General Information

last altered 5/1/07

The electronic portfolios (ePortfolios) demonstrate professional, academic, and personal progress toward a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science.

The ePortfolios consist of two components a) a private collection of reflections and artifacts (known as the 'competency ePortfolio' or the 'reflections'), and b) a public collection of artifacts and narrative that might serve to showcase a student's knowledge, learning, and experience to future employers and others (known as the 'professional ePortfolio').

The reflections are part of the assessment of a student within SIRLS. They are private between the student and an evaluator. The evaluator will judge whether each reflection is satisfactory or not. And the student will need to produce 4 satisfactory reflections, as detailed below, to meet the School's ePortfolio requirement.

The public showcase of a student's work and abilities is not assessed (although the evaluator, the student's advisor, and other members of faculty, will be available to assist the student in producing a public professional ePortfolio of quality). The public showcase will be maintained, and be accessible, on the School's servers for as long as the student wishes (and policy and resources permit). The professional ePortfolio will also be editable throughout its life.

Reflections

Reflections are detailed narratives in which students self-evaluate and consider their learning.

The SIRLS Master's Degree focusses on 10 competencies. Self-reflections are an analytical tool organized around these 10 competencies. They help students provide an overview of what the students have learned. They give evidence of a clear understanding of various topics, issues, challenges, and procedures in LIS. Self reflections also give insights into decision-making and examples of how information learned in courses would apply to information specialists. The reflections illustrate the development of competencies at various stages in the degree program (i.e. foundation course level, mid-program, and final reflection). Reflections describe how coursework, professional development, activities, internships, and other learning experiences prepare a student for a career as a librarian or information specialist. Through reflections, students demonstrate their intellectual development and their understanding and knowledge of subject content.

Reflections and artifacts

Within the infrastructure used here to support reflections, reflections can have attachments (rather like email, familiar to all) and reflections can also link with their body to other documents, images, spreadsheets, etc. Thus, a reflection can have associated artifacts. And there is often benefit in providing associated artifacts. For example, in a reflection a student may discuss how a particular paper that the student wrote for a particular course gave them special insight, in which case it would be very natural either to attach that paper to the reflection or to link to it.

Artifacts might be written papers, power point presentations, images, bibliographies, links to web pages, etc. Students, ie you, do not create artifacts here and now for the purpose of your ePortfolio. Rather, you produce artifacts for your courses, as part and parcel of your studies as you journey through the School. You may also encounter artifacts in your professional development activities or your readings. Then, as you self assess, you reflect, in part, on those artifacts. (Librarians would say that the artifacts are the data, and the reflections are the meta-data.)

Types of reflection

504 class reflection:

This reflection indicates the deep learning that has occurred during the foundations class. It is not a summary of what has been learned, but a narrative that demonstrates the depth of understanding of the content presented during the course. The self-reflection presents your personal views of topics covered in the course and discusses how and why you developed these views. It gives insights into your personal learning through the course content. It should be tied to the appropriate competencies.

Mid-program reflection:

The mid-program reflection will occur when a student has completed half the coursework. This reflection should be substantive, describing the courses the student has taken and ways the coursework has begun to shape the student's understanding of library and information science at mid point of the degree. The mid-program reflection should also describe how the coursework, and other learning experiences outside the classroom, have contributed to progress toward specific competencies.

Professional development reflection:

This reflection indicates the learning that has occurred during a professional development activity (such as attending a research presentation or an AZLA meeting). Such a reflection is not a summary or mere description of the activity, but a narrative that demonstrates the depth of understanding of the significance and value of the activity.

Final reflection:

The final self reflection is a comprehensive, well organized and clearly written essay about a student's learning experiences at SIRLS. The student will have completed 36 hours of coursework in library and information science. Therefore, the essay should include a discussion about learning experiences, challenges, and statements about the student's understanding of the field. This reflection should be a clear indication of the student's preparation as a professional. Final reflections should also document that the student meets the entire list of program competencies.

Some details on timing and deadlines

The 504 reflection is done as an assignment in the 504 course

The Mid-program reflection is due the semester in which 18 credits are completed.
Please note this is also the time students' Plans of Study (POS) are due.

The professional activity reflection may be done at any time, but it needs to be completed before the final reflection is assessed.

