The Department of Science and Technology-Science and Technology Information Institute (DOST-STII) is set to incorporate the Filipiniana digital collection “Virtual Sentro Rizal” into the existing digital science library project called Science and Technology Academic Research-based Openly Operated Kiosks (STARBOOKS).

“Virtual Sentro Rizal” is a project of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) and is a multilingual collection of selected Filipiniana references initially distributed in DVD format.

It was originally created for the cultural education of Filipino children abroad, including those whose parents are OFWs, and was distributed to at least 42 Philippine-managed schools abroad.

CFO added more material into the Virtual Sentro Rizal that it is now stored in an external hard drive.

Among its contents are photos, videos, and text related to Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, resources on Filipino values, arnis, traditional dances, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, churches, geography, environment, and climate change.

According to Alan Taule, chief of DOST-STII information resources and analysis division, the integration of the material to STARBOOK should address the perceived lack of nationalism among Filipino scientists. He added that the DOST aims to inculcate “a sense of nationalism among them – that they should serve first the country and its people.”

“Our objective is for the scientists to be more knowledgeable about culture and the arts and for our artists to appreciate the hard work being done by our Filipino scientists and researchers. It’s going to be a win-win solution,” Taule said in a statement.

Meanwhile, more materials have been added into, and has thus been renamed SuperSTARBOOKS.

It now includes full-length livelihood videos from the former Technology Resource Center, scientists’ profiles, DOST publications, Science: Cool Facts, significant dates in Philippine science history, and new science articles