All About ERIC
ERIC on the Internet
ERIC strives to provide easy and affordable access to education resources for a diverse,
global audience. The Internet has been an ideal vehicle for making ERIC's resources available
to busy students, parents, and professionals.
E-mail
If you have an e-mail account, you can use it to communicate with
ERIC Clearinghouses, order
ERIC documents, or send a question to the award-winning
AskERIC question-answering service.
ERIC Web Sites
There are many ERIC Web sites, all linked by one systemwide site run by ACCESS ERIC at
http://www.eric.ed.gov/. Internet users now visit
ERIC Web sites thousands of times every day to access resources including:
The high quality of ERIC Web sites is indicated by continually increasing usage and by the
numerous awards the sites have received. Here are some examples of what users can find at
ERIC Web sites:
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A reading teacher might visit the
ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English,
and Communication site
(http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec)
where he would find exemplary lesson
plans, an online magazine for parents
and their children, and an invitation
to join READPRO, which is an
electronic discussion group for
reading professionals. |
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A school principal could use the ERIC
Clearinghouse on Educational Management
site (http://eric.uoregon.edu)
to find the full text of ERIC Digests
on work teams, block scheduling, and
leadership. Before deciding whether to
subscribe to the K12ADMIN listserv, she
could browse through recent messages posted
to that listserv using the AskERIC listserv
archives (http://www.askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives).
Or if she's looking for alternatives to tracking and
ability grouping, the Urban Education site
(http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu) offers a
bibliography that can help her find relevant
information. |
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A school board member preparing for a meeting
on improving student access to technology could
check out the most recent publications from the
ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology
(http://ericir.syr.edu/ithome). |
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A graduate student in early childhood
education could run a search of the ERIC
database on the project approach and order the
most relevant documents from the ERIC Document
Reproduction Service (http://edrs.com). |
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A parent could check the National Parent
Information Network (http://npin.org) for
monthly parent news items, such as tips on
how to help children behave in grocery stores,
as well as for articles on assessment, the
effects of video games, and parent involvement
in schools. |
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To conduct your own tour of ERIC on the
Internet, start with the ERIC systemwide
site at http://www.eric.ed.gov/ , which
provides links to all ERIC-sponsored Web sites and allows
you to send e-mail to
ERIC Clearinghouses.
AskERIC
AskERIC is a personalized, Internet-based service that provides education information to
teachers, librarians, counselors,
administrators, parents, and others throughout the United States and the world. AskERIC
began in 1992 as a project of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology at Syracuse
University. Today, it encompasses the resources of the entire ERIC system and many other
sources. Anyone needing the latest information on special education, curriculum development,
or other education-related topics can simply "AskERIC." When you send an education question
to askeric@askeric.org, an information specialist
will send you a personal e-mail response to the question within two working days. You will
also receive a list of ERIC citations that deal with your topic, relevant full-text materials
(if available), and referrals to organizations and other Internet site resources for
additional information.
Anyone wishing to search for answers to education questions will discover an abundance of electronic resources at the
AskERIC Virtual Library (http://www.askeric.org/Virtual). These resources
include lesson plans, AskERIC InfoGuides, ERIC Digests, education listserv archives, and much more. The ERIC database
can also be searched online from the AskERIC Web site (http://www.askeric.org).
Listservs
If you enjoy communicating via e-mail and want to participate in ongoing discussions about education-related topics of interest,
consider joining one or more of the ERIC-sponsored listservs. More than 80 listservs are currently managed by ERIC
Clearinghouses, including ECENET-L (early childhood education), K12ADMIN (elementary and secondary school
administration), and LM_NET (school library and media services). For a list of many ERIC-sponsored listservs and links to
subscription information, go to http://www.eric.ed.gov/resources/listservs.html.
To browse the archives of many of these discussion groups, go to http://www.askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives.
