Bringing LRC closer to you!

It’s been a long time seen I last updated my blog (my last post was last July 4!), but I’m glad I now have this chance to add something to it (while checking students’ works, haha!). I know I’m supposed to update this regularly, but due to some works 🙂 I have to prioritize, I have no choice but to set it aside. 😦

But anyway, here’s my second (or 3rd) post! It’s about the latest services we’re offering at the Integrated Learning Resource Center!

Since last school year, we have been experimenting and trying introduce innovations to the XS community through our services. This time, we are attempting to offer “non-traditional” and “web 2.0ish” alternative services to our dear library users. (note: There’s definitely nothing wrong with traditional library resources and services)

To those who, for any reason, cannot visit us at the library physically, or to those who simply are not fond of visiting the library, here’s what we can offer to you. We would like to bring the library (note: not just plain Internet stuff) closer to you!

1. The OPAC

OPAC is an acronym for Online Public Access Catalog. In the past, however, our “OPAC” in the library could only be accessed through the “OPAC” stations near the circulation desk! It was like a standalone system, made accessible through 4 networked computers, inside the library.

This school year, the library is giving a more realistic reference to the term “OPAC”, by bringing the library’s bibliographic database “online”. It’s now available through the campus network.  This means that anyone who is in the campus (EED, Grade School, High School, and Central Admin), can make use of a computer connected to the school network, whether via cable or wi-fi, can search the library’s database. A student, teacher, or a staff, may now check the availability of a book, and reserve it if it’s on loan, through the online catalog. The database by the way, is already an integrated collection of all library holdings from the EED, GS and HS libraries.

To access the OPAC, just click the banner link at the Xavier School website or at the Xavier Libraries website.

2. The EBSCOhost Research Databases

I think it’s been three weeks or a month already since EBSCO Phils. granted us a 90-day free trial access to EBSCOhost Research Databases. So practically we only have two months or so left for the trial period.

Many college and graduate students must be familiar with EBSCO, since many academic libraries like in UP, DLSU, Ateneo and UST have this as part of their library collection. If it is your first time to know about it, then make a Google search now! haha!:-)

EBSCOhost is one of the most popular, if not the most popular research database provider in the world. Their subscribers include academic and research institutions like schools, universities and research centers worldwide. Their popularity among basic education institutions (grade school, high school), however, is not that evident, I must say, at least among local schools in the Philippines.  So if ever we decide to subscribe, we might be the first local school to fully make use of it. (Some international schools in the country subscribe to EBSCO.)

The common notion about EBSCO and other research databases that are commercially-available is that it’s only suited for higher educational institutions and research agencies due to the scope and depth of its content. Not many people (GS and HS teachers and librarians) know that EBSCO actually has a collection of databases dedicated to Grade School and High School library users – resources that students could actually refer to for their assignments, projects, researches and other school works.

So if you would like to try it, please visit the XSILRC website, then key in the username and password on the image banner of EBSCO. I hope that many students and teachers would try it and help us evaluate, after the 90-day trial period, if having an online research database like EBSCO would further provide the information needs of the school.

3. Khan Academy

Honestly, I have not really explored this video database. But just by looking at the list of video tutorials on Math, Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, Geometry, Statistics, History, I would say that this could be really useful for grade school and high school students, should they need to review concepts and processes in Science and Math. It even includes videos for SAT Math and GMAT preparations. You may also try the user-paced practice and instruction  using your Gmail and Facebook account.

4. Newspapers on DVD

The HS LRC has been making this resource available to students and teachers for years now. It is a collection of digitized articles from a national daily, Philippine Star. It’s actually a project of the Rizal Library at the Ateneo, which they distribute on DVD format every year.

Though not available either on local network or the Internet yet, this resource has been proven to be very useful to students doing research in the Library. Students find it easier and faster to retrieve needed news articles and features using the OPAC stations near the circulation counter. Researchers are able to save, email and print image files of the articles right on the same  desktop that they’re using. This is a big leap, I would say, if compared to the old practice of searching and retrieving news clippings in the print vertical files at the Library.

To know more about the Philippine Star database, just drop by the HS LRC Circulation Counter, or go directly to the 1st OPAC station to try it yourself. As of present, the latest collection we have is the 2008 database.