ERIC is a database sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education that contains education-related journal articles and documents. It was established in 1966. ERIC documents include papers from conferences, reports from school districts and state education agencies, and doctoral dissertations. Searches can be limited to peer-reviewed or full text materials. Controlled vocabulary descriptors provide agreed-upon terms to search subjects and concepts. Boolean and truncation searches can be used to broaden or narrow results. While some full text is available, other items can be requested or accessed at local libraries.

1. WHAT IS ERIC? AN OVERVIEW OF THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER DATABASE by MARK HABER THE COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE, GILL LIBRARY October 2008

2. WHAT IS ERIC? Educational Resources Information Center

3. ERIC Facts Established in 1966 Sponsored by U.S. Dept. of Education Contains both journal articles and documents

4. WHAT ARE ERIC DOCUMENTS? Papers presented at scholarly conferences Reports of school districts Reports of state departments of education Doctoral dissertations in education

5. Limiting Your Search ERIC Searches can be limited to: Journal articles only Peer reviewed materials Full text materials

7. Controlled Vocabulary Agreed upon term for a subject or concept (in ERIC, these are called “Descriptors”) Phonic method USE Phonics Reading disabilities USE Reading Difficulties Speech handicaps USE Speech Impairments

8. Use of Thesaurus List of ERIC Descriptors Scope Note (ERIC’s definition of the term) Other Terms (Broader, Narrower, Related)

13. 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)

16. 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.

18. 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.

28. Advantages of Using ERIC Contains both journal articles and ERIC documents Comprehensive Thesaurus Boolean Searching