Creating an Internet Portfolio
One of the obligations of a leader in any profession in to share information learned so that others in the profession may benefit from it. In years past, the key format for such sharing was through publication of articles or books—and this remains a valid format for sharing information. But in this internet age, a new way exists for sharing information. There are internet sites where anyone can start a web based information page that becomes searchable by others and available to all in public domain. There are two such sites that offer this service for no charge:
www.blogger.com
www.squidoo.com
If you have some experience with web sites and the internet, you may be more satisfied with the blogger site. If you do not have many skills on the web, the squidoo site is much easier to use—just fill in the blanks and make some selections.
Here are some instructions for setting up a squidoo lens (a lens is an information page):
- Go to www.squidoo.com
- Click on “Get Started”
- Click on “Build my own lens”
- Proceed with signing up for squidoo—don’t worry—there are no charges
- Create a lens address—you will be asked to add a word to http://www.squidoo.com/______________ Use a word that you will remember.
- Give your lens a title. For this exercise, you are setting up a lens, or information page, that will be a collection point for articles and other information that you post on the web during the course of this masters program.
- Add Key Words—these are words that you identify that represent what your site is all about. These are the words that the search engine robots will check for when scanning the web for a search.
You will then be taken to a template for the lens---pick a basic template for posting your article.
ASSIGNMENT: After setting up your lens, post a 750 to 1500 word article summarizing something you learned this semester. You can modify an essay you did for a module, or you can take part of your final paper and format it to be a short piece on a specific topic. For confidentiality purposes, please avoid using the name of your clinical site, preceptor, etc. Use general terms that don’t disclose the location. For example, “A large suburban academic medical center” instead of writing Westchester Medical Center.
Format for Web Based Articles: When you write an article for the web, there is a specific formula you should follow. Begin with some factual information, perhaps citing a reference. Then lead into some discussion of the topic which explains the topic to the reader. Finally, end the article with some specific steps for action—and number them or put them in bullets at the end of the article.
Titles for Articles: Pick an engaging title that is going to make the reader want to read the article, not necessarily one that is going to point out your keen intellect! For example, “Three Steps to Avoid Excessive Staff Turnover” engages someone on the web more than “An Analysis of Factors Contributing to High Rates of Staff Terminations in a Nursing Care Setting”!!!
In addition to posting your article on the blogger page or squidoo lens, you can also post your article for free on several other sites where others will pick it up and post it on their web sites or newsletters. You won’t get paid for this, but you will enjoy seeing your articles spread through the internet. Here are some sites where you can post articles:
www.articlecube.com
www.goarticles.com
About a week or two after you post your articles on one or both of these sites, if you want to see how they have been picked up through the web, go to Yahoo or Google and search your name (e.g. “Joseph J. Tomaino”) and you will be surprised how many hits you end up seeing with your name as the search topic!
Remember, once you post an article on the internet, it becomes very difficult to pull it back—so check it carefully for accuracies and for errors.
Have fun!
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