ERIC

Introduction

The ERIC database is produced by the U.S. Department of Education and is an electronic compilation of two paper indexes, CIJE (Current Index to Journals in Education) and RIE (Resources in Education). The database is a guide to published and unpublished sources on thousands of educational topics. It includes citations and abstracts for journal articles, books, theses, curricula, conference papers, and standards and guidelines from 1966 to present. ERIC includes full text for most level 1 ERIC documents (EDs) released after 1993. It does NOT include full text for earlier ERIC documents, and it does NOT include full text for journal articles (EJs).

Accessing

This database may be accessed from the Databases page of the Electronic Resources section of the NSU Alvin Sherman Library website.

For more on how to access databases visit http://www.nova.edu/library/dils/lessons/electroniclibrary/

Regardless of which ERIC service you use–the public Web site, FirstSearch, or Cambridge Scientific Abstracts–you are searching the same database of educational information. Some services provide access to only the most recent years of ERIC, which may be all you need. However, the full database goes back to 1966.

Note: The following instructions are for the FirstSearch version of ERIC. The precise steps will not be the exact same for the Cambridge Scientific Abstracts or public Web site version, but the basic theory will be the same either way.

For detailed information on how to search the Cambridge Scientific Abstracts version of ERIC, please see the Cambridge Scientific Abstracts tutorial.

Searching

In FirstSearch, ERIC should automatically connect you to the advanced search screen. If you are not in the advanced search mode, change to an advanced search so that you will have more search options.

After accessing the advanced search

• type your search term(s) in the entry box
• add any search limitations–fields, document types, years, etc.
  Note: FirstSearch offers an option to limit the search to full text documents only. In ERIC, this option does not function adequately. If you wish to retrieve full text ERIC documents,
  DO NOT CHECK the Limit to full text option.
  
• click on Search/Submit to obtain a list of records

Sample ERIC search screen.

Search Results

Search results will vary. If you get:

• No records matched your search, then check your spelling or the fields you searched in.
• Too many, then go back and limit your search. Sometimes a search needs to be modified with: additional search words, searching only a specific field, adding date limitations, or type of materials.
• Too few, then go back and expand your search. Consider synonyms for your search words or concepts. Try to use professional language or terminology.
• Irrelevant results, then try new search terms. Consider synonyms or related concepts. Identify and search using descriptors. Try a different database.

Search results in ERIC can be quickly refined to subjects based on your current results set.

To refine your search from a list of results

• click on the Related Subjects icon –in the grey bar at the top of the results
• a listing of Find Subject Search Terms is displayed
• select subject terms
  • to select one subject term, click on the subject term
  • to select multiple subject terms, click in the check boxes to the left of each of the desired terms and then click the Search button

Related Subjects screen in FirstSearch ERIC.

Results lists

The results of an ERIC search may contain items on your topic from the

• journal literature–abstracts of journal literature have EJ numbers
• document literature–abstracts of document literature have ED numbers

Sample ERIC search results.

Records

To view a detailed record

• click on an item’s title
  • if a link to Full Text appears in the citation, click on the link to view the full text of the document.

When you view an ERIC record, you will see

• the complete citation for the item
• an EJ or ED number
• an abstract or summary about the item’s content
• descriptors used to describe the item’s content–these are useful for suggesting ways to modify your search
• information about the availability of the item
• a link to full text if it is an ERIC document available in full text

NOTE: When you look at an ERIC record you will see either EJ or ED and a six-digit accession number. This alphanumeric code identifies the record as either being from a journal or magazine (EJ) or an ERIC Document (ED). Researchers using ERIC must be aware of these two types of records in order to be able to correctly locate the full-text of these items.

EJ and ED numbers.

EJ or ERIC journals

The EJs or ERIC journals are abstracts of articles in educational periodicals to which the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center may or may not subscribe.

Following is an example of an EJ abstract found in ERIC:

Sample EJ (journal) record.

Sources for full text ERIC journals

To obtain a copy of an article, you need the full citation: the title of the article, the author, and the name of the periodical with the volume number, issue number, page numbers, and date published. NOTE: Do not use the EJ number – it is of no help in locating journals articles in the Sherman Library.

