Thriving in Academe

Why Information Literacy?

Empowering Teachers and Students in the Classroom and Beyond
by Leora Baron, Florida International University

Learning to find your way through the information maze pays dividends for faculty and students alike.

Information literacy initiatives have recently become familiar in higher education circles. While the original thrust came from research libraries, now accrediting organizations, both academic and professional, have embraced information literacy as a core academic component.

Because the thrust toward information literacy comes on the heels of the computer revolution, the reactions of many faculty members to these initiatives parallels their attitude toward the computer. Do we really need this? Is this going to help us teach better? How does information literacy differ from how we related to information and research in the past?

Experience at our institution has shown over the past few years, that those who attempted to integrate information literacy into their teaching have now embraced the concept—and an increasing number who've yet to try are eager to do so.

Faculty members quickly discover that becoming information literate has its rewards in increasing their ability to provide students with new and refined tools for academic success and in expanding their own ability to refine and expand research activities.

Read on to see how faculty can make the leap to information literacy—with minimal investment of time and effort.

Meet Leora Baron
Leora Baron is director of the Academy for the Art of Teaching at Florida International University in Miami. The Academy is the focal point for all faculty development initiatives for over 1,000 full time faculty, 500 adjuncts, and 500 graduate teaching assistants. Partnering with the campus library, the Academy launched the Information Literacy Initiative. Leora is a member of the ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries) Institute for Information Literacy's Best Practices Project Advisory Panel, and she has co-facilitated faculty and administrators' workshops on information literacy. Leora can be contacted at Florida International University, University Park-GL 120W, Miami, FL 33199 or by E-mail at baronl@fiu.edu.

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