The final reflection must be submitted by the following dates:

If graduating in Spring, the final reflection is due by April 1st.

If graduating in Fall, the final reflection is due by Nov. 1st.

If graduating in Summer, the final reflection is due by July 1st.

Completion of Degree Requirement forms will not be certified until the final reflection has been completed satisfactorily.

The professional ePortfolio

Students are encouraged to prepare a Professional e-Portfolio. Its role for those seeking new employment or promotion is similar to that of a CV. The goal of the Professional e-Portfolio is to present an academic picture of you to a potential employer and to document your professional development through the SIRLS program.

There is much flexibility as to the form of a professional ePortfolio. Essentially the student is free to create as they wish. We will be providing certain templates and samples, which students may adapt or use (these are not ready as of May 2007).

What your professional e-Portfolio is:

1. a web-based electronic tool to save and access professional and academic information about you.
2. a way that you can express key points in your curriculum and learning.
3. a place to show your career readiness, leadership, academic progress, social responsibility, technology literacy, reasoning ability, and communication skills.
4. a place to keep the following information:
   1. resume
   2. key research papers, essays, academic journal entries, and the like
   3. a running record of your volunteer and community service, abstracts of your ongoing research, your involvement in creative activities, etc.
   4. work in key classes, seminars, etc.
   5. self-assessment
   6. a map of your career plan and the steps you plan to take to reach your goal

What a professional ePortfolio is not:

1. not a personal web page that includes information other than professional and academic material.
2. not the official record of your academic record, which is only available through means designated by the Office of the Registrar.
3. not the place to store all your academic work in an electronic format.

How others do ePortfolios

• University of Washington Information School
  • Sample Portfolios
  • Unofficial Portfolio Advice

 

Assessment of the reflections

5/9/07

As a library and information professional, you will need to be skilled at assessing your own learning and identifying additional things you need to know. We expect students, as they progress through SIRLS, to move from dependence on faculty assessment of their achievements to a realistic self-assessment of achievement. The competency reflections are the tools and opportunities for you to monitor your own learning and augment it as you see the need.

Each reflection itself will be evaluated as it is posted. The evaluation here will either be 'acceptable' or 'in need of revision'. [If a reflection needs revision, the evaluator will usually suggest what needs to be done. ]

The competency reflections as a whole, will be formally reviewed at two points.

On the posting of a mid-Program reflection

On the posting of a mid-Program reflection, which should occur after the student has completed 18 units of study, a student's Competency ePortfolio will be reviewed for the following:

• the presence of an acceptable 504 reflection
• a reasonable artifact collection
• an acceptable mid-Program reflection that lists the 18 units and which addesses at least five of the competencies

On the posting of the final reflection

On the posting of the final reflection, which should occur early in your final semester, your ePortfolio will be reviewed for the following items:

• the presence of 4 acceptable reflections which, in total, address all the competencies
• the breadth of the artifact collection
• an acceptable final reflection that synthesizes the existing reflections and artifacts

When a student's ePortfolio is complete, and to the required standard, the evaluator will sign off on it.

Creating a Reflection, and how a site like this works

Using your Web Browser to create a reflection

June 08 IRLS504 Movie View this, it is very helpful!

[May 07 IRLS504 Movie -- old perhaps of only historic interest]

 

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Explanation of the site

Basic

This is a website, with User accounts and 'roles'. What a person can see and do depends on whether they have an account and what role they have.

[The movies shown here depict an earlier version of this site, It has a slightly different look or 'theme' to this one, and also with slightly different menus and functionality. But all the principles are the same.]

Role 1: 'public'

A member of the public does not need an account. This what they can do

• run Public Role quicktime movie (you need broadband for this). [A movie like this can take several minutes to download and launch. And some browsers (eg Internet Explorer) do not give you a good indication that you are waiting. Use Firefox and/or be prepared to wait.]

  [Public Role above is a Quicktime movie, which you should be able to see and play straight off. If you cannot, your browser should detect what it is and tell you what you have to do to see it (to download a plug-in, or whatever). If you have a really old browser, or one somewhat out of the mainstream, none of the above might happen. In which case you need to go to Quicktime or Quicktime download and equip your machine for viewing Quicktime. The help files are in Quicktime, so you will need this capability.]

