{"id":14939,"date":"2013-04-09T16:00:25","date_gmt":"2013-04-09T20:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=14939"},"modified":"2013-05-27T13:16:09","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T17:16:09","slug":"6-step-e-portfolio-primer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=14939","title":{"rendered":"e-Portfolio Primer"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Veda Darby Soberman, Head Editor, INALJ Hawaii<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

e-Portfolio Primer<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"DarbyPhotography\"<\/a>So, you\u2019ve entered the job hunt armed with a basic arsenal of a well-crafted cover letter, polished resume and stellar references.\u00a0 Don\u2019t think you are fully prepared yet.\u00a0 One more weapon which is making its way from auxiliary to essential is the e-Portfolio.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

An e-Portfolio is a web-based showcase of your work.<\/b>\u00a0 As with the hardcopy portfolios of artists and architects, it is an example of what you have done, your skills and what best reflects who you are as a professional.\u00a0 A marked difference between the traditional portfolio and the e-Portfolio is the flexibility offered by an electronic format.\u00a0 This flexibility comes from being able to bring together a variety of types of information into an easily disseminated digital format.\u00a0\u00a0 As information professionals, our work and skill sets are often beyond the scope of what can be conveyed through a dry textual listing on a resume.\u00a0 \u00a0Describing one\u2019s skill with online presentation software has far less impact than viewing the actual presentation. E-Portfolios allow for showing as well as telling.\u00a0 Combining technical savvy, organization, creativity, and communication skills in its creation makes the e-Portfolio itself an example of your skills and expertise as an information professional.<\/p>\n

E-Portfolios are learning tools and living documents.<\/b>\u00a0 E-Portfolios are not just a job hunting tools to define your web presence, or to brand yourself, but they can also allow you to develop yourself professionally.\u00a0 Your e-Portfolio is a place where you can self-reflect by examining your body of work in one place.\u00a0 You can consider your accomplishments, where you may be lacking, and what you can do to improve.\u00a0 Furthermore, the creation and maintenance of an e-Portfolio is an opportunity for you to maintain and learn technological skills.\u00a0 This is especially important if you have yet to land your library job, and may not be able to regularly practice your tech skills.\u00a0 Like an artist, you want to always keep building your portfolio.\u00a0 As your professional interests and experiences change, so should your e-Portfolio.<\/p>\n

Starting an e-Portfolio need not be difficult.<\/b> The constructing of an e-Portfolio is now a common requirement for MLIS coursework.\u00a0 I myself produced a handcoded e-Portfolio during my studies.\u00a0 I am in the process of creating an updated e-Portfolio.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be using WordPress this time around (the same website management tool used to bring you INALJ), but I will still provide a link to my original handcoded site.\u00a0 You should of course use whatever software and techniques you are comfortable with to build your e-Portfolio.<\/p>\n

In planning your e-Portfolio, I suggest viewing those of professionals in a variety of fields to help inspire you, and to see what works and doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 Here is what I have included in my original e-Portfolio (visit it here<\/a>) which is quite basic, but easily built upon.\u00a0 This is of course, just one way of organizing your e-Portfolio.\u00a0 Do what works for you, and remember it is a living document:<\/p>\n

1. Home \u2013<\/b> This is where you explain what your portfolio is and its purpose.\u00a0 You could include your professional philosophy, or a favorite quote.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 About \u2013<\/b> Include a brief paragraph about your personal and professional background and interests.\u00a0 One important tip to keep in mind is that while e-Portfolios allow for an infinite amount of information to be included, do not flood your e-Portfolio pages with large blocks of text.\u00a0 Include photos, bullet points, graphics, or maybe even a video.\u00a0 Take advantage of the multimedia capabilities of the electronic format of your portfolio.\u00a0 Keep your entire portfolio fun and interactive.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Resume \u2013<\/b> This is where you include some of your resume highlights.\u00a0 You could also provide a link to a full-text pdf version as well.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Artifacts \u2013<\/b> Here is where the meat of your e-Portfolio will be.\u00a0 Samples of professional and coursework can be included.\u00a0 Definitely include links to your projects.\u00a0 You may also want to include course descriptions from your program of study.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Associations \u2013<\/b> If you are a member of any professional organizations, provide links to their websites.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 Contact \u2013<\/b> This is where you should include any contact information or links to social media profiles.<\/p>\n

Building your e-Portfolio can be an invigorating experience as you consider your past achievements and try to put your best foot forward.\u00a0 If you want more information on building an e-Portfolio, this is a great presentation http:\/\/prezi.com\/1jfd8kpvtrsk\/e-Portfolios-for-information-professionals\/<\/a>.\u00a0 Also, look forward to future articles documenting my progress in updating my own e-Portfolio.<\/p>\n

Good luck!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Veda Darby Soberman, Head Editor, INALJ Hawaii e-Portfolio Primer So, you\u2019ve entered the job hunt armed with a basic arsenal of a well-crafted cover letter, polished resume and stellar references.\u00a0 Don\u2019t think you are fully prepared yet.\u00a0 One more weapon which is making its way from auxiliary to essential is the e-Portfolio.\u00a0 An e-Portfolio…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,3939,3607,3940,3941],"class_list":["post-14939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-e-portfolio","tag-inalj-hawaii","tag-portfolio","tag-veda-darby-soberman"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-3SX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}