I have been meaning to post a list like this for a long time now. These are resources that I absolutely can't manage without:
A treasure trove of searchable documents from the American period, and earlier. Note that the search algorithm is unreliable, not to mention the OCR, so you need to take a guerilla approach. The site includes all of Blair & Robinson and almost all of the reports of the Philippine Commission. Indispensable for historians.
2. Google Books
Ok, this is kinda obvious but the fact remains that there are Philippine titles here that simply can't be found or accessed elsewhere. A few gems that I've discovered: Buzeta and Bravo's Diccionario Geográfico, Estadístico, Histórico de las Islas Filipinas, Vol I and Vol II, and rare works by Alonso de Méntrida and Juan Felix de la Encarnación. If you discover anything else that's cool, please let me know!
It's really not the most advanced dictionary but it's quick and easy. Best of all it searches Cebuano-Visayan, Tagalog and Hilagaynon-Visayan simultaneously and arranges output in columns.
A metasearcher that covers the major online library catalogues of the Philippines, including the National Library of the Philippines and UP.
5. LibraryLink
This is another catalogue metasearcher which includes more Philippine libraries than eLib but you can only search one library at a time.
A small but well managed library in Manila specialising in Spanish materials and not discoverable through metasearchers. If the Instituto Cervantes keeps it on their shelves, it's worth reading
7. National Archives (US)
If you can't find it at Michigan (above), try the National Archives. They will bust a gut looking for what you need and will send you a report of their efforts in the mail for free.
Holds the biggest depository of the Philippine materials outside the National Library of the Philippines. They even have a mimeographed copy of the H Otley Beyer collection, destroyed in the US bombing of Manila.
9. Scribd
An excellent document-sharing site and a great way to disseminate research. I've started a collection for Bohol studies here and another for Eskaya studies here.
10. Ethnologue
Lists of resources on languages of the Philippines with some wonderful maps. This is really for linguists and anthropologists, but it gives a good overall sense of the cultural diversity of the Philippines.
Biggest Time-Wasters
1. Augustinian Recollects
Apparently nobody told the Recollects that they no longer rule the islands. Believe it or not, these guys are sitting on one of the most important collections of unpublished digitised manuscripts covering the administration of Augustinian districts right up to the Revolution and after. Unfortunately you can't find them online but you need to go here:
81 Alondras St
Mira-nila Homes Tandang Sora, Quezon City UP P.O. Box 206 1101.
Tel. +6329512861
That's inside Mira-nila Subdivision which is inside Tierra Pura subdivision. Not far from UP, and just beyond Quezon Memorial Circle. Ask for Fr Emil Quilatan. You'll have to make an appointment and you'll be kicked out after a couple of hours. Documents can be printed on request for a small fee and your bag will be officiously inspected on the way out.
Another archive with amazing material including fiction in Cebuano from the early 20th century. It's not exactly open to the public and the librarians are suspicious of visitors. And God help you if you want a copy of anything. Here's hoping the proposed Boholano Studies Center at HNU fares better.
An ambitious site that aims to gather "the most important and significant documents and artifacts on Philippine Studies and makes them available on the Internet for free". It's nowhere near achieving that goal yet and is cluttered with useless external links and summaries of texts rather than the real deal. Worth checking on from time to time, just to see what's new.
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