PTLA SEMINAR AND WORKSHOP

PTLA SEMINAR AND WORKSHOP
October 26-28, 2009

The three-day PTLA Seminar and Workshop was held on October 26-28, 2009 at Angel’s Hills Retreat, Tagaytay, Philippines. The seminar was attended by 30 librarians of the Philippine Theological Association from various places of the country. This year, Ms. Martha Smalley, Special Collections Librarian and Curator of the Day Mission Collection of Yale University, was the key note speaker. Given the increasing awareness in the area of archiving, the seminar focused on the theme: “Theological Library and Archive in a Changing Environment.”!

Day 1 (October 26)
Objective for the Day: “Learning to be archivist.”
In general, the objective of the whole seminar includes: (1) For administrative reasons, (2) Historical reasons, and (3) Theological reasons.
The lecture series consist of the Purpose of Archive, What to Pre-
serve, Preserving and Safeguarding Records and collections, Facing
the Challenges, Importance of Records Management. Product demo
(Info-Ed). Four (4) Modular course (MARC format) were conducted: Cataloguing, Circulation, Inventory, and Reports

After lunch break, Ms. Smalley discussed the following topics:
What is archiving? (Definition)
Types of collection
Collection development of policy and usage
--Practical exercises pertaining to sorting and prioritizing records were applied. Acquisition—obtaining materials into the repository
acquisition registration, procedures in accepting records, record
Keeping. Appraisal--determination or deciding exactly what to keep is
based on the following conditions:
Primary value – functional use of the records to the person or
agency that created them
Secondary value – for research, now and in the future
Archival value – how do they fit into the context
Arrangement and Description – increasing standardization in the
archival field.
Concept of “Provenance”—more applicable to organizations rather for
personal papers. Records should be kept intact as much as possible.
Steps in preserving the records were enumerated as well as
preparing the finding aid.

Product Demo—Electronic Information Solution Inc. by Axel Santillan

Day 2 (October 27)
The seminar began with praise and worship led by Maishel Lumaban; followed by opening prayer and Devotional led by Beth Pulanco and Beth Tabura, respectively. Speaker Martha Smalley continued her lectures and began by providing exercises on categorizing the different documents distributed. Thus, in today’s topics composed of:
Categorizing documents based on the following order. Another appli-
cation exercises were conducted.
Preserving archives and electronic records. Things to consider are
the (1) the building, (2) climate control, (3) pets control, (4) water
protection, (5) fire protection, (6) general list reduction, (7) disaster
preparedness, (8) preservation actions.

Question and Answer portion was opened to participants. This provided
provided an opportunity to encourage feedbacks and clarification regarding the lecture and other concerns. The group had photo shots.

Immediately after lunch break, the delegates went on tour to the Adventist International Institute of Advance Studies.

Day 3 (October 28)
Ms. Martha Smalley’s lecture was focused on the archive manual she wrote entitled, “Rescuing the Memory of our People: Archives Manual.” In her introduction, Ms. Smalley stresses the laying foundation that surrounds the archive field and its importance in forming our identity and in reminding us of our past story. Part of its objective is to provide valuable research resources for publications, activities, information to researchers and other interested individuals and community. She believes that it is the duty and responsibility of the archivists to collect and preserve significant historical records of the church, organizations, or persons so that history will be known to future generations.

Ms. Smalley proceeded in lecturing and explaining her archive manual which enhanced and strengthened the previous discussions. Additional activity included seminar on “Digitization”--why it is important, how to digitize and store materials and other related topics were tackled.

Overwhelmed by greater task ahead, the question that challenged the group is the actual commitment from the leaders of the organization to develop and maintain an archival program, including financial and staff support. During this time, participants shared their experiences, goals, and plans in establishing an archive collection in their respective schools.

The afternoon session was handled by Ms. Susima Gonzales, former Chairperson Board for Librarians. She presented and discussed issues about Continuing Professional Education.

The PTA seminar-workshop was concluded with announcements and giving of certificates. Due appreciation were given to PTLA officers and financial supporters, member schools, and to all Librarians for their commitment.


Reported by; Elizabeth Pulanco/ PTLA President