by both the highest group means stress level and the group as a whole. This study recommends for (1) review of the Libraries KRAs to streamline projects and events to reduce work overload and pressure on the job, (2) regular dialogue, coffee session of some sorts with the personnel to learn about their situations and/ or frustrations in their work, (3) further study on stressor of librarians in different types of libraries

Transaction log analysis of OPAC searches in an academic library: Basis for OPAC interface improvement

This study aims to look at search patterns in the OPAC and determine the reasons for failure rates. With this study, interface design problems could be addressed and the users\u27 search behavior could be analyzed. Transaction log analysis (TLA) was used to examine search queries extracted from the system. Transaction logs are interactions registered electronically between online systems of information retrieval and the persons who search for information contained in the system. For this study, logs refer to the author, title, call number, keyword (Boolean), and subject queries submitted to the library’s OPAC. Errors were identified and coded to determine reasons of failure rates. Search patterns were also analyzed by examining the search strings submitted to the system. Simulated searching was also performed (as deemed necessary) to dig further into the reasons why some queries resulted to zero retrievals. For this study, the data used was limited to logs collected for a period of 35 days as this is the maximum extent of logs the system can keep/store. A total of 244,456 search logs submitted to the system. Results showed that users are oblivious of search limiters and that their manner of searching for items in the OPAC is the same as how they would usually conduct their searches using the Google search box; and presumably expect that the OPAC will return results similar to that of Google

RESOURCE DESCRIPTION AND ORGANIZATION: THE CASE OF AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY IN THE PHILIPPINES [ARTICLE]

Organization of information resources is one of the basic business processes carried out by libraries and archives. Such allows users to effectively and efficiently navigate the system to generate relevant search results. Data production usually follows international standards (e.g., MARC (machine-readable cataloging), AACR (American Cataloguing Rules), or RDA (Resource Description and Access)), to make it easy to exchange records between systems. This study investigated the experiences of an academic library in the Philippines in organizing and describing information sources, particularly its journey towards transitioning from AACR2 to RDA. The development of its institutional repository is likewise discussed, recounting the initiatives, strategies, and challenges encountered along the way. The case study design was used, with data gathered from firsthand experiences, interviews, and document analysis. Recommendations are forwarded to help direct policies and encourage support and participation from stakeholder