DLSU Libraries and PNULISAA Hold the Conference on Library and Information Science Studies (CLIS) 2020 Online
The very first Conference on Library and Information Science Studies (CLIS), jointly organized by the DLSU Libraries and the Philippine Normal University Library and Information Science Alumni Association, Inc. (PNULISAA), in partnership with CE-Logic and C&E Publishing, was held online on July 2-3, 2020. The conference envisions to: (1) Foster a culture of research among Filipino librarians; (2) Advocate research mentoring between expert and neophyte librarian researchers; (3) Encourage novice librarians to embrace research as part of their professional practice; and, (4) Promote research collaboration among librarians from different institutions.
The conference is the brainchild of the Library Management Committee (LMC) of the DLSU Libraries and was initially meant to develop a culture of research among its librarians and serve as a venue where completed research may be disseminated, initially, among the LMC members. To help spread the research culture among Filipino librarians, the Libraries sought the help of PNULISAA, being one of its most trusted partner to assist in providing a venue for practicing librarians to hone their research skills through mentorship, research collaboration, and offer them with opportunities to share and disseminate results of completed research, initially through paper presentations and ultimately through publications either in national or international journals.
Transforming Library Spaces is this year’s conference theme, which pointed out the importance of informal learning spaces and how today’s libraries are responding to the needs of the learners by reinventing library spaces, which now transcends beyond physical spaces and incorporates virtual/digital spaces.
No less than Mr. Joseph M. Yap, Expert-Reference Manager of Nazarbayev University Library in Kazakhstan, delivered the keynote address on the fist day of the conference. In his speech, Mr. Yap highlighted the research works of Filipino librarians and their contributions to the profession and the library and information science literature. He also helped inspire the participants by sharing his personal journey in conducting research and urged librarians to start doing research.
On the second day of the conference, Ms. Christine Abrigo, Director of the DLSU Libraries, gave the keynote address and discussed the library as a learning space and place. She emphasized the role of libraries in creating and reinventing spaces that support teaching and learning. She also talked about librarians as a go-to place whose go-to roles include bringing the library to the learning community and being part of the knowledge process through collaboration.
Overall, a total of ten paper presentations were featured in the conference covering local studies on space utilization, informal and formal learning spaces, reinventing spaces and the like. Some presentations provided systematic reviews and conceptual analysis related providing a more comprehensive and global perspective on the theme.
Judging from the number of librarians who participated (more than 500), the conference is regarded a big success.