ERIC Tutorial for FirstSearch

Finding Background Information | Locating Articles, Books, and Items
ERIC Tutorial | Resources on the Web | Statistical Data | Research Guides

ERIC Tutorial for FirstSearch

Tips for students in ED 565

This guide will help you to use the ERIC and Education Index databases to find journal articles on historical research, ethnographic research, action research, evaluation research, and more.

What is ERIC?

The ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) database is the major tool for research articles and documents dealing with education. It covers all areas of education and is one of the most comprehensive (coverage from 1966 to the present) and widely used tools for finding education-related information. ERIC is available in a variety of formats including paper and the World Wide Web. Web access to ERIC is free, but limited to fairly simplistic searching. Through the Curriculum Resources Center and the Mabee Library web sites, Washburn students and faculty have access to the web-based ERIC subscription database. Washburn students and faculty may also access this database from an off-campus computer. Select here to search the ERIC database.

ERIC does not provide access to everything published or written about education. ERIC is selective in its coverage; it picks and chooses what it thinks is most important. Therefore, you will need to search Education Index and perhaps other electronic databases such as Expanded Academic ASAP, Dissertation Abstracts, or PsycInfo to cover educational topics.

Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors

Before conducting a subject search, it is best to check the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors. When the ERIC Clearinghouses select items for inclusion in ERIC, they identify which topics each item is about and assign a descriptor for each identified topic. There is a list of descriptors from which the ERIC clearinghouses must choose, and if you want to do subject searches, you should try to use words found on that list. ERIC's list of descriptors can be found in the ERIC thesaurus. This thesaurus is available in print form (Mabee Library Index L11 .A1 R4 1995 Terminal; an older copy may be found at the CRC near the public terminals) and as part of the online database. Click on the Subjects icon to search for terms in the thesaurus.

You will find these terms in the thesaurus:	You will NOT find these terms in the thesaurus:	Use a different term instead of these:
action research	historical research	quantitative research (statistics)
evaluation research	survey research	use statistical analysis
qualitative research	correlational research	history of education
	group comparison research	use educational history
	single subject research

Advanced Searching

The Advanced Search screen lets you construct complex search statements; you will need to conduct advanced searches to find your research articles. Up to three search strings and three indexes (a searchable file of terms) can be combined using Boolean operators ( AND , OR , and NOT ) selected from drop-down menus. When conducting a subject search, these are the index labels you will want to use:

keyword
descriptors/descriptors phrase
identifiers/identifiers phrase
major descriptors/major descriptors phrase
minor descriptors/minor descriptors phrase
record type/record type phrase
source/source phrase
subject/subject phrase

Limit your search to English language materials and to articles.
Use + to search for plurals, * for truncations, and # as a wildcard. Examples:

        report+ will search both the singular "report" and the plural "reports"
        stud* will search the words student, students, study, studies and any other words beginning with the letters s-t-u-d
        wom#n will search both woman and women
        colo?r will search both color and colour

identifies Mabee Library as holding this particular document or journal (this doesn't always work)
links to the full-text document

Sample Searches and Results

*Term/Phrase*	*Index Label*	*Matches*	*# of results*
historical research	keyword	historical and research	1665
"historical research"	keyword	historical with research	209
historical research	identifiers phrase	research in field of history	100
historical research	record type phrase	rt: historical research	0
historical research	subject phrase	su: historical research	100
action research	descriptors phrase	de: action research	1825
action research	major descriptors phrase	mj="action research"	869
action research	minor descriptors phrase	mn="action research"	956
research	record type	rt: research	231818
educational history	descriptors phrase	de:educational history	5604
Advanced Search
search educational history		descriptors phrase
and research		record type	49
and inclusion		keyword	3

Other strategies you might try:
    search historical studies as a keyword
    search historical study as a keyword
    search longitudinal studies as a descriptors phrase or a keyword
    search through the years or for the years as a keyword
    search three decades as a keyword
    search retrospective as a keyword

http://www.washburn.edu/mabee/crc/courses/ED565/eric.html