Learning is a worthwhile experience especially when it is packaged in so many exciting ways. Today, avid learners do not just settle in a typical classroom setting, rather, they are engaged in various educational tools such as reading materials, television, audio records and technology-based instruction methods. These channels of education hone their understanding, and ideas as they continue to seek enlightenment on the many “whys” and “hows” happening in the environment.

To concretize the use of S&T information and its relevance in the community, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST VI) through its Capiz Provincial Science and Technology Center (PSTC) is slated to dole out 35 units of Science & Technology Academic and Research-Based Openly-Operated Kiosks (STARBOOKS) for the implementation of the Grants-in-Aid project dubbed as the “Establishment of STARBOOKS in the Province of Capiz”.

Developed by the DOST – Science and Technology Information Institute (STII), the STARBOOKS is a home to science and technology learning instructions available in text, video and audio formats specially equipped for students, policymakers, teachers, professionals, researchers, public and private institutions and the general public. Resources are rooted from local and foreign linkages, subscriptions, archive collections, and publications.

The DOST-STII said that these standalone information kiosks are being installed with the aim to harness students’ potential in pursuing S&T careers and embarking on research and development (R&D). More importantly, these digitized educational tools ignite entrepreneurship skills and stimulate economic growth of the country.

Among of the unique features included in the STARBOOKS are videos entitled “Tamang DOSTkarte Livelihood Videos” which seek to motivate Filipinos’ entrepreneurial capacity, and the Britannica Ultimate Encyclopedia.

Trainings among library staff in the use and maintenance of the STARBOOKS facilities are likewise being conducted.

Currently, STARBOOKS has been installed in over hundred strategic locations in the country. Iloilo City, in particular, has three (3) sites for STARBOOKS to include the Philippine Science High School- Western Visayas Campus, Iloilo National High School and the Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT U).

For more information on STARBOOKS, log on to www. stii.dost.gov.ph or e-mail at starbooks@stii.dost.gov.ph (DOSTVI-LMLamasan*with reports from STII)