"Great and good are rarely the same man."
--- Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732
Indeed, Thomas Fuller could have been referring to rare, extraordinary men like Lorenzo M. Tañada, who was not only a great man, but also a good man.
Rare, too, is the privilege to have been chosen by De La Salle University (DLSU) to be its partner in a joint undertaking to pay tribute to its Most Outstanding Alumnus, Lorenzo M. Tañada, on his birth centennial anniversary. In mid-July 1998, DLSU commissioned our company to produce a Web-CD containing a rich memorabilia collection of Tañada housed in the Tañada Room of the DLSU Library. It is with humility that we have accepted such an honorable task.
Rare, too, is the opportunity to have journeyed through DLSU's invaluable collection of news clippings, historical documents and letters, photographs, video and audio files, and in the process, to have personally experienced such a rare, extraordinary man. With the generous assistance extended by the DLSU Library Director, Ms. Perla Garcia, the DLSU Library Archivist, Ms. Angela Verzosa, and the Tañada Family, a wealth of materials were made available for this Web-CD project.
The "Lorenzo M. Tañada: A Centennial Birthday Tribute to A Filipino Hero" Web-CD is not a full-length exhaustive biography on Tañada. Rather, it is a precious collection of materials in various media formats which give us more than a rare glimpse into Tañada's person and richly textured life. Intended to compliment his written biographies, the Web-CD is an electronic scrapbook which uses the familiar internet interface, making it accessible to everyone locally and globally. The Web-CD format takes advantage of the high storage characteristic of CD and allows for the flexible updating of information in the future.
Rare, finally, does a multimedia project become a life-changing experience. In comparison to our other multimedia projects, all of us at Information Imaging, Inc. agree that it has been only this Tañada Web-CD Project that we have been enriched in mind and spirit. As a fellow La Sallian, I have personally experienced the challenge that Tañada's sterling example has foisted on all of us --- to look deep into ourselves and discover that it is possible, in our own unique lives, to achieve greatness and yes, goodness.
We hope that your journey through the Tañada Web-CD becomes a rare, extraordinary experience.
Angelo Narciso