Welcome! "What is this website?", you may be asking yourself. This E-portfolio is an in-depth examination of my expertise in 14 specific areas of the library and information sciences. Although the tone presented here is often professional or academic, this E-portfolio examines the past two years of my graduate-level projects and creations, which lends itself well to the occasional interesting story and personal reflection on my part, so please enjoy those. A little housekeeping on the organization and structure of this portfolio, as well as on the writing process I followed when creating it:

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• The list of the 14 areas of expertise (aka “competencies”) can be found on the “Areas of Competency” tab. 

• Each of these 14 competencies has its own page in this E-portfolio, which are all accessible through the aforementioned “ Areas of Competency ” tab. 

• Each of the 14 competencies are organized into four distinct sections: 

  • An Introduction to What Competency X Means to Me and to Library and Information Science

  • The Discussion of My Evidence

  • How Creating the Evidence Helped Me Gain Expertise in Competency X

  • How the Knowledge I Have Gained Will Influence Me in the Future, as an Information Professional

         

          To tell you a bit more about myself while also providing some insight into how my thought process works, I’m going to talk briefly about an almost 20 year old sci-fi book that has largely flown under the radar. There is a favorite comfort novel of mine in which librarians and libraries play a minor, supporting, role (the book is, Sunshine, by Robin McKinley: gothic chandeliers, mysteries, implications, ill-timed and curious super powers, baked goods, landladies with superhuman posture, an entire cast of characters completely devoid of any and all communication skills, questions of appropriate vampire loungewear, ominous yet wholesome lakes. Need I go on?) At one point in the novel, it's stated that librarians "...tend to have tidy minds" (McKinley, 2003 p. 210). I’ve always liked that statement in the novel. It made sense to me. I do have a "tidy mind". I’m impeccably organized and that helps me to understand the world around me. Yet I have also learned that there are limits to what organization can teach me. I know that the world is not impeccably organized, but often very messy. I know that some of the best things in life can come from chaos. Sometimes, hyper-organization can turn into something rigid and inflexible, which becomes a limit rather than a tool. Having an organized and tidy mind in a messy world can be an infuriating experience, but it can also be a beautiful one. I feel that the best organization intentionally leaves room for chaos, for spontaneity, for that random chance that can affect a life's direction. I feel that in the balanced space between organization and chaos, we can find some of the best things in life: unlikely friendships, romance, adventure, unexpected trajectories for our lives. With that said, I hope you enjoy exploring my E-portfolio and the stories, graduate-level projects, and analysis that I present within it.