ERIC does not contain the full text of journal articles. You can check to see if the article is available

• in one of NSU's other online databases with the Journal Finder
• in the NSU Libraries' periodical collection listed on NovaCat–distance students can order items listed in NovaCat through Document Delivery.
• in another library
  • from a Detailed Record, click on Libraries Worldwide That Own Item link to display libraries in the Southeast United States that own the item
  • click on the Display All Libraries link to display all libraries that own the item

Articles not available in the NSU Libraries or online full-text can be obtained from another library through Document Delivery or Interlibrary Loan.

Sample screen showing libraries that own a particular item.

ED or ERIC documents

The EDs or ERIC documents are abstracts of items that are not generally published in traditional sources such as journals or books. They include documents ranging from conference proceedings to NSU practicums. These documents can range in length from three pages to thousands of pages.

Following is an example of an ED abstract found in ERIC:

Sample ED (document) record.

NOTE: Record both the ED number and the citation information for ED items–both will help you in locating the materials.

Additional examples of ERIC documents

Additional examples of ERIC documents:

• conference papers
• ERIC digests  
• non-print media
• unpublished masters' and doctoral dissertations, theses, practicums, major applied research projects, and action projects
• books
• reports
• ERIC publications of limited circulations

Conference papers

• Information that is important for either locating or citing the source is highlighted in red.  Each abstract has information explaining the highlighted information. 
• A formatted citation of the resource is provided.
• Information pertaining to the correct formatting of the resource is also provided.

Accession No:	ED450938
Title:	Reflections on Community-Based Inclusive Preschools.
Author(s):	Brown, William H. ; Odom, Samuel L.
Publication:	U.S.; South Carolina; 2000-07-00
Report No:	NCES-2001-304R
Abstract:	Noting that the inclusion of young children with disabilities....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Inclusive Schools Preschool Education
	(Minor):	Community Education Comparative Analysis
Note(s):	Paper presented at the Head Start National Research Conference (5th, Washington, DC, June 28-July 1, 2000).
Record Type:	070 Information Analyses; 141 Reports--Descriptive; 150 Speeches/MeetingPapers
Availability:	Level: 2

• The information about the name of the conference and the date of publication is located in the Notes field.
• As a level 2 document, full text is not available online from ERIC, however, it should be available in the ERIC microfiche collection. The ED accession number is important to retrieve or request the microfiche.
• This is identified as a conference or meeting paper, but there is no indication in the Notes field that the paper was published in a proceedings of the conference.  There is no ISBN number and no name of a publisher or location for a publisher.

• Unpublished conference papers have the month included with the year of publication.
• Note that there are commas between the name of the conference, the city, and state, not periods. 
• The abbreviation for the District of Columbia is treated like a state using the US postal abbreviations.  This means that there are no periods in DC

Accession No:	ED450824
Title:	WWW.2CHEAT.COM.
Author(s):	Rooks, Clay D.
Publication:	U.S.; California; 1998-04-00
Abstract:	This paper addresses the subject of cheating and plagiarism via the World Wide Web....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Cheating Internet Plagiarism
Note(s):	Paper contributed to the Teaching in the Community Colleges Online Conference (3rd, Honolulu, HI, April 7-9, 1998).
Record Type:	142 Reports--Evaluative; 150 Speeches/Meeting Papers
Availability:	Level: 1  Alternate: For full text: http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon98/paper/rooks.html

• As a level 1 document since 1993, full text should be available in ERIC. It should also be available in the ERIC microfiche collection. This particular document is also available from an alternate source, and a URL is provided.
• This is an example of a paper presented at a virtual conference. The Notes field indicate that the paper was contributed to an online conference. 

• Since this is an unpublished conference paper, the month is cited with the year of publication.
• Since the paper is not in a book, the title of the paper is italicized. 
• This document had a geographic location, but many virtual conference take place entirely online and do not have a location.  See APA manual, p. 276, # 84 for of an example of a conference with no geographic location. 
• The ERIC ED number is cited since the accession number can be used by future researchers to locate the document online or by microfiche. 
• The retrieval statement is included because the document was retrieved full text from the URL listed instead of online from ERIC E-Subscribe or on microfiche.
• There is no period at the end of the retrieval statement since it might be mistaken be thought to be part of the URL.

ERIC digests

• Information that is important for either locating or citing the source is highlighted in red.  Each abstract has information explaining the highlighted information. 
• A formatted citation of the resource is provided.
• Information pertaining to the correct formatting of the resource is also provided.

