MLIS Portfolio

Welcome to my e-portfolio, a compilation of essays and artifacts that prove my mastery of fifteen diverse areas of Library and Information Science. This collection is a culmination of the work I’ve achieved over the past three years as a MLIS candidate in the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) program at San Jose State University (SJSU), and features evidentiary coursework and conceptual analyses requisite for graduation and a career in library and information science.

Organization and Structure

This e-portfolio is divided into fifteen core competencies that represent knowledge and skills requisite of all SLIS students for program graduation and subsequent pathways to careers in library and information environments. Competencies A-N can be located in the navigational header bar along with my professional philosophy (which includes competency O), an introduction, conclusion, and affirmation.

Each competency statement begins with an introduction, which seeks to explicate the purpose and definition of each competency, both in terms of its usefulness to the profession as well as to my experience as both a MLIS candidate and library worker. Following each introductory statement is a link to carefully selected artifacts proving my proficiency in each area, as well as a statement explicating specific ways my evidence satisfies each respective competency. At the bottom of each competency essay are downloadable evidentiary artifacts for your perusal.

Process

I began preparing for the e-portfolio in my first semester with a vague understanding of its relevance by uploading several artifacts to Angel: our course management system at that time. However, SLIS switched to Desire2Learn (D2L) about a year later, which prompted me to begin saving artifacts to my local hard drive to maintain access. As an organizational maven, it is my nature to begin each semester with a main folder for each class with subfolders for each week’s content (discussion posts, lectures, etc), and subfolders for all major assignments subdivided by a sub-subfolder for my work, and a sub-subfolder for reference materials.

During the spring semester, I began anxiously preparing for the e-portfolio by creating a desktop folder with subfolders for each competency, and started considering my evidence in terms of its usefulness for each. I saved copies of each artifact to its’ respective folder, and also performed regular hard drive backups as well as initiated use of two cloud-based storage options: Mozy and Dropbox. As a student in Preservation Management, I had previously learned more than I ever wanted to know about the vulnerabilities of data, which prompted zealous care of my digital files. I also joined the E-portfolio Facebook group, and was energized by the support and advice from current students.

Over the summer, I continued my preparation by composing a spreadsheet of all the requisite competencies and their definitions and matching them to my evidence. This spreadsheet was very helpful in assuring me that I had multiple evidentiary artifacts for each competency. I created my Weebly site and uploaded each artifact to its’ respective competency area. I read and re-read the E-portfolio handbook, and also read the Portable MLIS.

When Fall semester began, I felt well prepared to begin writing my competency essays despite generalized anxieties about not finishing on time. At the advice of my well-respected and admired advisor: Michelle Holschuh Simmons, I chose Competency B as my first essay and submitted it during the first week of the semester.

When beginning a new competency, I found it helpful to begin writing up my evidentiary arguments before writing each competency essays’ explication as I found it gave me momentum and courage to build upon my extant work instead of beginning fresh with each competency introduction.

As the semester has progressed, I have been interested to learn that my thinking about each competency has expanded to include new ideas. This expansion has often resulted in moving artifacts between competencies when I thought they seemed better-suited elsewhere. At times, I also deleted files from my Weebly site when I found more appropriate evidentiary artifacts for a given competency.

Creating this e-portfolio has been a laborious and rewarding experience in that I have revisited past achievements, goals, and attitudes in order to witness my growth as a MLIS candidate. I am thrilled to have had this experience.

Thank you so much for reading my e-portfolio.

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