The Supreme Court E-Library: Asia’s first full-text searchable legal library—built in-house with FOSS, DTSearch, and zero outsourcing.
Timeline:
March 2005 – 2010
Status:
Active
Role:
Full Stack Developer | Systems Architect | Solo In-House Developer
Project Summary:
In March 2005, I joined the Supreme Court of the Philippines and was entrusted with building what would become a landmark project in judicial innovation: the Supreme Court E-Library. Spearheaded under the leadership of Justice Antonio T. Carpio, the E-Library became the first-ever full-text, fully searchable online legal library in Asia—a pioneering step in digital legal research not only in the Philippines but across the region.
This was my first full stack project, and where I cut my teeth in software development, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), and solo in-house development. With no external vendors, everything—from backend systems and search indexing to interface and deployment—was built in-house. The initial version went live in January 2006, less than a year into development, and was actively showcased across the country.
Project Evolution & Tech Stack:
- Version 1 (2005–2006):
- ASP, MS Access, IIS, Windows Server 2000, DTSearch
- Quickly built and deployed with Microsoft technologies. Integrated DTSearch to enable advanced full-text search across a growing corpus of digitized legal documents.
- Version 2 (2006–2007):
- Custom PHP, MySQL, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, DTSearch
- Completely rebuilt using a FOSS stack. Improved search capabilities, user workflows, and content publishing pipelines while retaining DTSearch for robust indexing.
- Version 3 (2010):
- WordPress CMS
- Migrated to a flexible CMS for long-term manageability, with custom post types and plugins developed to meet the Court’s specialized research and archival needs.
Key Contributions:
- Designed and developed all three major versions of the platform
- Introduced and implemented FOSS practices in a traditionally proprietary environment
- Integrated and maintained DTSearch for high-performance legal document search
- Built custom indexing, tagging, and editorial workflows for court researchers and administrators
- Conducted nationwide demos, user training, and system handovers
Transition & Legacy:
In 2010, I formally turned over development and system management to the Supreme Court Library Services Division, ensuring the platform’s continued evolution under institutional stewardship.
The Supreme Court E-Library remains in operation today, and its legacy as the first of its kind in Asia lives on. For me, it was the project that launched a career—shaping my values around ethical tech, open knowledge, and the power of in-house solutions built with purpose.
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