The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), spearheaded by the University Library (UL) under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA), conducted a hybrid training program titled, “Enhancing Academic Research: Orientation and Training on eResources.” This was held onsite at the Centennial Center for Digital Learning (CCDL) Auditorium at the UPOU Headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, and online via Zoom on 29 February 2024. The event aimed to assist UPOU faculty, staff members, and students to become more familiar with database subscription platforms, including Gale Research Complete, Wiley eBooks, EBSCO Research Databases, and Turnitin. Around 150 participants attended onsite and online consisted of students, faculty, and staff from the UPOU.
The seminar was divided into four training sessions. The morning sessions were hybrid and the afternoon sessions were held completely online via Zoom. To start the seminar, Ms. Nikhaela Valenciano, OVCAA Project Staff, introduced the first speaker, Mr. Darren D. Del Carmen, LPT, Customer Success Officer from CE-Logic. Mr. Del Carmen talked about “End-User Training for Gale Research Complete (GRC).” He mentioned that GRC provides subscription access to primary and secondary sources available at e-libraries today. He provided training about what the platform offers as he navigated through the site (www.gale.com), encouraging the participants to follow through. According to Mr. Del Carmen, GRC caters to both undergraduate and graduate students who are inclined towards research and innovation. The next speaker was Mr. Carlos L. Eclevia Jr., Senior Manager from Wiley Philippines who discussed and facilitated the “Wiley E-book Subscription User Training.” He presented different research libraries, journal collections, special collections, and other learning resources that the users can utilize as they steer through the site (www.wiley.com).
Mr. Ryan Carl Salas, Training Specialist at EBSCO Philippines started the afternoon session with “EBSCO End-User Training.” Similar to the first two platforms presented, Mr. Salas stated that EBSCO also offers reliable and credible resources for all kinds of research, providing academic institutions with essential information to ensure success for students, faculty, and staff. He guided the participants through their e-collections which include books and journals suitable for academic and institutional research that can be accessed through www.ebsco.com. The last speaker was Ms. Ninya Victorio-Buenabajo who led the “Turnitin Feedback Studio with Originality Instructor’s Workflow Training,” by which she elaborated on how to interpret Turnitin similarity reports from academic and non-academic works. She also instructed the participants on how task expectations affect the overall similarity score percentage.
The seminar closed with the presentation of certificates of appreciation for the speaker for their effort and knowledge which they shared with everyone.
Through this initiative, the University Library was able to contribute to the fulfillment of its mission to provide online e-library resources that meet the information needs of the UPOU faculty, staff, and students of the UPOU wherever these individuals are located; and provide information service to UPOU constituents that is responsive and innovative.
Written by Dianne Cosinas ♦ Edited by Myra C. Almodiel, Joel Ocier, and Anna Cañas-Llamas
#UPOpenUniversity
