Starting Advanced Digital Collections...my proposed collection

The collection I propose to build for uploading to a Drupal content management system (CMS) will consist of academic papers and projects I have written over last four years for various different classes. The files will be mostly in Word format, with perhaps a couple of PowerPoint or XML files for variety's sake. Should we focus on making the files all in one format or are we encouraged to use several different file formats? Once I find out, I'll tailor my pretty extensive body of work accordingly. I think this will be a good collection to work with for several reasons. First, I am familiar with the collection because I am the author. As such, it will give me an opportunity to do a retrospective of what I have written to serve as both a refresher and a confidence booster to encourage myself about what I am capable as I encounter difficult aspects of DigIn assignments. It's been a long road for me to get to where I am now and I feel like I don't always pause to reflect enough.

Another reason why I'm using my own work to build a collection is that this project could become a valuable personal asset. I could possibly see myself building a personal website with representative samples of my work as part of a "virtual" resume or CV complete with links to a digital repository of papers for potential employers or professional colleagues to access. Posting text files to a digital repository should be one of the simplest formats to work with as opposed to something more complex like digital images or audio which have more proprietary and varied formats that could pose problems. In a worst case scenario, I could post the papers as plain text files instead of Word files if I encounter any interoperability problems or something.

Finally, my personal papers can be arranged into a logical taxonomy fairly easily. I envision structuring a hierarchy based mostly on chronology with year composed at the top of the pyramid, then semester (fall, spring or summer) as the next layer, followed by spefic month. Additional links among the hierarchy could be based on instructor, class number and title, subject (e.g. history, archival theory, library science, preservation, applied technology, etc.), topic (e.g. provenance, early railroad development in the South, library preservation planning, etc.) or function (thesis, finding aid, internship overview and analysis, etc.). I could also create separate taxonomies according to educational degree objective such as MLIS, MA Public History or certificate program. For now I will try to select a sample of my best work that also includes a wide selection of different subjects, topics, years, functions, and educational objectives.