Online ERIC Document Delivery and Subscription Service
The full text of most materials in the ERIC database with an "ED" followed by six digits is
available through the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). About 80 percent of ERIC
documents from 1993 to the present are available in electronic form for downloading and
printing. Approximately 92 percent of the documents announced in ERIC since 1966 are
available in microfiche or paper copy format. To obtain copies, you can:
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Go to a library convenient to you and ask if it
offers access to electronic and/or microfiche copies.
To locate the nearest ERIC resource collection, call
ACCESS ERIC or search the Directory of ERIC Resource
Collections online at
http://oeri4.ed.gov/BASISDB/EROD/eric/SF.
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Contact the
ERIC Document Reproduction Service to order copies. The EDRS Web site
(http://www.edrs.com)
allows users to search the ERIC database and order
electronic copies of recent, available documents.
Electronic images of ERIC documents are provided in
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). EDRS also offers
paper copy delivery, including fax and express mail
services.
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In addition, libraries and research institutions can offer their patrons access to full-text
copies of ERIC documents online through
E*Subscribe,
an electronic document subscription service offered by EDRS. Check your favorite library for
this service.
Special Projects
The Department of Education and the ERIC system are always looking for new ways to meet your information needs. There
are currently a number of
special projects hosted by ERIC components. Some receive ERIC funding, and many receive
funding from other sponsors.
Education Resource Organizations Directory
ACCESS ERIC assists the U.S. Department of
Education by maintaining the database for the
Education Resource Organizations Directory
located at the Department's Web site
http://www.ed.gov/Programs/EROD. The
Directory enables Internet users to search
more than 4,000 national, regional, and
state organizations including information
centers, comprehensive and technical
assistance centers, and many other types of
programs, services, and organizations.
ERIC Calendar of Education-Related Conferences
This online publication, maintained by ACCESS ERIC, describes more than 700 international,
national, state, and regional education-related conferences. Each entry in the calendar
includes the conference name, date, location, topic, and target audience as well as the
sponsor's contact information. Users can search the calendar several ways, and it's updated
continually. To search the calendar, go to
http://webprod.aspensys.com/education/ ericconf/ericcal/introduction.asp.
ERIC/OSEP Special Project
Through the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, with funding from the
U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), the Council for
Exceptional Children operates the ERIC/OSEP Special Project. This special project hosts an
annual conference for directors of OSEP-sponsored research projects; produces a directory of
special education discretionary projects; and produces publications such as Research
Connections, Newsbriefs, and Topical Briefs. Recent publications have included
Integrating Technology Into the Standard Curriculum, Inclusion and Preschoolers, and
Moving Research Into Classroom Practice, all of which can be found online at
http://ericec.org/osep-sp.htm.
ERIC Search Wizard and Expert Searches
This state-of-the-art search engine, developed by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and
Evaluation, allows users to select terms from the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors to
build effective, high-quality searches. The Wizard features seamless online ordering, readily
available information on journal and document sources, multiple display options, an option
to save citations to disk, and a "More Like This" option based on ERIC descriptors. The
Wizard also allows users to load more than 80 prepackaged search strategies on current
educational topics. Users can revise the strategies to suit their needs or use the strategies as a starting point. The strategies
were developed by the best reference librarians in the ERIC system. To search ERIC using
Wizard, go to http://ericae.net, then click on "Search ERIC."
Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM)
The National Library of Education (NLE) is spearheading a consortium effort called the
Gateway to Educational Materials. A special project of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information
& Technology, the goal of GEM is to create an operational framework to provide "one-stop,
any-stop" access to the thousands of lesson plans, curriculum units, and other educational
materials on the Internet. GEM has created a standard format for descriptions of educational
materials and has assembled these descriptions in the Gateway Catalog
(http://www.thegateway.org). This catalog includes
more than 15,000 records from more than 200 collections, creating easy access regardless of
where the materials reside on the Internet. For more information about the GEM project, send
an e-mail message to geminfo@geminfo.org or visit
the GEM Web site at http://geminfo.org.
