The following pages are a collection of my work during my time as a graduate student studying library and information science (LIS) at San Jose State University. Each page describes a specific competency showing my expertise in the LIS field. The competencies are meant to show the types of skills attained by a graduate student in this program. All these competencies are important skills for a career in the LIS field. The skills represented include technical skills for organizing and presenting information, making use of new technologies, and creating systems for users to search for and find information. Also included are soft skills for working with people, such as leadership and communication, project planning, ethics, and diversity.
For each of the competencies listed, I have included a description of the competency, with references to my course readings. I have also included items of evidence that demonstrate my experience putting that competency into action. These items include posts on discussion boards to my classmates, research papers, reflection essays and presentations, videos, and images demonstrating projects I have worked on. Some of the evidence is from independent work and some is from group projects. For the group projects, I have described what my role was in the group so readers can understand which part of the group assignment represents my work. This portfolio will be helpful to the university to evaluate my understanding of what I have been taught and the usefulness of the courses. It will also be helpful for potential employers to understand the depth of my experience and the types of projects I have worked on. Lastly, this portfolio will be of much help to me as a record of what I have learned, a plan for my professional development, and a catalog of useful texts to review guidelines and procedures for developing the skills I need to succeed in this profession.
Ten years before I started this master’s program, I graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Family History – Genealogy. For that program, I learned how to do historical research using primary sources and became well versed in information literacy. I am adept at evaluating the origin and reliability of the information in various types of sources and tracking down sources from unique places that may have useful information. My bachelor’s program also involved developing technological skills for organizing and searching for information in databases. I also worked at the reference desk of my university library and enjoyed helping people with research, organizing materials, and working on various library projects. Seeking a degree in library science was a natural next step to this. After working for several years as a genealogical researcher, I realized I wanted to be more involved in organizing records and making them available. There are so many records that are valuable for historical and genealogical research that are either not digitized or are digitized but are difficult to find online. I want to be a part of making such records available. I also want to help other people learn to research whatever information they need to find, search databases extensively, and locate the records they need. I can see myself working at various types of information organizations or cultural heritage institutions to accomplish this kind of work, including public or academic libraries, archives, or museums.
I chose to study library science because I have a passion for history and organizing information. I like to help people find the information they need and preserve and present historical information so that people have a better understanding of history. I am especially interested in genealogical research and enjoy helping people make personal connections with history by learning about their own ancestors. I also enjoy helping people learn to use technology to find accurate information and improve the quality of their lives. I hope that this portfolio shows my passion both for technology and for helping people.