Role 2: 'student'

A student does need an account, and they need to log in, then they can do everything 'public' can do, and more. (For an explanation of the the 'public' role, check the section above).

This is what they can do

• run Student Role 1 Basic quicktime movie (you need broadband for this).
• run Student Role 1 Reflections quicktime movie (you need broadband for this). [A movie like this can take several minutes to download and launch. And some browsers (eg Internet Explorer) do not give you a good indication that you are waiting. Use Firefox and/or be prepared to wait.]

[Role 3: 'new student'

A new student is a slightly watered down version of a student, in particular new students cannot blog (they can only reflect). The thought here is just that the whole system should be as simple as possible for complete newcomers. Once a new student is comfortable with the environment, their account and their role will be converted to that of 'student'.]

Role 4: 'evaluator'

An evaluator also needs an account, and to log in, then they can do everything 'student' and 'public' can do, and more. (For explanations of the 'public' and 'student' roles, check the sections above).

This is what evaluators can do

• run Evaluator Role quicktime movie (you need broadband for this). [A movie like this can take several minutes to download and launch. And some browsers (eg Internet Explorer) do not give you a good indication that you are waiting. Use Firefox and/or be prepared to wait.]

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on ePortfolios

3/13/2008

• How do I create a reflection?
• [I am a wizard at html.] How do I create a reflection using html that I have created elsehwhere (in Google Docs, NVu, or Dreamweaver etc.)?
• How do I attach an artifact?
• Why won't some things attach as artifacts?
• Why do my html artifact attachments become .txt attachments and then not display?
• How do I insert an image?
• How do I import a web page?
• Where do the artifacts go?
• Do I have to put my files on a server first before attaching them? If so, what is the server and do I need to use the secure transfer client software?
• What is the difference between reflections and artifacts, and what is the importance of each?

 

How do I create a reflection?

1. Log in
2. Click on Create Content
3. Choose Reflection
4. Give it a Title, Classify (or Catalog it), scroll down slightly and type it in.
5. Scroll to the bottom and Click Submit
6. If you want to add an attachment, Scroll about 2/3rds way down to File Attachments Click on that, then Browse (your own machine), Attach, and Submit.
7. (* Note 'Submit' is like 'Save', and nothing is permanent until it has been Submitted. *)

May 07 IRLS504 Movie We change the layout and 'theme' from time to time, so some of the colors etc. may be different in the video to what you would see now. All the underlying principles are the same, though.

[I am a wizard at html.] How do I create a reflection using html that I have created elsehwhere (in Google Docs, NVu, or Dreamweaver etc.)?

1. Create a Reflection as above, then go to the text box for content entry
2. There is a button for html entry. Press it
3. 
4. This will bring up a plain text html entry box in another window
5. 
6. Type (or paste, or drag and drop) your html into here, then click update
7. 
8. That will Update the original
9. 
10. Then you need to Submit.
11. (* Note 'Submit' is like 'Save', and nothing is permanent until it has been Submitted. *)
12. Here are some qualifications. For security reasons, there is a filter between any html that you input and html that the browser displays. It is possible that this filter will remove some of the html that you have created elsewhere. If you feel that your html is genuinely 'innocent' and your really need all the tags, let us know for we can change the filter. Often full blown web pages use complex CSS styles, which are either in separate style sheets or inline or in the file or document itself. You need to be circumspect here. Style sheets in separate files are awkward (you could attach them, get their url, refer to that url in your html)-- it is probably best just not to do this. Inline, or in file CSS, is fine, but again you probably want to be modest. What is not a good idea is to start with a WORD document, let WORD convert that to html, then get that html and insert it as described here (WORD converts documents to html in a verbose and awkward way, using many styles).

How do I attach an artifact?

1. Log in. Go to the relevant reflection, Click on Edit
2. Scroll about 2/3rds way down to File Attachments Click on that, then Browse (your own machine), Attach, and Submit.
3. Being fancy (optional)
   1. When you attach an artifact, it's there, at the bottom, like an attachment to an email, and if anyone Clicks on it, it will display or download to their machine. However, when you are attaching the artifact, next to it there will appear an address (something like 'http://sirls.arizona.edu/files/cmapping.pdf' ). This is the url of the artifact.
   2. You can use the url address of the artifact to link to it, either in the body of your reflection or (more unusually) from elsewhere. You can use the absolute address, 'http://sirls.arizona.edu/files/cmapping.pdf' to make a link, or it is better practice to use the relative address ie 'files/cmapping.pdf'

Why won't some things attach as artifacts?

