Cotabato City – The Notre Dame Village National High school had received a software package of STARBOOKS or Science and Technology Academic Research based Openly Operated Kiosks Station last June 5, 2019. The Memorandum of Understanding for the project was signed at the school’s ICT room by Minister Aida M. Silongan of MOST-BARMM, Principal Yusoph Tong G. Amino of NDVHS, and the Assistant Principal respectively.
The STARBOOKS’ software was installed and run to fifty (50) computers in the ICT room before the MOU signing. The software was tested by several teachers and students who are present on the said activity.
Principal Amino thanked the ministry for providing them a software package that will help on enhancing the knowledge and skills of students. Minister Silongan also emphasized during her opening message that the Ministry of Science and Technology will continue to deploy more STARBOOKS software and kiosk to other schools in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that the past administration had done. As Cotabato City is now a part of BARMM, the minister also addressed that the city will surely benefit from the programs and projects of the new administration.
In BARMM region, NDVHS is the first school in Cotabato City as the recipient of STARBOOKS’ software.
Specifically, STARBOOKS features books, magazines, journals, scientific and research papers, “TamangDOSTkarte” livelihood videos, and Britannica Ultimate Encyclopedia, covering topics on food and nutrition, health and medicine, energy, environment, livelihood technologies, among others.
STARBOOKS is one of DOST’s strategies in making science and technology information accessible and available to citizens, especially those in the countryside. The package (computer set, software, and kiosk) is free for selected beneficiary institutions, LGUs, schools, NGO’s.
Digital library “library-in-a-box” does not need internet connection in order to access the vast array of science and technology information, hundreds of thousands of titles of digitized journals, serial publications, reference materials, annual reports, theses, dissertations, science projects, livelihood videos.. .and much more. All these can be availed of through STARBOOKS, a user-friendly, stand-alone digital library of science and technology materials in text, video, and audio formats.
STARBOOKS was awarded the American Library Association (ALA) Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library Projects last June 29, 2015, at the San Francisco Library in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. According to ALA, STARBOOKS was acknowledged for “making science and technology materials available to the general public in remote areas that have few information resources, no libraries, and little or no Internet connectivity.