More students expected to benefit from DOST’s library-in-a-box
LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines-- The locally-developed educational tool called STARBOOKS has gained much interest in the province of Quezon after it was first installed in the province in 2014. After its installation, various private and public schools in Quezon requestedthis knowledge product from the Department of Science and Technology ‘s Science and Technology Information Institute (DOST-STII), the developer of STARBOOKS.
STARBOOKS or the Science and Technology Academic Research-Based Openly Operated Kiosk Station is a library-in-a-box for students in the elementary, high school and college students, as well as researchers, all over the country. It is a unique educational software containing science and technology informationinstalled in ordinary desktop computers with monitor and housed in an attractive pod or kiosk.
To cement the partnership of requesting schools and the DOST, a memorandum of understanding between DOST-STII, through the DOST Provincial S&T Center-Quezon headed by Director Maria Esperanza E. Jawili, and the different educational institutions in the province of Quezon was signed on April 13, 2016 at the Main Library Seminar Hall of the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation (MSEUF) in Lucena City.
This initiative is also in partnership with the Librarians Association of Quezon Province and Lucena Inc. (LA-QueP-LInc)that signals the start of a continuous search for more innovative learning systems that would allow easy access to S&T information for the benefit of students particularly in the provinces were internet connectivity is low or non-existent. The STARBOOKS is operated offline, thus enabling students and researchers to do their assignments and reports even without internet facility.
“The creation of the STARBOOKS aims to create interest in the field of science and technology which may increase the number of Filipinos enrolling in S&T courses, encourage great and curious minds to develop new ideas through inventions and innovations; and inspire one’s capacity for entrepreneurship and research. It is an innovative approach to level up learning experience and to promote science to value knowledge and education,” said Director Jamili.
STARBOOKS contains thousands of digitized materials covering topics such as agriculture, ICT, food and nutrition, engineering, basic science, geography, education, medicine, ICT and many others. It boasts of quality information on disaster preparedness, interactive courseware and videos for K to 12, news and publications, encyclopedia, library collections and livelihood videos.
“The municipal and school libraries of Quezon specifically in Mulanay, San Andres and Atimonan now have STARBOOKS through the initiative of DOST Region IV-A under the Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) Program,” added Director Jawili.
Jawili said that last April 29, 2015, eight schools, private and public, have been installed STARBOOKS that included among others the Quezon Provincial Library andLucena City Library. This was made possible through the efforts of the LA-QueP-LInc.
The schools present during the MOU signing, installation and training of librarians were as follows: Sacred Heart College, Holy Rosary Catholic School, Maryhill College, MSEUF-Catanauan Campus, MSEUF-Candelaria Campus, MSEUF-Main Library in Lucena City, the Philippine Polytechnic University (PUP) in Lopez, Quezon, MSEUF-Basic Education Department Library, Calayan Educational Foundation Inc. (CEFI), Atimonan Municipal Library, Luis Palad National High School, Quezon Provincial Library, Lucena City Library, St. Joseph Academy, Camflora NHS, and the PUP-Mulanay.
“We at LA-QueP-LIncare very pleased to be part of this STARBOOKS program of the DOST because this will definitely help our students in their researches and we look forward to having more of this kind of educational materials so that we will further improve the quality of our education here in the province of Quezon,” said LA-QueP-LInc president Eulalia G. Zapata, R.L. MAeD.
To date, the number of STARBOOKS installed in almost all regions in the country stands at 853. Some of these kiosks are now installed with the latest version with more livelihood videos from the former Technology Resource Center, thus providing more information on possible business enterprises that viewers can use to start earning.
STARBOOKS program aims to be all over the country and make it available to students and the general public in more cities and barrios. Soon to be launched is the Super STARBOOKS, a revitalized, more enhanced version with more content and videos. For those interested in STARBOOKS, they may contact the Science and Technology Information Institute at telephone numbers (02) 837-2191 to 95 or log on to www.science.ph for more details. (Rodolfo P. de Guzman, S&T Media Service)
