Welcome to Roger Weaver’s e-Portfolio, which was completed in the spring of 2020 in pursuit of a Master’s in library and Information Science (MLIS) graduate degree from San Jose State University (SJSU). The e-Portfolio as a program, provides students like me with the space to self-assess their work and demonstrate proficiency with a full-range of competencies necessary for the working information professional. There are 14 core competencies for the SJSU MLIS program, listed in alphabetical order:
A. Demonstrate awareness of the ethics, values, and foundational principles of one of the information professions, and discuss the importance of those principles
within that profession;
B. Describe and compare different organizational settings in which information professionals’ practice;
C. Articulate the importance of designing programs and services supportive of diversity, inclusion, and equity for clientele and employees;
D. Apply the fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy;
E. Design, query, and evaluate information retrieval systems;
F. Use the basic concepts and principles related to the selection, evaluation, organization, and preservation of physical and digital information items;
G. Demonstrate understanding of basic principles and standards involved in organizing information such as classification and controlled vocabulary systems,
cataloging systems, metadata schemas or other systems for making information accessible to a particular clientele;
H. Demonstrate proficiency in identifying, using, and evaluating current and emerging information and communication technologies;
J. Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors and how they should be considered when connecting individuals or groups with accurate,
relevant and appropriate information;
K. Design collaborative or individual learning experiences based on learning principles and theories;
L. Demonstrate understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods, the ability to design a research project, and the ability to evaluate and synthesize
research literature;
M. Demonstrate professional leadership and communication skills;
N. Evaluate programs and services using measurable criteria;
O. Understand global perspectives on effective information practices that are supportive of cultural, economic, educational, or social well-being.
I chose to present my e-Portfolio as a website. The e-Portfolio as a document consists of this Introduction, Competencies A through O, and a Conclusion and Affirmation. Each statement of competency begins by describing or defining the competency and why it is important to me and to the information profession in aggregate. This description is followed by a statement regarding what coursework or experience prepared me to understand the competency, and a short explanation of how the presented evidence is arranged. Each evidentiary item consists of a document link beneath a heading, followed by paragraphs which name and describe the evidentiary item, and provide a cogent argument for how the item a) shows an understanding of the competency, b) demonstrates skills related to the competency, and c) illustrates how transferable this knowledge and ability will be in a future work environment. Appropriate references to the relevant literature are provided throughout the document and listed at the end of each document. Each competency concludes with a paragraph summarizing how this knowledge and skill might be transferable to future work scenarios.
I began my graduate studies in the Spring of 2016. Following the advice of previous graduate students, I made it a habit to save assignments, discussion posts, class syllabi, and other documentation of my course progress. By organizing my saved class materials according to the competencies supported by that class, I was able track my work over time, and ensure that I was electing to pursue coursework that covered all 14 competencies. To be practical, I generally pursued coursework applicable for use in a public library system, but I also found myself taking an interest in digital curation and archiving. Because I also have an interest in collection management, or to be more precise, the selection and order of materials, I elected to take a course in cataloging and classification and another in metadata. My program of study included the following courses:
INFO 203 Online Learning
INFO 202 Information Retrieval System Design
INFO 200 Information Communities
INFO 204 Information Professions
INFO 244 Online Searching
INFO 285 Applied Research Methods
INFO 234 Intellectual Freedom Seminar
INFO 266 Collection Management
INFO 282 Seminar in Library Management (Prison Library Management)
INFO 210 Reference and Information Services
INFO 248 Beginning Cataloging and Classification
INFO 294 Professional Experience: Internship
INFO 250 Instructional Design for Information Professionals
INFO 289 e-Portfolio
INFO 281 Seminar in Contemporary Issues (Metadata)
For completing my e-Portfolio, in the Summer of 2020, in addition to reading through the course material, I prepared in several other ways. I printed out, and had on hand, syllabi from all of my classes. I read through and re-familiarized myself with the competency rubric and mapped these competencies back to classes that supported those competencies. I also mapped the university’s learning goals to each class. I was able to determine what evidence would fit a particular competency by going back to the class material I had saved under a competency heading, and by referring to my competency rubric.
I decided to begin with Competency A because I have a special interest in ethics and values foundational to the information profession, and therefore knew I had plenty of evidence to present. I rightly intuited that writing one competency on a subject with which I am well-versed, would provide me with the confidence to tackle the others. Given that no competency holds greater weight than any other competency, I decided to deal with each of them in order, alphabetically. Pursuing completion in this manner enlivened my writing, as each new exploratory essay provided opportunities to allude to previous lines of inquiry. By the time I had reached Competency O, which deals with global perspectives on the profession, I was able to see how all of the competencies intertwine and was able to articulate my understanding of how ethics provides a foundation for them all.
