ERIC: Educational Resources Information Center

What's New:

The ERIC reload and data format change has been completed and the up-to-date version of the database is now available on EBSCOhost. Records marked by ERIC as peer-reviewed can be easily accessed via a new check-box limiter. The thesaurus has been upgraded to include new terms and the database now contains more than 1,194,000 records and links to more than 100,000 full text documents from ERIC.

ERIC, the Educational Resources Information Center, is a collection of over one million citations to journal articles and ERIC documents beginning in 1966 and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. ERIC documents include citations for curriculum guides, conference papers, standards and guidelines, educational reports, government documents, education statistics, theses, dissertations, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, and books. The ERIC database covers numerous topics related to education and teaching, including:

• Adult, Career, and Vocational Education
• Counseling and Personnel Services
• Elementary and Early Childhood Education
• Education Management
• Handicapped and Gifted Children
• Higher Education
• Information Resources
• Junior Colleges
• Languages and Linguistics
• Reading and Communication Skills
• Rural Education and Small Schools
• Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education
• Social Studies and Social Science Education
• Teacher Education
• Tests, Measurement, and Evaluation
• Urban Education

ERIC Databases

The UWM Libraries offers three ways to search the ERIC database online, EBSCOhost, CSA Illumina, and the Department of Education website all offer access. The EBSCOhost version offers the advantage of directly linking to full text articles if they are available in any EBSCOhost affiliated database. Both EBSCOhost and CSA offer a wider selection of search options than the Department of Education version. Off-campus access for the EBSCOhost and CSA versions is restricted to UWM students, faculty and staff.

To search the ERIC databases choose from the A-Z list of databases. Enter an author, title, keyword(s) or subject into the search prompt. To combine keywords use “and” between the words, for example ASSESSMENT AND READING; the “and” will narrow or focus the search. You can broaden the search by combining keywords with “or,” for example READING OR LANGUAGE ARTS

Locating an ERIC item

Records retrieved from the search will contain an “ERIC number”. If the number starts with “EJ” (for example EJ314673) the citation is for a journal article. If the number starts with “ED” (for example ED432413), the citation is for an ERIC document. If an ERIC document or journal article is not offered in full text use the “FIND IT!” button. This will search the library catalog, link to another database where the full text is available, offer microfiche or Inter-Library Loan. If an ERIC document is not available online it may be accessible on microfiche. Approximately 80% of the ERIC documents collection from 1966-2005 is available on microfiche in the Curriculum Library (2 nd floor, East Wing). From around 1992/93 to current may also be available online via the link provided in the ERIC database or with the “FIND IT!” button.

Understanding ERIC search results from the EBSCOhost database:

This is a journal article. The full text of this document is available from EBSCOhost.

The full text of this document is available from the Department of Education ERIC database.

This document may be available on microfiche in the Curriculum Library, 2 East.

The “FIND IT!” option may not be effective in locating older ERIC documents. The Curriculum Library, 2 East, should have any document that indicates it is available on microfiche. If you would like to verify availability of a specific ERIC document please call the Curriculum Library service desk at 414-229-4074.