Dr. Isagan Medina

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ISAGANI R.

MEDINA (1930 – 2004)

- Historian, librarian, bibliographer, archivist, linguist, and writer

- He obtained his AB in Library Science (1953) and a PhD in History


(1985) from the University of the Philippines. He also had and MA in
Library Science (1964) from the University of Michigan, took a
Course in Archival Management from Columbia University School of
Library Service (1965), and received a Certificate in Modern
Archives Administration (1965) from the Center for Technology and
Administration, American University, USA

- In 2001, he was awarded the Dangal ng Haraya (Lifetime


Achievement Award) in Cultural Research by the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts
ISAGANI R. MEDINA
- Wrote the book entitled Collection building: Filipiniana compiled by Mirana
R. Medina to bring together Dr. Medina’s lifetime vision of identifying,
acquiring and organizing Filipiniana materials
- Handled Filipiniana for 16 years (14 years at UP Library Filipiniana Section &
2 years at the NLP Rare Books and Manuscript Collections.
- The following works are proof s of his lifelong love affair with
anything Filipiniana and these are useful in finding sources of
information about the Philippines.
• Index to Ilustracion Filipina: An Author and Subject Index, March 1859-
December 1860
• Filipiniana Materials in the Worcester Collection, University of Michigan
Library
• Filipiniana Source Materials Abroad: A Preliminary Bibliography Prepared
as Suggested Readings and Guides to Exercise 5 in Library Science 233
(Filipiniana) University of the Philippines, Institute of Library Science
• A Guide to the Philippine Materials in the Filipiniana Division of the
National Library
• Philippine Items in Leon Pinelo-Barcia’s Epitome, 1629 and 1737-38
Editions: A Bibliographical Study
• Index to the Epistolario Rizalino (1877-1896)
• Code index [to Quezon Papers]
• American Logbooks and Journals in Salem, Massachusetts, on the
Philippines, 1796-1894
• Filipiniana Materials in the National Library
The following are the institutions, archives, and libraries here and
abroad where Dr. Medina spent his time to do research and cull sources
of bibliographic information that helped enrich the Filipiniana
collection:
• Biblioteca Nacional, Archivo Historico Nacional, Museo Naval (Ministerio de
Marina), Archivo del Servicio Historico Militar, Archivo Franciscano Ibero-
Oriental, and Archivo de la Direccion General de la Guardia Civil in Madrid,
Spain
• Archivo de la Provincia de San Nicolas de Tolentino (Augustinian Recollect
Archives) in Marcilla, Navarra, Spain
• Archives of the Generalate of the Order of the Augustinian Recollects,
Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, Archivum
Romanum Societatis Iesu, and Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana in Rome, Italy
• Bibliotheque Nationale, Departement des Manuscrits in Paris, France
• Archivo General de la Nacion, Centro de Estudios de Historia de Mexico
Condumex, and Universidad Ibero-Americana in Mexico City, Mexico
• Archives Department and Mauritius Institute in Port Louis
• Carnegie Library in Curepipe, Mauritius Island
• US Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division, and the US National Archives
and Records Service in Washington, DC
• Harvard University Archives and Museum
• University of Michigan Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston Athenaeum, Boston Public Library,
and Boston College
• Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts
• New York Public Library and Columbia University Library
• University of Texas, San Antonio Public Library, Southern Methodist University
• Military Records at Alexandria, Virginia, USA
• Toronto Public Library and University of Toronto Library in Canada
• National Archives of the Philippines
• National Library of the Philippines
• National Historical Institute
• University of the Philippines Library
• Archdiocese of Manila Archives and Library
• Dominican Provincial Archives
• UST Archives and Library
• Ateneo de Manila University Library
• Lopez Memorial Museum
ISAGANI R. MEDINA
- It is no wonder that Dr. Isagani became so much involved in Filipiniana during
his lifetime
- He loved to read, write, research, and collect Filipiniana materials – book or
nonbook
- It was his love for books that led him to pursue the study of library science, and
be an authority on Filipiniana
Gani Medina: Sa Mundo ng Filipiniana
– a research paper by Ira S. Buenrostro (MLS, UP)
- Written if Filipino, it traces the birth of Gani Medina on April 20, 1930, his
education and training, his work as a librarian and as a teacher, both in the
library science and history, his many travels, the many awards he received and
the many works he wrote and published on Philippine culture, local history,
linguistics, library history, printing history, genealogy biography, and even
medical history.
ISAGANI R. MEDINA
- Most significant of his many works is the Filipiniana Materials in the National
Library (1971), the catalog of the Tabaclera Collection – the biggest Filipiniana
collection in the National Library of the Philippines
- When he received his doctor’s degree in History in 1985, he traced the origin of
the term Filipiniana. The earliest on record is the use of the word Philippina in
1882 by Ferdinand Blumentritt, a close friend of Dr. Jose Rizal. It was followed by
1892 when Wenceslao Emilio Retana, one of the triumvirate of the Philippine
bibliography, used Filipina in 1892 for materials about the Philippines. James
Alexander Robertson, the first director of the National Library, used the word
Philippina in 1908.
- Rizal corresponded with Blumentritt decrying the fact that Filipinos had to go
abroad to verify certain facts about our country because we did not have the
materials in our own country.
ISAGANI R. MEDINA
- Rizal wrote on April 13, 1887:
- It is not sad…that we have to learn from a foreigner about ourselves?... and
when everything in our country has been destroyed and when we wish to verify
the historical accuracy of certain facts we shall have to come to Germany to
search for these facts in German museums and books…
- This is reminiscent of the rebuke of Retana who said, Where are the people who
aspire to be free but need a foreigner to make its national bibliography?
- In answer to this apparent insult, Prof. Gabriel A. Bernardo (UP University
Librarian) started compiling the national bibliography of the Philippines, and he
produced 2 bibliographies both published after his death in 1962.
a. Bibliography of Philippine Bibliographies, 1523-1961 (1968)
b. Philippine Retrospective National Bibliography, 1523-1699 (1974)
ISAGANI R. MEDINA
- In his paper “The Filipinization of Library Services: A Change for National
Development” (1971), he stated that Filipiniana is giving the utmost and
relevant library service for the great mass of our people, to all Filipinos who
would want to help in uplifting their lot for national democratic progress in all
fields of endeavor – the social sciences, the humanities and science and
technology.
- In his “The Role of Librarians in Local History” (1977), he expounded on how
local librarians can successfully transmit a meaningful Filipinized library service
by acquiring and organizing local history materials in the library, by being a
teacher and a research guide in the use of local history materials, and in
preserving these materials, etc.
- His papers were mostly delivered as lectures in seminars, conferences,
classrooms, etc., from 1962-1996.
ISAGANI R. MEDINA
- In his “Book Publishing in the Philippines” (1971), The Spanish religious
introduced printing in the Philippines and produced religious materials to
Christianize the natives but Medina said that the grammars and vocabularies
were printed not for the use of the natives but for the religious who had to
learn the local dialects to preach to the natives, instead of the natives learning
for Spanish language.
- In his “The Role of Librarians in Local History” (1977), he expounded on how
local librarians can successfully transmit a meaningful Filipinized library service
by acquiring and organizing local history materials in the library, by being a
teacher and a research guide in the use of local history materials, and in
preserving these materials, etc.
- His papers were mostly delivered as lectures in seminars, conferences,
classrooms, etc., from 1962-1996.
ISAGANI R. MEDINA
- In 1965, Dr. Serafin D. Quiason, director of the National Library, and Ms.
Marina G. Dayrit, university librarian of the University of the Philippines,
visited places where Filipiniana collections are believed to be located – the
United States, Spain, Mexico, Japan, and Taiwan. In 1967, visits were made to
Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, France, Holland, and the British Isles. A total of 84
Filipiniana locations were identified, fifty of which had materials already found
in the UP Library, while 20 have more extensive collections.

