Perla Lena/Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — A total of 14 state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the country have received digital library services from the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center/Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD), which is celebrating its 46th founding anniversary.
The International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Center (IAMSLIC) Digital Fisheries Libraries contain over 26,000 publications that may be freely accessed by users through their laptops or smartphones.
The latest donation brings to 35 the number of SUCs in the country already using the digital library boxes, said Stephen Alayon, head of the Library and Data Banking Services Section of the SEAFDEC/AQD.
“We tried to spread it out in different regions and we appreciate the schools’ administrators and teachers who came here just to receive the library box,” he said in a press conference in Tigbauan, Iloilo on Friday.
The turnover was done in a ceremony held in SEAFDEC on Thursday.
Alayon added that the publications that they digitized are not only from the AQD but from other departments of SEAFDEC as well, such as the marine fisheries research department, marine fishery resources development and management department, and inland fishery resources and management department.
“It contains publication very important to Southeast Asia,” he said.
The donation also intends to supplement the limited library collections of SUCs.
“They were selected because most of them are offering BS (Bachelor of Science) in Fisheries program. Second is they send OJTs (on-the-job trainees) here for their summer OJT program,” Alayon said.
Aside from the digital libraries, the SEAFDEC also send printed copies of its publication to schools.
He said this year, they sent copies to more than 300 recipients, including senior high schools that offer Aquaculture NCII as a track.
The SEAFDEC, as a regional treaty organization, is mandated to promote sustainable fisheries development in Southeast Asia through research, training and information dissemination activities.
Its 11 member countries are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