The uploading of attachments is restricted in two ways: a) by file size (which is presently set at 2 megs) and b) by file suffix (which is presently set to any of jpg jpeg gif png txt html htm doc xls pdf ppt pps odt zip). So if you try to upload your 3 meg myPhDThesis.doc or your 1 meg movie myHoliday.mov, neither will work. 2 megs is pretty big, and we thought it enough, but it might not be for some power point presentations (you could compress them first before uploading). We may set this larger if that seems appropriate (and also we could change the suffixes is that seems required).

Why do my html artifact attachments become .txt attachments and then not display?

When html files are attached and uploaded, the System adds the suffix '.txt' as a security fix, so myHomePage.html becomes myHomePage.html.txt. This is unsatisfactory for linking to.

Basically we/theCMS cannot allow the User to run arbitrary html as black hat hackers could compromise the system. However, you can paste any html you like into a reflection (because then when you hit Submit we run it through a filter and remove any suspect stuff). We should, of course, run attachments through the same filter (but that is a code level modification). If you have a bunch of links, paste them into the body of the reflection itself (and paste your essay in as well). Just put a heading at the bottom 'My essay' and paste it in.

This is not overly satisfactory, but we are trying to make the best of a bad job here.

How do I insert an image

1. Click on the green tree icon among your WYSIWYG buttons.
2. Insert image url (unlikely) or click on small Browse icon to the right (more likely).
3. Choose your image from the one's already there (unlikely) or Upload a new one from your own machine, by Browsing and Uploading (more likely).
4. Click Add, make choices about alignment etc., Insert, Submit. Like this ...
5. How to insert an image

How to import a web page [you need GAT level skills to do this]

1. Drag and drop from the old web page
2. Import the images and other external resources
3. Fix up the urls to 2.
4. Tidy up the html, using a WYSIWYG html editor like Dreamweaver or Google Docs.
5. There is a 'gotcha' with returns in the html code. Strict standards suggest that these be ignored. But our systems automatically converts them to line or paragraph breaks (which is the proper behaviour for helping folk unfamiliar with the intricacies). To stop this conversion, change the 'Input format' (below the WYSIWYG icons) to the filter that does not do this.
6. LIke this... [Note that the movie below is 90megs large, which is big. The video 'streams' so it will start to run without your having to wait for it to download completely. Even so, you are probably wise not to try viewing this on a dial up connection.]
7. How to import a web page

 

Where do the artifacts go?

The system here is similar to that of email and attachments. Say you are off on your vacation, and, from Internet Cafés, you send a series of emails to your friends and on each one you attach one or more pictures of you sunning yourself, enjoying the Bodlean, etc. The pictures are, in a sense, artifacts, and the emails to some degree are reflections on those pictures (and the events they depict). And, perhaps you would like records of this for yourself to see later and to show to others whose addresses you have forgotten, so you send copies to yourself at home.

Then, on return, someone asks you 'where do the pictures go?', 'how do you manage the pictures?, 'can you forward to me some of the emails and their associated pictures?' 'Can you send me the pictures of you on the big dipper?'.

Well, you start looking through your copies of the sent mail, and you find the relevant email(s). Fortunately the pictures of interest, are for the most part attached to the emails where they belong. So far so good. But then Aunt Thelma asks you to send all the holiday photos of the baby but no photo that has Homer in it. Now you are in trouble, because those photos are attached to different emails, and you don't want all of them.

At this point, with older computer styles of working, you might create yourself a directory or folder, extract all the photos from all the emails and put them in it. Then start searching through that folder for photos of baby etc.

We are not going to do anything like that last step. This present ePortfolio system we are all using sits on a database. Now the database holds all the files, reflections, artifacts, everything, and manages them for us. What it provides for us are addresses of everything. This is no mystery to us librarians. The addresses are a surrogate for the files just exactly as catalog cards can be a surrogate for books on a shelf. All our work is going to be with the surrogates; all we are going to care about is addresses not files (catalog cards not books).