- Dr. Domingo Abella reported on the Filipiniana collections he visited in Spain,


Portugal, Italy, the British Isles, the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Japan, and
China in 1951 – 1952. He discussed 35 collections, describing them in detail in a
monograph, Filipiniana Treasures in Repositories Abroad (1959)
ISAGANI R. MEDINA
- Since travels to foreign libraries are not always possible, one can use the
bibliographies that list the collections of some foreign libraries such as the:
• Updated Checklist of Valladolid (1973) by F. Isacio R. Rodriguez, O.S.A.
(1976)
• Retana’s Aparato Bibliografico de la historia de Filipinas (1906)
• Jose Toribio Medina’s La Imprenta en Manila desde sus origines hasta
1810
• Regalado Trota Jose’s Impresso: Philippine Imprints, 1593-1811 (1993)
• Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera’s Biblioteca Filipinas (1903)
ISAGANI R. MEDINA
- Filipiniana materials from unfamiliar sources:

• One of these is the description of the first colonial bibliography, the


Epitome de la Biblioteca Oriental i Occidental, Nautica i Geografica
(1969) compiled by Antonio Rodriguez de Leon Pinelo, the first
bibliographer of the Americas. This bibliography, the first to contain
Filipiniana, influenced the works of Spanish, Italian, and French
bibliographers. Because the bibliography was very useful, Andres
Gonzales de Barcia y Zuñiga decided to annotate it and enlarged it into
three folio volumes.

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