Academics:   Master of Library and Information Science

Legacy Portfolio Guidelines

Refer to the following guidelines and processes around the Legacy Portfolio.  The portfolio you assemble must provide evidence that demonstrates how you have developed a number of the qualities and skills essential to your future success as an information professional. It also must be submitted in a timely manner, following our Legacy Portfolio Deadlines.


Elements of the Legacy Portfolio:

The outcomes of the Legacy Portfolio focus on intellectual development.  The Legacy Portfolio provides tangible evidence in the form of artifacts or representations of artifacts demonstrating how the student, while enrolled in the MLIS program, has developed a number of qualities and skills essential to his/her future success as an information professional.  It includes a summary and synthesis of five essential areas along with an explanation of how various experiences contributed to the student's individual intellectual and professional development. 

These five essential areas, or dimensions, where competence must be demonstrated by means of tangible evidence include: 

• Significant teaching or training experience,
• Significant leadership experience,
• Significant practical or service experience,
• Sustained intellectual argument or experience through the creation of a professional-level document or presentation, and
• Significant project or product involving information technologies, in which the student participated in its design and development.

In regards to these five dimensions, "significance" is determined on the basis of the individual student's experiences and the portfolio's success in framing the portfolio requirements based on those experiences.  For example, "significance" is demonstrated by evidence of:

• The extent to which the experience, expression, or participation included in the portfolio strengthens the individual student's overall resume; and
• The extent to which the experience, expression, or participation included in the portfolio illustrates a challenge or stretch for the individual student; and
• The extent to which the introduction to each section of the portfolio or the summary and synthesis indicates clearly why the "significance" criteria listed above is met for the individual student.
  

Building the Legacy Portfolio:

The Legacy Portfolio consists of artifacts (tangible evidence) representing experiences beginning at the start of the MLIS program, and it finishes during the final quarter in which the student plans to graduate.  During the student's time in the program they should keep a Working Portfolio Digital Repository (WPDR); this assists the student in keeping an archive of experiences and evidence of those experiences in the form of tangible artifacts that may be used in the build out of the Legacy Portfolio that will be evaluated by the iSchool Faculty. 

 

There are two key things that students working on the Legacy Portfolio should do:

1. Consult with his/her assigned Faculty Advisor at least three quarters prior to the quarter in which he/she would like to graduate (typically the final quarter in the program).  Discuss the elements of the portfolio, and establish a timeframe for the Faculty Advisor to conduct preliminary reviews.  The key element to a successful Legacy Portfolio is communication with the Faculty Advisor.
   
2. Pay attention to the Legacy Portfolio submission and review deadlines.  Note that the Legacy Portfolio should be built *prior* to the final quarter in the program, to allow adequate time for the Faculty Advisor to conduct a final review and assessment.  Students are required to provide the Faculty Advisor with a Legacy Portfolio Submission Form to fill out as part of the First Reader review process.

The student's portfolio should be a professional presentation, and may be submitted in any format suitable for presentation of the necessary elements. The majority or portfolios are submitted as web-based projects, allowing for ease of faculty review as well as future colleagues/employers.  Sample portfolios are available on the iSchool website.  

The student's Faculty Advisor not only serves as a resource during the building of the Legacy Portfolio, but also serves as the First Reader who evaluates the portfolio.  The process is as such:

1. By the Monday of the fourth week of the quarter, the Faculty Advisor has reviewed and signed off on the student's Legacy Portfolio via the Legacy Portfolio Submission Form.  The Faculty Advisor serves as the First Reader and assigns either a "pass" or "provisional pass".  A "pass" means that the portfolio is complete and ready to be evaluated by a Second Reader; a "Provisional pass" means that the portfolio is mostly done, but a project may still be pending.
   
2. Upon the initial review of the First Reader, the student's portfolio is randomly assigned to another faculty member, who serves as the Second Reader.  The Second Reader assigns either a "pass", "pass with minor revisions", or "pass with major revisions".  A "pass" means that the portfolio is complete and no extra work needed.  A "pass with minor revisions" comes with suggestions for minor improvement, which the student must complete and have re-reviewed by their Faculty Advisor (First Reader) by a certain date.  A "pass with major revisions" comes with instruction for major improvement, which the student must complete and have re-reviewed by the First Reader and the Second Reader.