The Capping Project
LIS 600… the final course
“The required capping exercise for the MLIS degree at the University of Alberta School of Library & Information Studies (SLIS) is an ePortfolio representing examples of the student’s course work, leadership and innovation potential, communication skills, and involvement in professional life.”
“The student” in question in this case would be me, Winston Pei, a.k.a. the Butterflies & Aliens Head Alien, and this would be my capping project.
Having started this program in the fall of 2019, I am still processing that, five years on, I am now putting together this summary of my studies. And I am starkly aware that it is only a summary of a part of this journey.
What would otherwise not be mentioned sufficiently are the absolutely incredible people I’ve met along the way, both students and faculty… our shared experience of surviving a global pandemic in the middle of our schooling… hours spent online learning far more skills than librarianship… hours also spent together in grad lounges and bars and, of course, libraries, learning and building community together.
And before continuing on to the matter at hand, I will allow myself this one moment of vocational awe to say that I am humbled, honoured, and delighted to soon be able to call myself… a Librarian!
The project itself consists of 1) the mapping of ten “artifacts” to the program’s ten Program Learning Outcomes, or PLOs, and 2) a “values reflection” that articulates how my experience at SLIS has allowed me to engage in the school’s values.
Of the ten artifacts, seven are “programmatic artifacts,” including three from core courses, three from elective courses, and one from an IT course. The remaining three are “experiential artifacts” taken from professional and leadership activities.
And we threw in two bonus artifacts for good measure!
Mapping Artifacts to Program Learning Outcomes
Note: If you’re not seeing all twelve artifacts below, you may be on a filtered view of this page. Please click here to display all twelve artifacts.
Magnificent Scholar Witches
PLO 1: Library & Information Studies Organizations, Society, and Values:
Students will appreciate the functions of librarians and information specialists within the larger global societal framework, and the factors influencing the creation, dissemination, and use of knowledge and information and the responsibility to serve all client groups.
Indigenous Librarianship
PLO 2: Library & Information Studies Ethics, Issues, & Trends
Students will, within appropriate institutional, organizational, or professional constructs be ready to debate local, national, and global information issues and policies in a cross-disciplinary, analog, or digital context that includes, but is not limited to the responsibility of librarians and information specialists with respect to the free flow of ideas and access to information.
A Landscape of Maps
PLO 3: Critical Thinking & Evaluation
Students will possess the skills and theoretical knowledge necessary to evaluate and improve library and information systems and services.
Faculty Committees
PLO 4: Leadership & Management
Students will be knowledgeable about the theories and concepts of administration and organizational behaviour and their application to the management of libraries and information agencies.
The Papers of the Bibliographic Society of Canada
PLO 5: Professional Communication
Students will be prepared to flexibly articulate and adapt their education and ongoing contributions to different environments in line with principles, norms, and practices governing professional communication in the field.
Physical or Digital
PLO 6: Production of Knowledge
Students will be able to analyze and synthesize the concepts of knowledge, information, and communication; and to critically examine, assess, and make recommendations as to how these concepts and principles are applied in various information environments, including the web.
The Catalogue Projects
PLO 7: Information Retrieval
Students will be able to create and manage user-centered information services and systems to meet the information needs of shifting and distinct communities of users.
The Book Cover Project
PLO 8: Research
Students will be able to individually and collaboratively evaluate published research in library and information studies (LIS) and other fields of knowledge and apply basic principles and techniques of research in LIS with an understanding of the relationship between LIS and other disciplines.
The Serendipity Project
PLO 9: Information Technologies
Students will understand current information technology as an integral part of the operations and services of libraries and information agencies.
The Library & Information Studies Students Association
PLO 10: Professional Engagement
Students will be ready to play an active role in associations and engage in other professional activities, as well as understand the importance of cooperation among librarians and information professionals and their agencies.
The Comic as Object Project
PLO 6: Production of Knowledge
Students will be able to analyze and synthesize the concepts of knowledge, information, and communication; and to critically examine, assess, and make recommendations as to how these concepts and principles are applied in various information environments, including the web.
Beeton’s Book of Household Management
PLO 8: Research
Students will be able to individually and collaboratively evaluate published research in library and information studies (LIS) and other fields of knowledge and apply basic principles and techniques of research in LIS with an understanding of the relationship between LIS and other disciplines.
A Reflection…
…on the Values of the School of Library & Information Studies…
…which is to be “a diverse, inclusive, dynamic and collegial School which honours:
Integrity, fairness, and respect;
Equity, diversity and inclusion;
Indigenous worldviews and bringing truth and reconciliation to our education;
Excellence in teaching, research and scholarship, and citizenship;
Mutual sense of responsibility and accountability;
Pride in our history, traditions, communities, students, and alumni; and,
Intellectual curiosity, academic freedom and intellectual freedom, imagination, and creativity.”
With all the upheaval and change that has taken place at the University of Alberta and the School of Library & Information Studies (SLIS) during my time as a student, I was somewhat daunted to come to any clear conclusion or lessons in reflecting on the values of our school.
Wrestling with the idea of pride in our history and traditions, or a mutual sense of responsibility and accountability, was in particular a challenge when upholding those values have often felt one-sided or forgotten by some within the very institution.
But in struggling with that… with questions of academic freedom and intellectual freedom… how to fully incorporate Indigenous worldviews and the practice of truth and reconciliation… the need for substantive acts of increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion over merely performative ones… I believe we have all been called upon to engage fully with the values of the school, and of our profession.
The Core Values of Librarianship as stated by the accrediting body of our school, the American Library Association (ALA) – Access, Equity, Intellectual Freedom and Privacy, Sustainability, and the Public Good – these too are being tested right alongside the stated values of our School.
It calls to mind a Venn diagram referencing the world of music, in which the circle for “Things that make you a better person” was completely subsumed within the circle for “Things that make you a better musician”… with things like “listening,” “practice,” “humility,” “love,” and, hilariously “not clapping on 1 and 3” sitting within the “better person” circle, while things like “ear training,” “arpeggios,” and “scales” were amongst the few exclusive to musicianship.
After all that, I guess my “conclusion,” upon reflecting at least this much upon our values as librarians and a library school, comes in the form of a similar diagram in my mind. Mostly we’re just talking about “better person” qualities… of integrity and fairness… equity and inclusion… responsibility and accountability… imagination… creativity… curiosity… respect…
In fact, arguably there’s nothing in our school values or the ALA core values of librarianship that sit exclusively in the “better librarian” circle. If anything, I feel like “academic and intellectual freedom” should sit fully under “better person” much in the same way that “clapping on 1 and 3” does.
So to the extent that my studies and time at the School of Library & Information Studies has given me opportunity to continue working to be a better person, in class and outside of class, learning from examples both properly exemplary and some less so, it has also been a constant exercise in engaging with SLIS values.
And despite any frustration, a most valuable one.
Respectfully submitted by Winston Pei, June 25, 2024, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Library & Information Studies.