Tiffany Kwok’s ePortfolio
Introduction
San Jose State University’s Library and Information Science (MLIS) program has been one of my educational career's most fulfilling learning opportunities. This program has helped me to gain knowledge and develop the relevant skills to start a career as a library professional.
This e-portfolio provides a comprehensive overview of the various competencies I mastered throughout this program. My portfolio has been structured using these main categories:
Core Competencies: This section is further divided so that each competency (A-H, J-O) is featured on its page. On each competency page, you will find the following:
A description of the competency and how it relates to information professions
examples of how my coursework demonstrates my proficiency in applying the fundamental concepts of this competency and a commentary on how my coursework helped prepare me for this competency
and how I can use these skills and knowledge in real-world situations
Conclusion: In this section, I take the time to reflect upon my time in the MLIS program. Based on the evidence I have displayed in my core competencies sections, I highlight my strengths as an information professional and create my professional growth plan.
Affirmation: This ePortfolio concludes with a statement affirming the authenticity and privacy of my work.
The Process of Creating this ePortfolio
I started thinking about and planning as soon as I started the program. While completing all of the coursework, I kept my files as organized as possible and used a spreadsheet to track my progress through the program. The following is a screenshot of the spreadsheet:
Organizing Evidence
Going through all of my old work has been a nice walk down memory lane and a great illustration of how far I have come and grown throughout this program. To organize my pieces of evidence, I first created folders for each competency. Then I went through my files and transferred them into the appropriate folders. Finally, I converted any Word documents into PDFs and renamed the files to make the contents more consistent and easier to access via the website.
Writing Process
I didn’t have a defined method to write each competency, but I kept tweaking the process. As mentioned above, my MLIS journey is broken down and organized into the main learning competencies featured in this program. Use the menu bar above to navigate to each competency. Enjoy!
Final Comments about the ePortfolio Process
Overall I found this project to be very interesting to complete. Initially, I was very intimidated by the prospect of writing so many mini-essays and merging all of the work I had completed over the last three years into a comprehensive publication. The most effortless and most pleasurable part was the organization and presentation of the information, some of that I enjoy doing and feel that I excel at. The hardest part was putting into words everything that I had learned. Throughout this program, I have realized that I am more adept at writing technically vs. descriptively. I am better at presenting information using distinct sections, bullet points, tables, figures or images.
The ePortfolio Website
I had initially planned on creating this Website through Google Sites. Still, after some consideration, I would like to roll this ePortfolio into the portfolio I have maintained since I started this program. That is why I created the ePortfolio in Squarespace, the platform I used to develop my general portfolio. Creating the structure of the Website was pretty straightforward, thanks to the collection of past ePortfolios I could refer to.
Planning out the ePortfolio Work
To plan out the content of the ePortfolio and track my progress throughout the semester, I created a Notion board that allowed me to organize all of the content for this ePortfolio. I chose Notion because, unlike a general word processing document, like Microsoft Word or Google Documents, I can combine various media (text, databases, tables, images, files) into a single document. I could also turn each Notion board into a hyperlinked document to quickly navigate the content. Within my ePortfolio Notion, I could type out all the content for each competency, store the evidence files I would use, record all the final website URLs, and track which competencies had been accepted.
