Introduction – What is this ePortfolio?
This digital portfolio demonstrates the expertise and education that I have accumulated over the last seven-and-a-half years in pursuit of the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) through the San José State University and the eight-and-half years as a Library Assistant at the Fresno County Public Library (FCPL). As a library assistant working in a variety of communities in branches of varying sizes, I have led infant and toddler storytime and overseen a series of library-hosted movie screenings and am keen to leverage the expertise I have gained through my coursework and my experience as a public servant to new positions within the field of librarianship. I completed 16 courses for 46-semester units for my MLIS degree.
The practice of 21st century librarianship shares many commonalities with other fields such as management, marketing, and computer science and their related fields. In order to efficiently convey information to clients, librarians should draw knowledge from sociology, education, and psychology to be ready to pass on such knowledge through instruction. Librarians today face far greater responsibilities than that of the past. As a profession, they must be ready to advocate for a respectful multicultural environment free from censorship that allows the free exchange of ideas. Librarians have also been called upon to defend the privacy of their patrons’ use of library resources and services as is stipulated by the American Library Association’s Code of Ethics. as well as their duties of service to their clients and their employing institution. Developing competency in these areas establishes a professional toolkit that will continue to be refined over the course of a librarian’s career.
In this portfolio, I will outline why I am confident in my ability to adhere to the professional standards of a librarian.
Structure
There are four sections to this portfolio:
- Introduction—[This Webpage]
- Areas of Competency—[Fourteen webpages each highlighting a single focus of librarianship. The focus of each is clearly articulated at the top of each webpage by the title and a short descriptive statement. This is followed by a brief introduction to the topic which is then expanded upon in explication that gives a sense of the breadth and depth of knowledge of the competency. The next section provides a minimum of three pieces of evidence that further demonstrate my capability in this area of librarianship. These pieces of evidence are either assignments from the MLIS program or artifacts drawn from my career as a Library Assistant of the FCPL. Most of the evidence is downloadable with a few exceptions such as Peoplesoft blog entries, which may be accessed through a hyperlink. Each competency webpage ends with a list of references in accordance with APA style.]
- Conclusion—[Career highlights, final thoughts. and wishes for the future.]
- Affirmation—[Statement about the portfolio being my own original work and privacy protections.]
Process
In the evidence selection process, it was necessary to create a document to keep track of the pieces of evidence for selection to remember my choices and to not use the same piece of evidence twice. It was also helpful in evaluating if a new piece of evidence was superior to my previous selections.
I started with Competency G—Cataloging, because of my recently completed classes in INFO 248 Beginning Cataloging and Classification and INFO 256 Archives and Manuscripts. With the material fresh in my mind, I would have an easier time of completed that competency in comparison to other topics where years had passed. From there I completed Competencies in a daisy chain selecting competencies by how closely they were associated to the most recently completed competency.
After the earliest submitted competencies, I created a template highlighting the structure and some basic guidelines. While not quite as simple as fill in the blank, the templates kept me on track to finishing the portfolio.