| CONTACT: |
| Supreme Court of the Philippines Library Services, Padre Faura, Ermita, Manila, Philippines 1000 |
| (632) 8524-2706 |
| libraryservices.sc@judiciary.gov.ph |
History of the E-Library
Mission
To provide in a timely, accurate and comprehensive manner the information needs of Justices and Judges in the Philippine Judiciary.
Vision
To establish a world-class law library, maintaining the highest standards of service, using information technology to deliver instantaneously legal materials to Justices and Judges in the Philippine Judiciary.
History
There is no available material to trace the history of the Supreme Court Library except the Rules and Regulations of the Supreme Court Library of September 19, 1936 (Minutes of September 19, 1936) published in 59 Philippine Reports xxxviii (1937).These 1936 rules were revised in a resolution of the Court En Banc dated May 19, 1990.
The Supreme Court Library is a network of libraries. The Main Library is housed at the first floor of the New Supreme Court, Padre Faura, Manila. Twenty nine (29) mini libraries are distributed in the four (4) Supreme Court buildings in Manila, one building in Baguio and another at the Philippine Judicial Academy in Tagaytay City. As of December 31, 2004 this network has a total collection of 84,984 volumes.
A second network of libraries was created in 1991 for lower courts by Chief Justice Marcelo B. Fernan upon the request of the executive judges. Before this, the lower court libraries were only in Cebu and Tacloban. To date, there are seventy-five (75) lower court libraries. The Rules and Regulations of Court Libraries were promulgated on August 12, 2002, under Administrative Circular No. 37-2002.
The computerization of the Supreme Court Library started in 1991 when the Library acquired two personal computers. In 1994, two library items were reclassified to allow hiring of library staff with computer science degrees or capabilities. Chief Justice Andres Narvasa approved in 1997 the purchase of the first LAN of four Macintosh computers and Claris software. With these two developments, the Library was able to encode its card catalog and inventory of the collection of the Supreme Court Library and of lower courts. Also encoded were the different indexes of the Official Gazette, Supreme Court decisions, Philippine legal periodicals and the Newspaper collection.
The full-text search of the digitized decisions and laws started in 2004 with the E-Library Project. Funding came from a World Bank loan. The E-Library was established in April 2004 when the Library and Printing Committee was reactivated with Justice Antonio T. Carpio as Chairman and Justice Conchita C. Morales as Co-Chair.
The E-LIBRARY is the primary research tool in the speedy delivery of justice. It serves the entire Judiciary - the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, Regional Trial Courts, Metropolitan Trial Courts and Municipal Trial Courts, and Shari'a Courts.
The non-searchable E-Library services extend to the following:
1. members of the bench and the bar;
2. government officials and employees;
3. representatives of the diplomatic corps;
4. other persons engaged in legal research.
Borrowing privileges are limited to the officials and employees of the Supreme Court and the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. Other authorized users are entitled to use the resources of the Library only within the library premises.
The physical Supreme Court Library is open 8:00-12:00 am, 1:00-4:30 pm, Mondays to Fridays.
To provide in a timely, accurate and comprehensive manner the information needs of Justices and Judges in the Philippine Judiciary.
Vision
To establish a world-class law library, maintaining the highest standards of service, using information technology to deliver instantaneously legal materials to Justices and Judges in the Philippine Judiciary.
History
There is no available material to trace the history of the Supreme Court Library except the Rules and Regulations of the Supreme Court Library of September 19, 1936 (Minutes of September 19, 1936) published in 59 Philippine Reports xxxviii (1937).These 1936 rules were revised in a resolution of the Court En Banc dated May 19, 1990.
The Supreme Court Library is a network of libraries. The Main Library is housed at the first floor of the New Supreme Court, Padre Faura, Manila. Twenty nine (29) mini libraries are distributed in the four (4) Supreme Court buildings in Manila, one building in Baguio and another at the Philippine Judicial Academy in Tagaytay City. As of December 31, 2004 this network has a total collection of 84,984 volumes.
A second network of libraries was created in 1991 for lower courts by Chief Justice Marcelo B. Fernan upon the request of the executive judges. Before this, the lower court libraries were only in Cebu and Tacloban. To date, there are seventy-five (75) lower court libraries. The Rules and Regulations of Court Libraries were promulgated on August 12, 2002, under Administrative Circular No. 37-2002.
The computerization of the Supreme Court Library started in 1991 when the Library acquired two personal computers. In 1994, two library items were reclassified to allow hiring of library staff with computer science degrees or capabilities. Chief Justice Andres Narvasa approved in 1997 the purchase of the first LAN of four Macintosh computers and Claris software. With these two developments, the Library was able to encode its card catalog and inventory of the collection of the Supreme Court Library and of lower courts. Also encoded were the different indexes of the Official Gazette, Supreme Court decisions, Philippine legal periodicals and the Newspaper collection.
The full-text search of the digitized decisions and laws started in 2004 with the E-Library Project. Funding came from a World Bank loan. The E-Library was established in April 2004 when the Library and Printing Committee was reactivated with Justice Antonio T. Carpio as Chairman and Justice Conchita C. Morales as Co-Chair.
The E-LIBRARY is the primary research tool in the speedy delivery of justice. It serves the entire Judiciary - the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, Regional Trial Courts, Metropolitan Trial Courts and Municipal Trial Courts, and Shari'a Courts.
The non-searchable E-Library services extend to the following:
1. members of the bench and the bar;
2. government officials and employees;
3. representatives of the diplomatic corps;
4. other persons engaged in legal research.
Borrowing privileges are limited to the officials and employees of the Supreme Court and the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. Other authorized users are entitled to use the resources of the Library only within the library premises.
The physical Supreme Court Library is open 8:00-12:00 am, 1:00-4:30 pm, Mondays to Fridays.