Introduction

This electronic portfolio is a reflective compilation from my journey through the Masters of Information Science program in the San Jose State University School of Information. The information profession is dynamic and adaptable. This is largely due to political pressures and budget constraints, evolving technological influences, and even information professionals moving out of the library and into corporate settings.  Despite these factors, the core competencies of the profession prepare the information professional for these factors and settings to address the needs of their users and lead their organizations into the future of information management. 

The MLIS program at San Jose State University has prepared me with the knowledge and skills I will need in my career as an information professional, and this e-portfolio serves as evidence of that proficiency. The structure of this site is as follows: 

• Introduction
  This page serves as a general introduction and provides an outline of the site as well as my process for information collection and preparation. 
• Areas of Competency
  Competencies A-H and J-O provide a richer understanding of my relationship with each of the required competencies delivered in the program. Each page includes an explication of my understanding of that competency, information on how I developed that competency, and evidence that demonstrates my proficiency in those concepts. 
• Affirmation & Conclusion
  These pages act as the final reflection on my time in the MLIS program and discuss my plans for future growth as an information professional. Also included is a statement confirming the authenticity of my work. 

My Process

Throughout the MLIS program, I maintained relational tables in the Airtable platform to record the courses I was taking, assignments completed for each course, and the competencies those courses and assignments would serve. This not only allowed me to maintain an accurate roadmap through the courses I needed to take each semester, but it also left me with a scaffolding of how my e-portfolio would come together. Around the time that I decided to make my own professional website, I also decided that it would be the best modality with which to deliver my e-portfolio site, so over semester breaks I prepared the styling and structure of the site to ensure that it would all come together smoothly. 

For each competency, I relied heavily on the texts Information Services Today and The Portable MLIS, as well as other course texts and academic articles from the King Library database as appropriate. With each one, I reviewed the evidence I had identified as possibly fitting that competency, but I did not finalize that evidence until after I composed the explication. I vetted various methods of document integration into this e-portfolio site and decided to use two site plugins that allowed a thumbnail page preview and would launch the page in a javascript pop-up to make it a smooth experience for the reviewer. I worked in order, going directly from A to O, and publishing each page as I went. 

This activity of reviewing and interacting with the body of work I created through my time in the program, while as the same time seeing how each of those pieces supported this larger, summative project was humbling and I feel very proud to deliver this electronic portfolio.