“It’s been an absolute honour to have had the opportunity to work with Afaf over the last 4 months. She has been so responsive and supportive with any task set and has delivered all tasks pre expectations. Afaf also has a great ability to explain, educate and instruct internal processes to a common understanding” – D. U. Channel and Alliances Manager

The program entails a lot of visual representation of our work, whether it is written reports, PowerPoint presentations, audio recordings, infographic, or mindmaps. While I was comfortable completing assignements in Word or PowerPoint, I have explored different formats to enhance my communication skills.

• I have started recording sessions about information studies now and then because of one assignment that pushed me out of my comfort zone. For ISI6711, you will find an episode about Controlled Digital Lending in Libraries in both French and English.
• I have designed an infographic for ISI6353 for Banned Books Assignment.
• Throughout this iportfolio, you will find written assignments and PowerPoints demos to demonstrate my work in every section in the Knowledge Base.

“Afaf is one of the best team players in the team with noticeable language and communication skills. Always ready to actively contribute to our EMEA team members to complete their tasks and never hesitates to share the knowledge with her colleagues. The good spirit and positive attitude she has, creates a comforting atmosphere within the organization.” – J. E. Senior Team Leader

Throughout my studies, I have collaborated closely with classmates on numerous assignments. While only some are featured in this portfolio, this does not diminish the significance of the others. The projects highlighted here align with the key categories I chose to showcase in my knowledge base. However, every collaboration over the past two years has been a valuable and enriching experience.

• For ISI6721, the “Information Needs Analysis for Amnesty International Canada” where Functional Analysis in Information Architecture was conducted.
• In ISI5307, the “Study on Web Accessibility for Individuals with Disabilities in Ontario University Websites” with my partner Mayra Monir.
• My first collaboration in this program, in ISI5302, where the OpenAlex Concepts Classification was conducted.
• The fun experience of cataloguing a NAC maquette and writing a well-investigated copyright report.
• The application of Web 2.0 in libraries mindmap that was done with two other hardworking teammates.
• The “consulting firm” we founded for ISI5705 for the Canadian Museum of History Resource Center.
• The study to enhance the digital infrastructure at Russell Township Public Library for ISI6700.

“Afaf’s biggest strength is her ability to deal with conflicting priorities in high-pressure situations. She never loses her cool which is one of the reasons she stands out. Working on time critical projects, Afaf is always diligent, willing to go the extra mile and is super resourceful.” – C. S. Director Channel Sales

The reason I like to be challenged in tasks is to push beyond my comfort zone, it is always stimulating and helps me build confidence and resilience, with routine tasks I do not feel very useful. I have dealt with conflicting assignments, new tools, new technologies, but it is in that confusion and stress where I came out liking the results.

• I was first introduced to VOSviewer in ISI5307, where I exported JSON files, imported them into the software, and experimented with the visualizations to better understand the data. By taking the time to familiarize myself with the tool, I became more comfortable manipulating these visuals, which led me to use VOSviewer for my search strategy assignment.
• The most challenging course I have taken is ISI6341, where I used for the first time Visual Studio Code to work with Python. The final project focused on improving question-answering systems by integrating document retrieval with Large Language Models (LLMs). While LLMs like ChatGPT are trained on extensive public datasets, they may not have access to recent or proprietary information. To address this, I fed the model open-access papers, input a set of questions, and enabled the model to generate responses based on the information from those papers. The goal was to provide more accurate and contextually relevant answers for organizations. The task was not easy, but the satisfaction of seeing those responses helped in forgetting the troubles encountered.

“Having worked with Afaf for almost a year, it has been nothing but a pleasure. Afaf is most helpful, friendly and knowledgeable person to work with. Afaf takes her care and time when carrying out her duties and does it with a systematic approach. She has the ability to identify and solve problems with ease due to her experience and knowledge. Afaf brings tons of positive energy to everyday work and makes boring tasks enjoyable. Afaf is also very proactive and has great time management skills to ensure projects are met in a timely manner.” – T. G. Channel Sales Manager

This program features numerous assignments that rely on problem-solving and analytical skills. Whether through providing a solution to organize document structures, come up with solution to enhance user engagement and accessibility, navigate creativity and its intersection with copyright law in the age of Artifical Intelligence, and many tasks that require critical thinking. Whether working individually or in collaboration, it is essential to backtrack, analyze the situation, brainstorm solutions, evaluate options, and select the best fit. A great example of this is the Strategic Assessment and Recommendations for Enhancing Digital Infrastructure at Russell Township Public Library assignment.

Wireframing & Structure Planning

• Balsamiq for wireframes for ISI6742.
• Xmind for mindmaps to organize this portfolio.

Web Development

• HTML/CSS for web design for ISI6742 and to customize some sections in this portfolio.
• WordPress (In ISI6742 and ISI6995).
• SquareSpace (volunteering for Tap Elderly Women Wisdom for Youth).

Content Organization

• SharePoint Online for records management for ISI6721.
• SPO site configuration using metadata and content types during my FSWEP position.

Visual Representation

• Canva was used for visualization purposes (Banned book infographic for ISI6353, mindmaps for Web 2.0 in libraries and Recommendations for Russell Public Library, logo for ISI5705 project management assignment).
• TABLEAU to visualize data in ISI5304 for search strategy part 2.

Research & Analysis

• VOSViewer for bibliometric analysis both in ISI5304 search strategy and ISI5302 OpenAlex project.
• Zotero to manage bibliographic data, generate citations and bibliographies in APA7, store and organize research materials in dedicated libraries. Used in numerous written reports in this program.

Document Production

• MS365 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote)

Multimedia Development

• Audacity for audio editing for both ISI6711 podcast recording (FR and ENG) and ISI6354 in ARCS digital archives assignment.

• Visual Studio Code editor used for writing, editing, debugging, and running Python code for LLM implementation in ISI6341.

• Compliance and testing with accessibility tools (Wave and SiteImprove) used to gain insight into Web Accessibility in Higher Education.

Team Coordination

• MS Teams for collaboration with classmates in projects.

Project Management

• Jira for Project Management used to schedule timeline of tasks and detemine completion time using Gantt Chart in ISI5705.
• Monday for project collaboration and task assignement for volunteer work at TEWWY.