Key Resources in Community Colleges
This online publication series (
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/ERIC/neintro.html) is a product of the ERIC Clearinghouse for
Community Colleges. The series supplements recent bibliographic citations from ERIC with an
analysis of the important issues. As of September 2000, three topics had been updated:
access, diversity, and inclusion; civil society; and leadership.
National Parent Information Network (NPIN)
NPIN is a special project of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood
Education and the ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. Begun in 1993 as an Internet site
for parents (http://npin.org), NPIN services have since
expanded to provide information via e-mail through the AskERIC program, through workshops,
and through its toll-free telephone number (1-800-583-4135).
NPIN staff conduct workshops on Internet uses for parents and children, produce monthly
issues of Parent News (NPIN's award-winning online publication for parents), produce
ERIC Digests, moderate the PARENTING-L listserv, and continue to enhance one of the largest
Internet sites for parents. The NPIN Web site was visited more than 1 million times in 1999.
NIFL-ESL Listserv
Since March 1995, the Adjunct ERIC Clearing-house for ESL Literacy Education has moderated
the NIFL-ESL listserv (
http://www.cal.org/ncle/nifl-esl.htm), 1 of 10 listservs hosted by the National Institute
for Literacy as part of its LINCS project. With more than 800 subscribers as of November 2000,
the NIFL-ESL listserv is a busy forum for discussion about teaching English to adult
immigrants and about related educational policy issues.
Reading Pathfinder
The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education created the Reading
Pathfinder Web site (http://readingpath.org), which provides easy access to information on
helping children become competent readers by the third grade. The site includes a searchable
database of approximately 1,200 Web articles, Web sites, lists of reading programs, local
sources of assistance, and more. Users can locate resources that are of interest to parents,
caregivers, and educators.
Test Locator
Test Locator describes more than 11,000 assessment instruments and their availability. It is
a joint project of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, the Library and
Reference Services Division of the Educational Testing Service, the Buros Institute of
Mental Measurements at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, the Region III Comprehensive
Center at George Washington University, and Pro-Ed test publishers. To search Test Locator,
go to http://ericae.net/testcol.htm.
Virtual Libraries
Several ERIC Clearinghouse Web sites offer virtual libraries of full-text documents in their
topic areas. For example, the ERIC Clearing-house on Elementary and Early Childhood Education
hosts a virtual library on its ReadyWeb site (
http://readyweb.crc.uiuc.edu), which offers more than 40 publications on school readiness
and learning readiness. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Student Services has a
collection of virtual libraries (
http://www.uncg.edu/edu/ericcass/libhome.htm) on topics such as career development,
school violence, and conflict resolution.
Virtual Reference Desk
VRD is creating the foundation for a national cooperative digital reference service. The
project is sponsored by NLE and the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology, with
support from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Digital reference services, also called "Ask-An-Expert" (or "AskA") services, are
Internet-based question-and-answer services that connect users with individuals who possess
specialized subject or skill expertise.
The VRD project has developed the AskA+ Locator, a searchable database of Internet-based
question-answering and referral services. The AskA+ Locator
(http://www.vrd.org/locator/index.html)
contains detailed profiles of each service, including a brief description, intended audience
and grade level, and subjects addressed.
For more information, send an e-mail message to vrd@vrd.org
or access the VRD Web site at http://www.vrd.org.
Workplace Literacy Products
The ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education has developed a publication
titled Exemplary Products Produced by National Workplace Literacy Program Demonstration
Projects, 1995-1998. This publication, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Education's
Office of Vocational and Adult Education, highlights 58 workplace education products that
were rated exemplary by a panel of experts. These products, which can be used by adult
educators, corporate and union training staff, and others seeking information for their work
force education programs, demonstrate the application of principles of good practice in
planning, conducting, and evaluating adult and workplace education programs. For more
information, contact the
ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education at 1-800-848-4815,
ext. 2-7069.
 ERIC Publications and Products
 How To Start an ERIC Resource Collection
This page was updated on Thu Nov 15 17:02:46 GMT 2001
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