ERIC

What is the Education Resources Information Center?

ERIC, the Education Resources Information Center, is a powerful research tool, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, that provides access to education literature and resources from more than 1,000 journals. This database is particularly useful for education researchers, teachers, administrators, parents, and students in teacher-preparation programs.

Some of the topics covered include Vocational Education, Counseling, Disabilities and Gifted Education, Early Childhood Education, Higher Education, Languages and Linguistics, Teacher Education, Reading and Communication, Science Education, Mathematics Education, and Social Studies Education.

Basic Search:

Looks for your keyword search term in the ERIC database.

Example: You want to find some recent articles about language acquisition, and you only want to see search results for articles that are available in full text.

1. Click on the Basic Search tab
2. Enter your search term in the Find box
3. In the Refine Search section, check the box marked Full Text
4. Limit the range of publication dates to your preferred time frame
5. Click the Search button

Search Tip:

You can limit or expand your basic search with any combination of limiters and expanders in the Refine Search section, or by using Boolean terms (And, Or, and Not) in the Find box with your keyword term.

Advanced Search:

This search option allows you more options for specifying your search term and narrowing down your focus.

Example: You would like to search for full-text articles about community colleges, but not universities.

1. Click on the Advanced Search tab
2. Enter your first search term in the Find box
3. Select "SU" or Subject" from the drop-down menu beside the Find box
4. Select "not" beside the second Find box
5. Enter your second search term in the second Find box
6. Select "SU" for the second term from the drop-down menu beside the Find box
7. In the Refine Search section, check the box marked Full Text
8. Click the Search button

Search Tips:

• You can use any combination of Boolean operators (And, Or, or Not) with each separate search term.
• You can limit your search to a specific educational level or intended audience for more focused results.

Other search options:

Browsing:

This is a useful search step when you want to see what types of subjects and journals are included in the database but you don't know exactly what you want to search for. You can browse through indexes by selecting the "Indexes" button on the "Advanced Search" tab. Indexes are available by Author, Educational Level, Descriptors (or "Subject"), Intended Audience and other index categories. These indexes can help you select a topic or familiarize yourself with the resources available through ERIC.

For more help and information:

While using ERIC you may click on the blue circle with the white question mark. These Help buttons provide additional information and advice while you are using the ERIC database.

This page was created by Julia Mitschke in Spring 2007.
INF 382S: Library Instruction and Information Literacy, taught by Dr. Loriene Roy
School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin