"There are two agencies on a typical university or college campus that can be catalysts for transforming the teaching and learning matrix in significant ways --- the library and the faculty development center," says Leora Baron, Director of the Teaching & Learning Center (TLC) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "When the two agencies collaborate, watch out!" Baron's direct involvement with information literacy began on a small scale when she worked as a faculty member and later as a k–12 school principal. As the use of computers proliferated and the presence of the Web became ever more prominent, her students and later her teaching staffs needed guidance in making informed decisions about the scope of online integration in their work. In the days before information literacy was identified and labeled as a distinct area of attention, making informed choices and keeping a balance between traditional pedagogy and newly found, often tempting possibilities, were issues of great concern to her as an educator. Upon returning to academe as a college/corporate partnerships director and subsequently as a faculty developer, Baron realized that information literacy—its essence, its discussion, and its implementation—can not be limited to the confines of the library. That it would take cross-campus partnerships and initiatives for information literacy to make inroads into the pedagogical arena. As luck would have it, in 1998, when she took over the directorship of Florida International University's Academy for the Art of Teaching, she found a professional soul-mate in Patricia Iannuzzi who was then the head of the library's reference and instruction department. Patty's pioneering work in getting the campus' attention to information literacy has reached a critical point at which the library was willing to engage in outreach activities and the campus was willing to listen; what was needed was a way to engage the most critical segment of the university, the faculty, in action rather than discussion. "Serendipity certainly played an important role in getting the two of us together at that exact time," says Baron. "My vision was to create an environment in which faculty would learn about IL, will understand its centrality to the success of the academic enterprise, and will be willing to reconsider their courses, their curricula, and their priorities in order to integrate it across the disciplines. Patty had the same vision, and so we used this synergy to create one of the first higher education faculty development programs in IL." To accomplish what at the time was considered a rather maverick idea, a faculty development program was designed that engaged faculty first in becoming information literate for their own scholarly work; once they grasped the importance and possibilities of IL (usually after about 45 minutes of very intense hands-on activities), they were willing to consider what it meant to their students. Baron's involvement with IL has taken diverse forms. She has conducted workshops for librarians and for faculty (titled "Hug a Librarian"), has collaborated with librarians in the development and implementation of faculty development activities, and has conducted seminars at professional conferences. In her current role as a member of the Core Committee ('Board') and chairperson of the Publications Committee of The Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD), Baron has taken a leadership role in getting this premier faculty development organization to acknowledge the importance of information literacy and of faculty development efforts in this area. Publications: Baron’s oft referenced article, "Why Information Literacy? Empowering Teachers and Students in the Classroom and Beyond" appeared in the August 2001 issue of the NEA Higher Education Advocate, and is available online at http://www.nea.org/he/advo01/advo0108/front.html. Contact Information: Dr. Leora Baron Director Teaching & Learning Center (TLC) University of Nevada, Las Vegas 4505 Maryland Parkway Box 453054 Las Vegas, NV 89154-3054 Telephone: (702) 895-2294 Fax: (702) 895-2291 leora.baron@ccmail.nevada.edu

Site sponsored by: Syracuse Literacy Group

Dr. Lana Jackman
Sharon Weiner
Co-Chairs, National Forum on Information Literacy