Welcome to Kristin Lehigh’s ePortfolio. This ePortfolio, written in Fall 2016, has been created as a means of demonstrating my understanding and mastery of the fourteen competencies representing the core areas of librarianship. The evidence presented herein spans four years of coursework in the Master’s of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program in the School of Information at San Jose State University (SJSU). This ePortfolio is comprised of an introduction, my professional philosophy, explication and evidence regarding the fourteen competencies, a conclusion, and an affirmation. To navigate this site, click on any of the tabs on the left-hand side of the page. To access links to supporting evidence for any competency, click on the “Evidence” link located on the right-hand side of each competency page.
I chose to use the Canvas platform to create this ePortfolio because of its ease of use and convenience. Upon completion, I intend to copy the ePortfolio to a WordPress site so that it can be accessed after I graduate. I plan to include a link to this ePortfolio in cover letters to potential employers.
I began planning for this ePortfolio at the beginning of my first semester in the program. Each semester, I created folders for every class, populating the folders with not only my work but also syllabi, instructor-provided lectures and presentations, homework assignment instructions, and assigned readings. At the end of each semester, I added graded homework assignments as a means of keeping track of grades as well as to keep records of instructor comments on my work. Furthermore, I created an ePortfolio folder which contained folders for each of the fourteen competencies. Each semester, I copied class folders into the appropriate competency folders. All folders were backed up in numerous places (computer, USB drive, cloud) as a precaution.
As this final semester loomed closer, I went through each folder and choose potential items to use as evidence for each competency. These items were copied into an “Evidence” folder within each competency folder. This was a time-consuming task as I had to examine the requirements for each competency and choose items of evidence that best represented my understanding and mastery of that competency. I am glad I undertook this task before the semester began as it saved precious time that I needed for completing the writing required for each competency.
Despite all the preparation taken before creating this ePortfolio, it still seemed a daunting task that caused me more than a little apprehension. As I have been in this program for four years, creating this ePortfolio meant revisiting concepts learned quite a while back. However, as I put my apprehension aside and began working, I realized how well I had learned the concepts presented in each class. For each section of the ePortfolio, I would read the rubric for the competency and reread class notes and key readings pertaining to that competency in order to pick out pertinent points that should be included. Each competency includes four sections: an explication in which my understanding of the competency is presented along with its importance to the profession of librarianship, course preparation in which I discuss academic and/or professional experience that has helped shape and inform my understanding of the competency, evidence in which I present specific artifacts demonstrating my understanding of the competency, and a conclusion.
Completing this ePortfolio is deeply gratifying. It has allowed me to take a step back and get a good look at how much I have learned and accomplished in the four years I have been in the MLIS program. I had originally hoped to complete the program in three years, but family issues required scaling back my course load during several semesters. Despite these crises, I have persevered and am proud of my accomplishments. I know I am ready to serve the patron community as I proudly represent the profession of librarianship.
NOTE: With the exception of Competency E, the quotes at the top of each competency page came from one of the following sources:
50 thought-provoking quotes about libraries and librarians. (n.d.). Retrieved from EBook Friendly website: http://ebookfriendly.com/best-quotes-about-libraries-librarians/
Quotations about libraries & librarians. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Quote Garden website: http://www.quotegarden.com/libraries.html
Quotations about libraries and librarians: Subject list. (n.d.). Retrieved from International Association of Library Federations and Institutions website: http://archive.ifla.org/I/humour/subj.htm
Kristin Lehigh 