Building Your Portfolio: The CILIP Guide

Citation

Arthur, R. (2011), "Building Your Portfolio: The CILIP Guide", Library Review, Vol. 60 No. 1, pp. 80-81. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531111100595

It is a rare time to read a professional publication from cover to cover at one sitting, but this was compulsive and rewarding reading. Building Your Portfolio by Margaret Watson manages to balance the relatively dry topic of process and structure surrounding Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland's (CILIP's) suite of professional awards with personal testimonies which are delightfully unpretentious and informal. Margaret Watson is a former CILIP President who made a significant contribution to the recent changes to library and information science professional awards and has been involved in LIS education for a number of years. She demonstrates her working knowledge of the subject and, obviously aware of both the potential dryness of the subject and the need of her audience, weaves in a rich seam of case studies, which are likely to attract continuing reference.

When CILP introduced the new Framework of Qualifications and Accreditation (FoQA) in 2004, it changed the focus onto reflective practice. CILIP Awards encourage candidates to consider what additional knowledge they have gained since their initial qualification and to demonstrate how they have applied that in the workplace, so demonstrating professional development. All parts of the CILIP FoQA are portfolio based so this book becomes an important manual to gaining professional awards. The simplest way to describe this book is as a “how to guide.”

I have supported candidates through certification, chartership and fellowship, and been through revalidation myself and I am frequently asked about the various aspects of portfolio development. This book takes candidates through each stage simply and clearly. Scope is not restricted to the identification, gathering and organisation of evidence, but covers each element. Starting with the background, the book goes through the assessment criteria, reflective writing, constructing a curriculum vitae (CV), building a professional development plan and drafting a personal statement. The final sections deal with what constitutes supporting evidence and vital last minute checks before posting off the submission.

A range of expert contributors help to breathe life with various examples from their own portfolios. These case studies reveal candidates' lack of confidence, concerns and vulnerabilities which is reassuring to the reader. The contributors come from a range of backgrounds and are spread across the profession which adds richness to the guide. In his case study to illustrative reflective writing, Keith Trickey calls this the Three Whats – What? So what? and Now what? I first heard this at a CILIP Mentor Training Event in Edinburgh and have used it repeatedly from that time. Karen Newton describes how thin her CV might have been until she used advice to develop it properly. Having been with the same employer for a number of years, she detailed her different posts, responsibilities, skills and training experience. Ayub Khan shares a list of his fellowship portfolio evidence, which is extremely detailed and helpful. Margaret Chapman includes a list of how long she spent on her revalidation submission, breaking it down into timeslots for planning, updating CV and so on. This is the very practical advice which candidates are seeking.

Over the past six years, changes have been made to the CILIP regulations necessitating the production of this new edition. If I were to ask for additional content, it would probably be more examples of reflective writing because I think it is the most challenging aspect; there is a lot of good guidance available from university web sites and you can never have too many examples. Building Your Portfolio has much to offer candidates, students and employers but is also useful for anyone working in portfolio‐based qualifications frameworks. As a mentor to a number of candidates pursuing different levels within CILIP's framework of qualifications, I really welcome this new edition and it will be well used with my candidates this autumn. Thankfully, Facet Publishing has ensured that the book is well bound and is robust enough to stand up to persistent use.