Accession No:	ED434465
Title:	How To Use ERIC To Search Your Special Education Topic: Update 1999. ERIC Digest E573.
Author(s):	McLane, Kathleen ; Sorensen, Barbara
Publication:	U.S.; Virginia; 1999-02-00
Report No:	EDO-EC-99-1
Abstract:	This digest provides information and advice for accessing information from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database, a federally funded information network designed to provide users with ready access to education literature. .... (23 references)
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Database Design Databases Disabilities Information Retrieval Search Strategies
	(Minor):	Educational Research
Note(s):	Updates ED 363 052./ Funding: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.  ED-99-CO-0026/ Report: EDO-EC-99-1
More Corp Auth:	ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Reston, VA. ; BBB30988
Record Type:	071 Information Analyses--ERIC IAPs; 073 Eric Digest in Full Text

• ERIC digests are secondary resources that summarize the research or conclusions of others so they are not good resources to be cited in scholarly research.
• Because the digest provides a bibliography of references on a specific topic, it can be a good place to locate useful resources on that topic.
• ERIC digests have an abstract, but they also contain the full text of the digest in the ERIC record. 
• The information about the publisher and the location of the publisher is located in the More Corporate Authors field. 

• The citation has a hanging indentation and is double spaced. Note that the spacing cannot be simulated in HTML.
• Use initials for authors' first names, not first or middle names. See APA manual, p. 224, first bulleted item under 4.08.
• Use ampersand (&) to separate the two authors. A comma goes in front of the ampersand. See APA manual, p. 224.
• There is only one space after periods. See APA manual, pp. 290-291, section 5.11.
• Only the first word in the title, the first word in the subtitle (if any), and any proper names are capitalized in the title of the document. See APA manual, p. 226, first bulleted item under 4.10.
• Include the ERIC digest number in the title when it is listed as part of the title.
• The location and name of the publisher are located in the More Corporate Authors field. 
• Since this document was made available by ERIC which is a document deposit service, you enclose the document number in parentheses at the end of the citation – example. See APA manual, p. 256, last bulleted item on page and p. 257,  example 43, to see format. Do not use a period after the document number. 
• Since the full text of the document was obtained online in ERIC, the retrieval statement is included. 
• There is a comma after the year in the retrieval statement. See APA manual, p. 231, fourth bulleted item under 4.15.
• The name of the database is used instead of the URL. See APA manual, pp. 278-279, says about aggregated databases as well as p. 231, second bulleted item under 4.15. NOTE: An aggregated database is defined as a database that is available in a variety of formats and from a variety of suppliers.
• The word database is lower case. See APA manual, p. 279, example 88.

Non-print media

• Information that is important for either locating or citing the source is highlighted in red.  Each abstract has information explaining the highlighted information. 
• A formatted citation of the resource is provided.
• Information pertaining to the correct formatting of the resource is also provided.

Accession No:	ED453830
Title:	Enhancing Education through Technology: New Tools to Close the Achievement Gap. Satellite Town Meeting #79: May 15, 2001. [Videotape].
Publication:	U.S.; District of Columbia; 2001-00-00
Abstract:	The "Satellite Town Meeting" is the U.S. Department of Education's monthly television program about improvements in teaching and learning that are happening in schools and communities across the nation. On each 60-minute show, ....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Computer Uses in Education Disadvantaged Educational Resources
Note(s):	Includes 4 videos; English and Spanish versions each in VHS of 1/2-inch and 3/4-inch. Available from ED Pubs for up to a year after first broadcast./ Funding: Procter and Gamble Educational Services, Cincinnati, OH. Bayer Corp., Pittsburgh, PA. Public Broadcasting Service, Washington, DC. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC. Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA. Target Stores/Dayton Hudson Corp./ Government Level: Federal
More Corp Auth:	Department of Education, Washington, DC. ; EDD00001; National Alliance of Business, Inc., Washington, DC. ; BBB17805; Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Washington, DC. ; FGK13710; Committee for Economic Development, Washington, DC. ; BBB31783
Record Type:	055 Guides--Nonclassroom; 100 Non-Print Media
Availability:	Level: 3 Alternate: ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398 (Item EK 0369V). Tel: 877-433-7827 (Toll Free); Web site: http://www.ed.gov/inits/stm/stm-arch.html. View meeting: http://ali.apple.com/events/edgovseries.

