he tangata, he tangata, he tangata

Acknowledge the past

Embrace the present

Advance the future

1. Why did you sign up for the joint ALIA/QUT project?

I had heard about ePortfolios and thought that they sounded fantastic. My children were starting to use them at school and I could see that they had a strong future in education, professional development and career planning. As a new graduate in an acting Librarian role at the time I thought that this was a wonderful opportunity to ready myself for future employment opportunities. I also had the full support of my current employer and I knew that they would be following my progress throughout the project. I always saw career planning and professional development as crucial to success as a Journalist so I was eager to do similar as a Librarian. Having an ePortfolio to collate and display my achievements in various formats such as webfolios and CV's has proven to be far better then a traditional CV.

2. What do you want to achieve as a member of the project?

There are several things that I want to achieve as a member of the project. To confirm that I am on the right career path after investing in a Masters degree and undergoing a career change. As a new graduate I saw all of these amazing opportunities for Librarians and didn't know where I should begin. My main goal was to gain a permanent position as a Librarian and if I could dazzle potential employers with my ePortfolio then I would have a competitive edge on other new graduates. Three months into the project I had gained a permanent position as a Reference Librarian working for Logan City Council Libraries. A role that I find both rewarding and fullfilling. My ePortfolio was certainly instrumental in the process.

3. How are you progressing and what are your experiences so far?

I didn't set any particular goals at the beginning of the project and instead I went in with an open mind. I was drawn to the visual attractiveness of PebblePad and wanted my achievements to be presented in the same way that I had seen in some of the sample webfolios. Once I had became familiar with the various assets and how they worked it became very natural and almost intuitive. Like others in the group I would like to spend more time working on my ePortfolio but I am excited by what I have achieved and have accumulated over 100 quality assets.

4. How have you used your ePortfolio (practical applications)?

My ePortfolio is one of my greatest professional assets. I have used it to store and display all of my professional achievements including my educational qualifications and professional development. I have also used it to reflect, brainstorm, set goals and map my career. I have used my assets to create a CV that helped me to gain a permanent position as a Reference Librarian, created a webfolio to demonstrate my achievements for my annual performance planning and review and created blogs to document staff training and my progress in the project.

5. Almost 8 months have passed, what features of your eportfolio do you like the most and why?

I love the simplicity and visual attractiveness of PebblePad. I like being able to store my information and achievements and then being able to use these assets again and again to build different assets such as webfolios and CV's. It is amazing how easy this is to do. My ePortfolio has made me more vigilant about updating my current achievements not just before a job interview or my annual performance planning and review.

6. If you had to create an 'elevator pitch' aimed at fellow librarians re your ePortfolio and professional development, what would you say?

Keeping with the theme of the conference past, present and future.

Past - My ePortfolio has enabled me to capture my past experiences and achievements and demonstrated to myself, my peers and my employer how much I have achieved professionally both as a Librarian and as a Journalist.

Present - I have been able to showcase my skills, abilities and achievements and develop a strong career path with scope for future growth. I am job ready at all times.

Future - My ePortfolio is a sound investment in my career, my current workplace and our profession.