The Philippine Online Chronicles

Filipiniana.net (Filnet), the premiere digital library of the Philippines, has been relaunched with new features that make the website more interactive, dynamic and current.

Filnet 3.0 now sports a brand-new and more user-friendly interface that allows readers to more easily navigate the hundred-plus documents in its twelve main collections containing primary sources on Philippine studies ranging from the Spanish colonial era to the present.

Filnet 3.0 also has improved search functionality, as the documents and artifacts in each of its collections can now be browsed according to author, title, date published and date posted.

The redeveloped website—boasting a fresh and hip design—was launched last October 1.

Two new sections particularly highlight Filnet’s move to become more than just a repository of historical materials, and function more like an offline library that presents, distributes and solicits material from its users.

Filnet Recommends features reviews of contemporary books penned by Filipinos, as well as other noteworthy books written by foreign authors about the Philippines.

The Featured Article section, in turn, presents scholarly articles, both old and new, written about Philippine history, culture, religion, literature, science, economy, society, and/or government.

Both sections are open to submissions.

As the redevelopment of Filnet continues, an annotations tool will be incorporated in the user interface so that readers can write notes and commentary on the texts, as well as view and build upon those done by other users or the Filipiniana.net staff.

Moreover, while readers can continue to browse Filnet documents using the website’s improved HTML interface, they can also avail of select titles, such as Francisco Baltazar‘s Florante at Laura and Modesto de Castro‘s Urbana at Feliza, as electronic books (e-books). These e-books, repackaged in enhanced editions with supplementary materials, are sold in EPUB and MOBI formats at the Apple iBookstore and Amazon.com by Vee Press, the Philippines’ first digital publisher. Users can easily identify which titles have e-book versions by checking for e-book cover thumbnails and links to the Vee Press website on each document’s full text page.

The Filnet Image Database—comprised of over 400 rare and historical photographs, prints and postcards from the Spanish era to World War II—will also be relaunched.

Readers can keep track of all the new and upcoming changes to Filipiniana.net by connecting with its social networking accounts on Facebook and Twitter.

Filipiniana.net, Vee Press, E-Turo.org, WikiPilipinas and The Philippine Online Chronicles are projects of Vibal Foundation, Inc., the corporate social responsibility arm of Vibal Publishing House, Inc.