• This is identified in the Record Type field as a non-print media.  There is also a bracketed comment after the title indicating that this is a video. APA states that you are to enclose non-routine information that is important to the identification and retrieval in brackets.  The brackets indicate a description of form, not title. See APA manual, pp. 226-227.
• As a level 3 document (commercially produced), this is not available from ERIC, neither online nor in microfiche.  However, the information about how to obtain the video from other sources is provided in the Alternate field.
• The distributor of the video and the location information is not in the Publication field but instead in the Alternate field. There is also a URL for viewing the meeting. 

• There is no author so the title of the video goes first. 
• Identify the work as a video in brackets immediately after the title and before the period.
• The year of publication goes after the title when there is no author.
• You do not need the ERIC ED number in the citation since future researchers could not use the number to retrieve the video.  Instead, the 
• Since the publication is of limited circulation, provide the distributor's name and complete address in parentheses at the end of the reference. For an example of a motion picture, see APA manual, p. 266, #65.
• If you can retrieve the video online, you include the URL in a retrieval statement. 

Accession No:	ED452115
Title:	Art of the Pacific Islands. [CD-ROM].
Publication:	U.S.; Hawaii; 2000-00-00
Report No:	NCES-2001-304R
Abstract:	Oceanic art has long been recognized for its quality and its influence on Western art. This CD-ROM presents over 100 of  the finest examples of art from the Pacific region in the form of museum photos, contemporary video segments, and music.....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Art Education Art Products Cultural Context
Note(s):	Minimum system requirements: Any PC or Macintosh with multimedia capabilities, at least 16MB RAM and CD-ROM drive. PCs require Windows 95 and 486 processor (or higher) for optimum performance. Macs require at least OS 8.0. Created in partnership with Pacific Learning Services, Inc./ Funding: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. RJ96006601/ Audience: Practitioners/ Teachers
More Corp Auth:	Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, Honolulu, HI. ; BBB34498
Record Type:	101 Computer Programs; 130 Reference Materials--General
Availability:	Level: 3 Alternate: Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, 1099 Alakea Street, 25th Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813-4513 ($39). Tel: 808-441-1300; Fax: 808-441-1385; E-mail: askprel@prel.org; Web site: http://www.prel.org.

• The brackets indicate that this is a CD-ROM. 
• Level 3 documents are not available from ERIC.  However, the information about how to obtain it is provided in the Alternate field.
• The More Corporate Authors field indicate that there is a corporate author who also happens to be the publisher of the document. 

• The group or corporate author is listed in the author field. 
• The proper name in the title is italicized even through the words are not the first words in the title. 
• Information for the Available statement is located in the Alternate field since this is a resource of limited distribution.  If it had been a more well-established publisher, you would have listed the city and state with Author as the publisher.

Unpublished masters' and doctoral dissertations, theses, practicums, major applied research projects, and action projects

• Information that is important for either locating or citing the source is highlighted in red.  Each abstract has information explaining the highlighted information. 
• A formatted citation of the resource is provided.
• Information pertaining to the correct formatting of the resource is also provided.

Accession No:	ED455121
Title:	Increasing Participation of Female Students in Physical Science Class.
Author(s):	Graham, Megan
Publication:	U.S.; Illinois; 2001-04-00
Abstract:	This study describes a program designed to increase participation ....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Equal Education Physical Sciences Sex Bias
Note(s):	Master of Arts Action Research Project, St. Xavier University and IRI Skylight Field-Based Masters Program.
Record Type:	040 Dissertations/Theses
Availability:	Level: 1

• As a level 1 document since 1993, full text should be available online in ERIC. It should also be in the ERIC microfiche collection. Use the ERIC ED number to retrieve or request microfiche.
• The Notes field indicates that this is a master's project from St. Xavier. 

• APA has a specific format for unpublished master's and doctoral theses, dissertations, etc. See APA manual, pp. 260-262, for details. Since this was a master's action research project, the citation needs to reflect this fact.
• The title of the document is italicized when document is unpublished. 
• DHEL requires that you cite the city and state where the university is located. Note that this is in contrast to APA which does not include the state for cities listed in section 4.03 of the APA manual. Also, note that the abstract only provides the state but not the city. You may have to check a reference book in the library for the location information.
• The ERIC ED number is included because it can be used to retrieve the document from ERIC  E-Subscribe or from the ERIC microfiche collection. 
• Since this document happened to be retrieved full text online from ERIC E-Subscribe, the retrieval statement is included.  Because ERIC E-Subscribe meets APA's definition of an aggregated database (i.e., databases available in a variety of formats and from a variety of suppliers),  you would not provide the URL but the name of the database.
• There is a comma after 2001, and the word database is in lower case letters.

