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.

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.