Librarians continue to be challenged by the Internet and technology (related video) as more and more teachers and students begin to by-pass the library's and librarian's expertise for the convenience of Google and other search engines.

Unfortunately, this process has eroded the teaching of essential digital information literacy skills to students and resulted in a plague of copy/paste plagiarism devoid of original thought and critical thinking.

Activity: How can ProQuest help librarians to challenge this negative trend made possible by the ineffective use of computers and technology? That's easy--by using technology solutions that are not available through Internet surfing research. ProQuest BookCarts and QuizCarts are an excellent tool (more information) to demonstrate why ProQuest content and tools beat Internet surfing research every time.

Recently, ProQuest has begun to recognize a growing number of librarians who are using BookCarts and QuizCarts in exemplary ways. These information literacy leaders have gone the extra mile in building collections of BookCarts that directly support the delivery of standards-based curriculum in their schools.

This effective use of technology for teaching and learning demonstrates their vision and effort in helping to increase student achievement in essential skills, and with it, teacher effectiveness in implementing a 21st Century culture of learning.

Here are some examples of librarians we have recognized in recent Newsletters that you will want to read about, be inspired, and start your own campaign to integrate technology in unique ways:

Ana Banos
Sweetwater Union High School District, San Diego, CA

Ann Martha
Philadelphia School District, Philadelphia, PA

Diane Gallagher Hayashi
Vancouver (BC) Canada

ProQuest would like to recognize you as well in future eLibrary newsletters and Teachable Moments. If you have worked hard to bring the benefits of custom BookCarts and QuizCarts to your teachers, and can show your collection examples, then ProQuest would like to consider you for recognition of your hard work.

Such recognition is important to demonstrate that libraries and librarians still count in the age of Google. If you would are interested, please contact Tim McLain. Include a brief summary of your work with creating BookCarts for your teachers or helping them to create their own collections.