When you write and publish a reflection, you upload (and thus attach) any relevant artifacts to it. And the Content Management System (CMS) in return gives you addresses for those artifacts. Good, the artifacts are 'with' the reflection they relate to.

However, just like the vacation pictures, there are occasions when you might want all the artifacts or all of the artifacts that do not relate to Homer. In other words, you want to cross from reflection to reflection gathering. As stated, it is tricky.

But, hey, we are librarians, we organize things. Clearly what we need to do is to organize the addresses of the artifacts. What we could do, is to start a page called Artifacts, and put all the addresses of the artifacts on it, and also arrange them (artifacts relating to 506, artifacts from my first year, etc.). All of this is good, apart from we don't have an obvious way of producing this index or jump page (and it itself is obviously not a reflection). So here is a suggestion. Every one of you has your own reflections home page within the CMS. If your netID is 'jsmith' that page is called 'jsmithReflections', and that home page automatically links to all of your reflections (have a look and see). Also you can edit it. So why not start a paragraph or section on it called 'My artifact collection' and then just put there the links (addresses) to all your artifacts. You could also put a few words with those links (like meta tags or cataloging information eg links not about Homer).

In sum, attach each artifact to the reflection it relates to (and note the artifacts address). Then click on your group homepage <yourNetIDHere>Reflections, click on the Edit tab, paste in the address and any text you want to add, hit 'Submit'.

So Where do the artifacts go?; answer their addresses go on the relevant reflection and centrally on your home page.

Do I have to put my files on a server first before attaching them? If so, what is the server and do I need to use the secure transfer client software?

You do not have to put your files on a server before attaching them. You just click File attachments, Browse (and find what you want on your computer), Attach, then scroll down and click 'Submit'. [This last bit is a little strange, but it arises because no edit is considered permanent until you 'Submit' it.]. There is no server you are going to. You do not need SSH clients or similar.

What is the difference between reflections and artifacts, and what is the importance of each?

This is explained here.

Hints and tips on editing: Images and importing.

 

How to insert an image

1. Click on the green tree icon among your WYSIWYG buttons.
2. Insert image url (unlikely) or click on small Browse icon to the right (more likely).
3. Choose your image from the one's already there (unlikely) or Upload a new one from your own machine, by Browsing and Uploading (more likely).
4. Click Add, make choices about alignment etc., Insert, Submit. Like this ...
5. How to insert an image

 

How to import a web page [you need GAT level skills to do this]

1. Drag and drop from the old web page
2. Import the images and other external resources
3. Fix up the urls to 2.
4. Tidy up the html, using a WYSIWYG html editor like Dreamweaver or Google Docs.
5. There is a 'gotcha' with returns in the html code. Strict standards suggest that these be ignored. But our systems automatically converts them to line or paragraph breaks (which is the proper behaviour for helping folk unfamiliar with the intricacies). To stop this conversion, change the 'Input format' (below the WYSIWYG icons) to the filter that does not do this.
6. LIke this... [Note that the movie below is 90megs large, which is 15 time bigger than the one above. The video 'streams' so it will start to run without your having to wait for it to download completely. Even so, you are probably wise not to try viewing this on a dial up connection.]
7. How to import a web page

 

Private and public reflections

When created, reflections are private and can be seen only by members of the relevant groups (ie the student and the evaluators). However, sometimes for some purposes, a student might want a reflection to be public. And sometimes students inadvertently make a reflection public (not easy to do). This movie shows how to make reflections public or private, or change from one to the other.

PublicAndPrivate.mov

Student Competencies and Learning Outcomes

See Student Competencies and Learning Outcomes

Two talks about ePortfolios and the ePortfolio system

[These are becoming slightly dated as of May 2007, but there may still be some points of interest in them.]

 

Given to the SIRLS-LSO meeting Sept 18 06

http://www.sir.arizona.edu/faculty/fricke/ePortfolio/ePortfolioTalkSept1806.htm

 

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Given to the incoming IRLS504 July 06.

http://www.sir.arizona.edu/faculty/fricke/ePortfolio/FrickeePortfolio.htm

Contact the evaluators or the ePortfolio GAT

As of May 2008, Sara Hayden is the SIRLS ePortfolio graduate assistant sehayden@email.arizona.edu. And Tom Wilding is the main evaluator wilding@email.arizona.edu

Search ePortfolio Reflections