WHAT IS ERIC?

AN OVERVIEW OF THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER

DATABASEby

MARK HABERTHE COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE, GILL

LIBRARYOctober 2008

EDUCATIONALRESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER

WHAT IS ERIC?

ERIC Facts

Established in 1966 Sponsored by U.S. Dept. of EducationContains both journal articles and documents

WHAT ARE ERIC DOCUMENTS?

Papers presented at scholarly conferences

Reports of school districts

Reports of state departments of education

Doctoral dissertations in education

Limiting Your Search

ERIC Searches can be limited to:Journal articles onlyPeer reviewed materialsFull text materials

Controlled Vocabulary

Agreed upon term for a subject or concept (in ERIC, these are called “Descriptors”) Phonic method USE PhonicsReading disabilities USE Reading DifficultiesSpeech handicaps USE Speech Impairments

Use of Thesaurus

List of ERIC DescriptorsScope Note (ERIC’s definition of the term)Other Terms (Broader, Narrower, Related)

Boolean Searching

Combine Search Terms“AND” narrows the search (retrieved item

must have all the terms)“OR” broadens the search (retrieved item can

have one or more of any of the terms)“NOT” limits the search (retrieved item does

not have the term)

Truncation

The asterisk * at the end of the root of a word retrieves the word and all forms of the word

Teach* retrieves teach, teacher, teaching, etc.

Adolescen* retrieves adolescent,

adolescence, etc.

Read* retrieves read, reader, reading, etc.

Retrieving the full text

Some articles and documents are available full text

Others can be requested at the Circulation Desk

Journal articles and ERIC documents that are not owned by CNR can be ordered via Illiad

The Arrigoni Library at Iona College (715 North Ave. New Rochelle) also has many ERIC documents and education journals and is available for use by CNR students.

Advantages of Using ERIC

Contains both journal articles and ERIC documents

Comprehensive ThesaurusBoolean Searching