Accession No:	ED420967
Title:	Working from within the Classroom: Improving the Delivery of Speech-Language Services to Kindergarten At-Risk Students.
Author(s):	Sanford, Carol Ann
Publication:	U.S.; Florida; 1997-00-00
Report No:	NCES-2001-304R
Abstract:	This report describes a 12-week practicum that was designed to decrease the number of special education referrals of at-risk kindergarten students....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	High Risk Students Inclusive Schools
Note(s):	Ed.D. Practicum, Nova Southeastern University.
Record Type:	043 Dissertations/Theses--Practicum Papers; 143 Reports--Research; 160 Tests/Questionnaires
Availability:	Level: 1

• This abstract does not indicate whether the practicum is a master's or doctoral practicum, but you can deduce this because of the EdD in the Notes field.
• The city is not indicated in the abstract, but you know that Fort Lauderdale is the site of the main campus for the university.

• Fort is not abbreviated.

Books

• Information that is important for either locating or citing the source is highlighted in red.  Each abstract has information explaining the highlighted information. 
• A formatted citation of the resource is provided.
• Information pertaining to the correct formatting of the resource is also provided.

Accession No:	ED454731
Title:	The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice.
Author(s):	Hinton, Leanne, Ed. ; Hale, Ken, Ed.
Publication:	U.S.; California; 2001-00-00
Standard No:	ISBN: 0-12-349353-6
Abstract:	Essays in this book include ....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Heritage Education Language Maintenance Language Planning
Record Type:	010 Books; 020 Collected Works--General
Availability:	Level: 3 Alternate: Academic Press, A Harcourt Science and Technology Company, 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495 (hardback: ISBN-0-12-349353-6, $99.95; paperback: ISBN-0-12-349354-4, $49.95). Tel: 800-321-5068 (Toll Free); Web site: http://www.academicpress.com

• The record type indicates that this is an abstract of a book.  The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) also provides the reader with a clue that this is a book.
• As a level 3 document (commercially produced), this is not available from ERIC, neither online nor in microfiche.  Someone wanting to obtain this book could do so through the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) department  at their public library or academic institution or request the Document Delivery department at NSU to obtain it.  Providing the ISBN number will facilitate the process for the department processing the request.
• The URL will help locate information about the publisher, not the actual document.

• There is a comma in front of the ampersand between the names of the two authors.
• Eds. is plural since there are two authors, and there is a period after it -- (EDs.).
• Since the ERIC ED number only retrieves an abstract of the book, the ED number is not included in the citation. 

Accession No:	ED440661
Title:	Collections, Content, and the Web. Conference (Chicago, Illinois, October 5-7, 1999).
Publication:	U.S.; District of Columbia; 2000-01-00
Standard No:	ISBN: 1-887334-73-4
Abstract:	Thirty leaders of ....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Libraries Museums
	(Minor):	Information Management
Note(s):	Joint partnership with the Chicago Historical Society./ Funding: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Washington, DC.
More Corp Auth:	Council on Library and Information Resources, Washington, DC. Digital Library Federation.; BBB35531
Record Type:	021 Collected Works--Proceedings
Availability:	Level: 1 Alternate: Council on Library and Information Resources, 1755 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20036 ($20). Tel: 202-939-4750; Fax: 202-939-4765; e-mail: info@clir.org; Web site: http://www.clir.org/diglib.

• This is a published book and has an ISBN number, but it is also the proceedings of a conference. The publication information is located in both the More Corporate Authors field and the Alternate field.
• As a level 1 document since 1993, full text should be available online in ERIC. It should also be in the ERIC microfiche collection. Use the ERIC ED number to retrieve or request microfiche.

• APA has a different format for published conference papers than for unpublished conference papers. If this had been an abstract for a specific paper in the proceedings, the title of the paper would not have been italicized as it would have been if it were cited as an unpublished paper. 
• The group or corporate author is listed in the author field. 
• The month of the conference is not cited with the year of publication when published papers are being cited.
• When the corporate author and the publisher are one and the same, the word Author is put in the publisher field. See APA manual, p. 259, #49, for more information.

Reports

• Information that is important for either locating or citing the source is highlighted in red.  Each abstract has information explaining the highlighted information. 
• A formatted citation of the resource is provided.
• Information pertaining to the correct formatting of the resource is also provided.

