Hunter College Libraries Blog

Trying to steer clear of getting into the boredom of cataloging rules, initially I was planning to entertain my fellow restaurant frequenters with “Chinese cuisine in Chinatowns around the world” for this writing. However, later I decided, after having attended a conference, to share equally delicious “food”, but it is for thought, instead. The following is sketchy information about electronic portfolios that I, a computer idiot, acquired from the Conference.

The conference, titled Making connections, eportfolios, integrative learning and assessment, was held on April 11-12, 2008 (plus afternoon of April 10 for pre-conference workshops) in LaGuardia Community College, which has played a leading role in promoting this cutting-age learning tool in New York City (For more information: http://eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu/). Meanwhile, on a national platform of eportfolio development, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, in partnership with state education and workforce organizations, launched the first statewide electronic portfolio management system in the United States in 2002 (For more information: http://www.efoliominnesota.com/)

What are e-portfolios? To simply put, e-portfolios are computerized version of portfolios. A personal e-portfolio is a digital documentation of collection, selection, reflection, and projection throughout an individual’s lifelong activities, artifacts, and memorabilia. Since an e-portfolios can also include a compilation of written assignments, exams, presentations, learning process, and achievements, a student portfolio could speak volumes when seeking employment during career pursuits.

Another perspective for e-portfolios is from the angle of classroom faculty and librarians. E-portfolios may provide a venue for educators to access the outcomes of student classwork and perform assessment or evaluation. Successful evidences about using eportfolios along with rubrics to teach various subjects or evaluate information literacy programs have been widely reported.

Though there are many free web 2.0 tools, such as: Wordpress, Wikispaces, GoogleDocs, Googlepage, and Epsilen, etc, available to create and develop personal web-based eportfolios (For more information: http://electronicportfolios.org), to support e-portfolios in an institution, on the other side of fence, is not a cost-free decision. As a matter of fact, this is known as a difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and bound to fail crusade if it is NOT a well-funded and planned initiative.

My regret of attending this Conference is that I missed so many concurrent valuable seminars and lectures to further my knowledge. Nevertheless, I am grateful for being awakened to many possibilities of this educational resource and excited to know about the opportunities this tool can provide for personal growth and institutional development.

I am pleased to announce that Brian Lym is returning to the Hunter College Libraries as Science Reference Librarian.  He is rejoining the staff on Monday, May 12th, after a short stint at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Medical Library.  Welcome back, Brian!

Arranged in call number order:

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The Hunter students and faculty who are eligible to vote will want to be registered and prepared to make informed decisions. This posting focuses on just one of many information sources available remotely through the Hunter College Libraries home page.

Go to the Library’s databases page to find an alphabetical listing of the databases and digital reference sources you’ve paid for with your tuition and tax dollars. On this list, you will find They Represent You.

This connects you to the League of Women Voters guide for voters, which includes:

• Voter registration information, forms and deadlines
• Absentee ballot application forms
• Find out Who Represents You searchable by street address

The League also provides:

• Choosing the President 2008
• City Council Elections
• How to communicate with Elected Officials

Remember: All resources are available for home use by Hunter students & faculty using your Hunter email & password. Doctoral students enrolled in other CUNY schools taking classes at Hunter, should have their professors contact Ilan Zelazny to request access.

Associate Librarian for Public Services and Associate Professor Danise Hoover has been elected vice-chair/chair-elect of the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association. She will take office as Chair-elect in July 2008 and will become Chair of CODES after the annual meeting in Chicago in July 2009. Danise has been active in RUSA and CODES for many years serving in various capacities, both elected and appointed, on committees and boards. Congratulations on being recognized by your peers for your outstanding service to RUSA and CODES.