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e-portfolio

professional philosophy

core competencies

reflections

My e-Portfolio

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This web site was developed as a culminating project, known also as an e-Portfolio, for the Masters of Library and Information Science at the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) of the San Jose State University, California.

The number and naming of competencies (A through O), their definition, and structure of competency statements are defined in the School’s e-Portfolio Handbook, and every student choosing to do an e-Portfolio (instead of a research thesis) is required to follow it. Students have an option to present portfolios of their graduate work either by using software (Plone) and on-line accounts provided by the School, or to use their own on-line solutions. By going independent, one has a pleasure to wrestle with a content and software all at the same time. But then, one also has complete control over the software and the visual framework of the portfolio.

I admit, I am used to doing things in self-designed frameworks. I graduated from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, with a bachelor in Individualized Studies, a major in Art and history of books and a minor in art studio (photography). This study program allowed me to combine the art studio and history department classes and explore book and papermaking from different angles. In art studio, I learned book design and visual principles of “telling the story,” and, in the history classes, I explored the role of the book and paper in human history. One of the requirements at George Mason was for a graduation project to be submitted in a three-ring binder. I submitted research on the history of papermaking fibers as a hand bound book – printed on my own hand-made paper in hand-set type and my own linotype illustrations. They never complained.

Also, I learned computers long ago, when WordStar was the leading word processor and Windows were only a gleam in Bill Gates’ eye. At George Mason, a number of my printing and photography classes required knowledge of digital imaging for various projects, and learning Photoshop was a question of survival. Later, I took classes in the Riverside Community College in California and earned my webmaster certificate.

So, unless otherwise noted, text, web design, digital imaging (scanning, photographing, processing of images) and graphics used in this and any other of my web projects, are all mine own work.

In order for the e-Portfolio to satisfy the requirements for graduation (i.e., for me to successfully complete SLIS Libr 289 class), all my write-ups – professional philosophy, reflections on MLIS degree, and individual competency statements – as they are appearing in this e-Portfolio were scrutinized by my supervisor and marked as satisfactory. Evidence for the individual competency is chosen by me and that selection is justified in each individual statement of competency. Not all material, provided as evidence of competency, is created during the coursework in the SLIS program – some of them were created through various other activities in my life – but they all together contributed to my overall understanding of public service, organization and access to information.

In the process of undergraduate education, I created many books and prints that are now stored nicely in acid-free boxes, never to see the light of day again. I am simply tired of producing project after project, which only purpose is to be graded and then filed away never to be seen again. For the SLIS class on the History of Books and Libraries, I was allowed to present research papers as web sites, and I had tremendous intellectual and esthetic satisfaction developing these sites.

Following that experience, I wanted with this e-Portfolio web site to create something that would satisfy requirements, use the Internet environment to its advantage, and at the same time give me some intellectual, visual, and technical problems that I could sharpen my teeth on. I also wanted to create a personal portfolio that is not a snapshot of one particular time of my life, but could be modified or expanded as my skills and competencies change. It should be something that I can show as my accomplishments to prospective employers, curious friends, or anybody wandering the virtual universe.

Probably nobody will ever read all the presented material, but I am proud of what I have accomplished, and I think that each and every material, presented in this portfolio, could stand to public scrutiny as more than satisfactory.