Accession No:	ED452279
Title:	Key Statistics on Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Agencies: School Year 1997-98. Survey Report.
Author(s):	Hoffman, Lee M.
Publication:	U.S.; District of Columbia; 2001-04-00
Report No:	NCES-2001-304R
Abstract:	This report provides basic information about ....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Elementary Secondary Education Enrollment Institutional Characteristics
Note(s):	For the 1995-96 report, see ED 435 650./ Government Level: Federal/ Report: NCES-2001-304R
More Corp Auth:	National Center for Education Statistics (ED), Washington, DC. ; EDD00004 v
Availability:	Level: 1

• As a level 1 document since 1993, full text should be available online in ERIC. It should also be available in the ERIC microfiche collection.
• Government reports often have report numbers. You can also obtain the document from the National Center for Education Statistics using the NCES report number provided in the notes.

• When the issuing organization has assigned a report, contract, or monograph number to the report, the number is included in parentheses immediately after the title and before the period.  Note that the number is not italicized.
• Include both the report number and the ERIC ED number if both can be used to retrieve the document. 

If you actually obtain the full-text of the document online, you need to also include the retrieval statement.

Publications of limited circulations

• Information that is important for either locating or citing the source is highlighted in red.  Each abstract has information explaining the highlighted information. 
• A formatted citation of the resource is provided.
• Information pertaining to the correct formatting of the resource is also provided.

Accession No:	ED455329
Title:	Districts on the Move: Unified Student Service in Boston Public Schools: Building a Continuum of Services through Standards-Based Reform.
Publication:	U.S.; Massachusetts; 2001-04-00
Abstract:	This paper discusses ....
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor:	(Major):	Academic Standards  Disabilities  Educational Changes  Inclusive Schools
Identifier:	Boston Public Schools MA
Note(s):	Funding: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (ED), Washington, DC. H086C970005-98
More Corp Auth:	Education Development Center, Newton, MA. National Inst. for Urban School Improvement.  BBB35844
Availability:	Level: 1  Alternate: National Institute for Urban School Improvement, Education Development Center, Inc., 55 Chapel Street, Newton, MA 02458. Tel: 617-969-7100, ext. 2105; Fax: 617-969-3440; e-mail: niusi@edc.org; Web site: http://www.edc.org/urban

• The information about the corporate or group author is provided in the More Corp Auth field.
• Information about how to locate publications of limited circulation is provided in the Alternate subfield. This document in available online from ERIC as well as from the alternate URL.

• The name and address from which a publication of limited circulation can be obtained is listed immediately after the author and title of the document.  See APA manual, p. 264, #62, for another example.
• If there is a Web address for actually retrieving the full text of the document, it can be listed instead of or in addition to the mailing address. 
• If the document is also available from ERIC, the ERIC ED information would be listed at the end of the citation. See APA manual, p. 257, #43.

Sources for full text ERIC documents

ERIC includes full text for Level 1 ERIC documents released after 1993. If full text is available, the ERIC record will include a link to full text.

To view full text of an ERIC document

• click on Full Text in the record or citation

Adobe Reader will open and the full-text document (PDF) will be retrieved for viewing and/or printing.

• Use the Adobe Reader toolbar icons to save, print, zoom in, etc.
• Then, click the Return icon to return to the previous ERIC screen.

Full text of ERIC document in PDF format.

Full text is available ONLY for Level 1 ERIC documents released after 1993. For other ERIC documents, you will need to use additional resources to obtain the full text.

^*Level 1 documents comprise about 80 percent of the documents in the ERIC database.

ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS)

The ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS) has closed. Paper and microfiche copies of ERIC documents are no longer available through EDRS.

Managing Search Results

Databases typically allow you to manage your search results by

• marking or tagging records to select only the records that you want from your search results from later printing, emailing and/or saving
• printing the search results list and/or specific records
• emailing the search results list and/or specific records to your email address
• saving the search results list and/or specific records–some databases may allow you to save your file for export into commercial bibliographic citation manager software, such as EndNote or ProCite

Not all search management features are available in all databases.

Marking

The “mark” feature allows you to select records within your search results. By marking items, you can print or email multiple records at one time.

To mark a record

• in the List of Records, click in the check box to the left of a title
• in a Detailed Record, click in the check box labeled Mark–top of the screen

Marking items in ERIC.

