How do you manage your historical research portfolio?

1 Define your goals

Before you start creating or updating your historical research portfolio, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with it. Do you want to showcase your expertise in a specific historical topic, period, or region? Do you want to demonstrate your proficiency in various research methods and tools? Do you want to highlight your publications, presentations, and awards? Do you want to attract potential employers, funders, or partners? Depending on your goals, you will need to select and organize your portfolio contents accordingly.

2 Choose a format

There are different ways to present your historical research portfolio, depending on your audience, purpose, and preference. You can create a physical portfolio, such as a binder or a folder, that contains printed copies of your documents and materials. You can also create a digital portfolio, such as a website, a blog, or a social media account, that showcases your work online. You can also use a combination of both formats, depending on the situation. The format you choose should be easy to access, update, and share.

3 Organize your content

Your historical research portfolio should reflect your skills, achievements, and interests as a historical researcher, while also being relevant, current, and accurate. You can organize your content into different sections, such as a biography, research projects, publications, presentations, awards and grants, professional development, and outreach and engagement. For each section, you should provide a summary of your current and past work with citations and links if available. For awards and grants, include names, dates, amounts, and descriptions; for professional development, include names, dates, and details; for outreach and engagement include names, dates, and descriptions. This will help to inform the public understanding and appreciation of history.

4 Update your portfolio

Your historical research portfolio is not a static document that you create once and forget. It is a dynamic and evolving representation of your work and progress as a historical researcher. Therefore, you need to update your portfolio regularly, at least once a year, to reflect your new achievements, publications, projects, and interests. You also need to review your portfolio periodically, to check for errors, outdated information, and gaps. You can use a checklist, a calendar, or a reminder system to help you keep track of your portfolio updates.

5 Share your portfolio

Your historical research portfolio is an invaluable tool for both personal and professional use. It can be used to showcase your qualifications, skills, and achievements when applying for jobs, promotions, or tenure; to support grant applications; to network with other researchers; and to engage and educate the public about your research. Your portfolio can demonstrate your fit for a position or organization, show your research track record and potential, highlight your research interests and methods, make your work accessible, and justify your budget and timeline.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?