References
San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science (n.d.) Statement of core
competencies. Retrieved from
https://ischool.sjsu.edu/mlis-program-learning-outcomes
A. Demonstrate awareness of the ethics, values, and foundational principles of one of the information professions, and discuss the importance of those principles
within that profession;
B. Describe and compare different organizational settings in which information professionals’ practice;
C. Articulate the importance of designing programs and services supportive of diversity, inclusion, and equity for clientele and employees;
D. Apply the fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy;
E. Design, query, and evaluate information retrieval systems;
F. Use the basic concepts and principles related to the selection, evaluation, organization, and preservation of physical and digital information items;
G. Demonstrate understanding of basic principles and standards involved in organizing information such as classification and controlled vocabulary systems,
cataloging systems, metadata schemas or other systems for making information accessible to a particular clientele;
H. Demonstrate proficiency in identifying, using, and evaluating current and emerging information and communication technologies;
J. Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors and how they should be considered when connecting individuals or groups with accurate,
relevant and appropriate information;
K. Design collaborative or individual learning experiences based on learning principles and theories;
L. Demonstrate understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods, the ability to design a research project, and the ability to evaluate and synthesize
research literature;
M. Demonstrate professional leadership and communication skills;
N. Evaluate programs and services using measurable criteria;
O. Understand global perspectives on effective information practices that are supportive of cultural, economic, educational, or social well-being.
I chose to present my e-Portfolio as a website. The e-Portfolio as a document consists of this Introduction, Competencies A through O, and a Conclusion and Affirmation. Each statement of competency begins by describing or defining the competency and why it is important to me and to the information profession in aggregate. This description is followed by a statement regarding what coursework or experience prepared me to understand the competency, and a short explanation of how the presented evidence is arranged. Each evidentiary item consists of a document link beneath a heading, followed by paragraphs which name and describe the evidentiary item, and provide a cogent argument for how the item a) shows an understanding of the competency, b) demonstrates skills related to the competency, and c) illustrates how transferable this knowledge and ability will be in a future work environment. Appropriate references to the relevant literature are provided throughout the document and listed at the end of each document. Each competency concludes with a paragraph summarizing how this knowledge and skill might be transferable to future work scenarios.
I began my graduate studies in the Spring of 2016. Following the advice of previous graduate students, I made it a habit to save assignments, discussion posts, class syllabi, and other documentation of my course progress. By organizing my saved class materials according to the competencies supported by that class, I was able track my work over time, and ensure that I was electing to pursue coursework that covered all 14 competencies. To be practical, I generally pursued coursework applicable for use in a public library system, but I also found myself taking an interest in digital curation and archiving. Because I also have an interest in collection management, or to be more precise, the selection and order of materials, I elected to take a course in cataloging and classification and another in metadata. My program of study included the following courses:
INFO 203 Online Learning
INFO 202 Information Retrieval System Design
INFO 200 Information Communities
INFO 204 Information Professions
INFO 244 Online Searching
INFO 285 Applied Research Methods
INFO 234 Intellectual Freedom Seminar
INFO 266 Collection Management
INFO 282 Seminar in Library Management (Prison Library Management)
INFO 210 Reference and Information Services
INFO 248 Beginning Cataloging and Classification
INFO 294 Professional Experience: Internship
INFO 250 Instructional Design for Information Professionals
INFO 289 e-Portfolio
INFO 281 Seminar in Contemporary Issues (Metadata)
For completing my e-Portfolio, in the Summer of 2020, in addition to reading through the course material, I prepared in several other ways. I printed out, and had on hand, syllabi from all of my classes. I read through and re-familiarized myself with the competency rubric and mapped these competencies back to classes that supported those competencies. I also mapped the university’s learning goals to each class. I was able to determine what evidence would fit a particular competency by going back to the class material I had saved under a competency heading, and by referring to my competency rubric.
I decided to begin with Competency A because I have a special interest in ethics and values foundational to the information profession, and therefore knew I had plenty of evidence to present. I rightly intuited that writing one competency on a subject with which I am well-versed, would provide me with the confidence to tackle the others. Given that no competency holds greater weight than any other competency, I decided to deal with each of them in order, alphabetically. Pursuing completion in this manner enlivened my writing, as each new exploratory essay provided opportunities to allude to previous lines of inquiry. By the time I had reached Competency O, which deals with global perspectives on the profession, I was able to see how all of the competencies intertwine and was able to articulate my understanding of how ethics provides a foundation for them all.
References
San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science (n.d.) Statement of core
competencies. Retrieved from
https://ischool.sjsu.edu/mlis-program-learning-outcomes