To view your list of marked records

• click on Marked Records–top of the screen

Click on Marked Records.

Marked records in ERIC.

You may then email or print the citation information for the items you have selected.

Printing

To print a record

• click on the Print icon near the top of the Detailed Record
• the item will be automatically reformatted and the Print dialog box will appear
• click Print or OK
• click the Return icon

To print the full text of an ERIC document (if available)

• click on Full Text to display the full text document in PDF format
• click on the Print icon in the Adobe Reader toolbar
• the Print dialog box will appear
• click Print or OK
• click the Return icon

Print dialog box.

Emailing

To email a record

• click on the email icon near the top of the Detailed Record
• select the item to be sent, level of record detail, record format
• enter a complete email address
• enter a note about what you are sending in the comment box
• click the Send button
• click the Return icon
• your mail will be sent from FirstSearch@oclc.org

Emailing records in ERIC.

To email a full text ERIC document (if available)
Note: this function is NOT available from computers in the Alvin Sherman Library

• click on Full Text to display the full text document in PDF format
• click on the Email icon in the Adobe Reader toolbar
• click on the Send copy or Send link button
• your default email application will open
• enter an email address, subject, and message if desired
• click the Send or Mail button
• click the Return icon

Saving

To save a record

• click on the Export icon–near the top of the Detailed Record
• select options
• select Text File in the Export To: section
• click the Export button
• click Save
• enter a filename – extension should be .txt
• click Save
• click the Return icon
• use a word processing program to open your file.

Saving records in ERIC.

To save a full text ERIC document (if available)

• click on Full Text to display the full text document in PDF format
• click on the Save icon in the Adobe Reader toolbar
• select the drive and/or directory where you wish to save the file
• enter a filename – extension should be .pdf
• click Save
• click the Return icon
• use Adobe Reader to open your file.

Search Tips

Use advanced search features to modify a search to obtain more successful search results. You can combine advanced search features to modify and improve your search. Advanced search features often include:

• phrase or proximity searching
• field searching
• date
• document and/or publication type
• Boolean operators
• plurals and truncation

One useful tip when searching any electronic database is to leave out articles, prepositions, and very abstract or general terms–they confuse the database's search engine.

For example, if the paper is on "The Impact of Mainstreaming Students in Math Classes,” use the most precise terms like mainstreaming and mathematics and skip impact, the, of, and in.

Phrase or proximity searching

In ERIC, there are two ways to search for a phrase

• put the phrase in double quotes, such as
  “higher education”
  “curriculum development”

• use the letter w to search for two words as a phrase
  higher w education
  curriculum w development

Phrase searching in ERIC.

Field searching

To limit your search to a specific field in the record

• use the pull-down arrow–to the right of each text entry box
• scroll to the field to limit your search to
• click on the field’s name

Field searching in ERIC.

Date

To limit a search to specific years

• go to the year box
• type a specific year (such as, 2001) or a range of years (such as, 1990-1999) or from a specific year until the current year ( such as, 1995- )

Limiting by date in ERIC.

Publication type

FirstSearch ERIC allows a general document type limitation on the Advanced Search Screen by clicking on the Document Type pull-down arrow and selecting

• Document (RIE) to return only ERIC EDs
• Journal (CIJE) to return only ERIC EJs

Limiting by document type in ERIC.

Boolean operators

The Boolean operators, AND, OR, and NOT can be used to modify a search

• click on the pull-down arrow
• click on the Boolean operator to use

Use AND to narrow a search. AND looks for both terms in the same record.
leadership and vision; mainstreaming and science

Use OR to broaden a search. OR looks for either term in the same record.
mainstreaming or inclusion; elementary education or secondary education

Use NOT to eliminate records with a certain term.
Saturn not car; Venus not planet

Boolean operators in ERIC.

Plurals

Use the following symbols in FirstSearch ERIC to locate plural forms, truncate search terms, or replace characters:

Truncating search terms in ERIC.

Additional Features

Linking to External Information

Several FirstSearch databases now have links to other sources of information – tabs along the top of your search results – such as web sites. If you use this option you will leave the database you are searching in and be sent to another database. Use Previous Searches to return to any previous searches conducted during your current session.

Tabs to relevant items in other FirstSearch databases.

Maintained by the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center
Nova Southeastern University :: Copyright © 2004-2005
Last updated: 05/09/2006