Philippine Journal of Librarianship and Information Studies

When More Information is Not Enough

Kathleen Lourdes B. Obille — 2025-06-01

With the developments in information and communications technologies and social media, more information is available for people, more platforms enable them to access and share information, and consequently transforming the public sphere. These developments should have resulted in better information use and decision making especially during the 2022 and 2025 Philippine national elections where the campaign events were mostly conducted online. However, misinformation, disinformation, echo chambers, algorithmic sorting and targeting led to more confusion, outweighing the benefits of social media and ICT developments. Librarians and information professionals are positioned to raise awareness about these concerns and help individuals navigate the complexities of information environments. Aside from providing access to information, understanding the information practices of individuals and communities will give them the tools to better help the people to survive an avalanche of information.

The Theory-Practice Gap Link

Amy VanScoy — 2025-06-01

It is particularly meaningful to revisit this issue in the context of the Gabriel Adriano Bernardo Memorial Lecture. Bernardo, often described as the doyen of Philippine librarianship, was known for his “burning passion for the ideals and accomplishments of scholarship” (Vallejo, 2007, p. 3). His career reflects a model of librarianship in which scholarship and practice are not opposing domains but mutually reinforcing pursuits. As both a librarian and a scholar, Bernardo exemplified a professional identity that complicates the very notion of a divide between theory and practice.

Information Practices of Feminist Activists on Social Media

Stacy Gabriele Ponciano — 2025-06-01

This systematic literature review synthesizes 20 peer-reviewed studies published between 2016 and 2025 to map the information practices of feminist activists on social media. Guided by the PRISMA 2020 framework, the review identifies information sharing as the core practice, expressed across seven interrelated dimensions: mobilization and organizing, framing and resistance, storytelling and visibility, emotional and affective labor, disruption and activist tactics, education and awareness, and debate and argumentation. While most studies emphasize information dissemination, other crucial information practices (such as information seeking, organization, and verification) remain underexplored. Future research should address these gaps and broaden both geographic and platform scope to more fully capture the diverse information practices that shape feminist digital activism.

Open Relationships, Open Minds

Precious Eve Ferrer — 2025-06-01

The visibility and acceptance of diverse relationship structures, particularly open relationships within consensual non-monogamy (CNM), have increased in recent years. Despite this shift, CNM remains under-researched and continues to face distinct social, emotional, and logistical challenges. This study explores the information experiences of individuals in open relationships in the Philippines, focusing on how they seek, share, and manage information, as well as its influence on their life decisions. Using a multi-method ethnographic approach, including semi-structured interviews and netnographic observations from Reddit, the study identifies four key themes: information needs, resources, challenges, and information management practices. Findings underscore the importance of contextualized and accessible information in addressing these challenges and supporting individuals in CNM relationships. The study highlights the need to consider broader social, cultural, and structural factors in designing inclusive support systems, and emphasizes the value of fostering open dialogue and nonjudgmental spaces.

Mapping Resource Allocation Patterns

Alessandra Guimba — 2025-06-01

As higher education evolves, academic libraries must adapt to meet the growing demand for curated resources and services, requiring libraries to adapt to new academic paradigms. In the Philippines, state universities and colleges (SUCs) require subscription-based online resources to support these changes. This study underscores Wang and Chan’s Theory of Instinctive Information Sharing in the context of libraries, specifically towards the allocation of subscription-based online resources among SUCs. In order to facilitate this objective, conducting a needs analysis is essential to examine the current disposition of academic libraries. A research instrument was deployed to obtain the following variables: the population and programs offered by SUCs; the subscription pattern and identified needs for different online subscriptions across SUCs; and the utilization of identified library resources and services. Through a quantitative framework, the research collected data from 19 institutions among the 122 SUCs that were invited to participate. The survey instrument in the form of a questionnaire was created and disseminated through Google Forms.

Results of the study revealed that academic libraries are coping with the influences of information and communication technology particularly in sharing subscription-based online resources among state universities and colleges in the Philippines. More so, libraries are extending the scope of their collections to include subscription-based online resources. In conclusion, the succeeding assertions were underscored in the study to proactively support the information needs of its stakeholders: (1) prioritization of subscriptions relevant to the institution’s needs, (2) encourage collaborative initiatives for resource sharing, (3) secure additional funding from government agencies, and (4) increase patron familiarity with available resources through training and awareness programs.

Power/Knowledge, Intellectual Freedom and Censorship in Libraries

Nicole Zulueta — 2025-06-01

This article examines censorship and intellectual freedom in libraries through Foucault’s concept of knowledge/power and discourse. Foucault recognizes libraries as one of the institutions that control discourse. Discourse is controlled if certain resources are censored, which inhibits intellectual freedom. The paper discusses the role of various agencies and individuals in library collection development to show how power/knowledge dynamics play out in libraries. To better understand the local context, the movements by government agencies to censor certain materials from circulation in the Philippines were discussed. Censorship poses implications for the knowledge that library users can discover in the library. The library, librarian, library users, library collection, and other institutions or agencies have varying degrees of power over discourse and, at the same time, the knowledge that they hold implies that power. A comprehensive intellectual freedom policy for libraries is recommended to help balance power/knowledge dynamics in libraries.

Cover

phjlis phjlis — 2025-06-01

Staff Box

phjlis phjlis — 2025-06-01