Last revised: August, 2008
Guide to Finding ERIC Documents
Scope: This guide will describe how to locate ERIC Documents in publications held in McKeldin Library, through online databases, and through the internet. If you have any questions or would like further assistance, please contact the U.S. Government Information, Maps & GIS Services staff at govdocs@umd.edu or 301.405.9165.
Table of Contents
Overview of ERIC
ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) is an online digital library and index of education information, with more than 1.2 million bibliographic records, abstracts of documents, journal articles, and other materials related to education research and practice. New material is added to the database on a continuous basis; however, new print indexes have ceased. The ERIC Database provides access to information from journals included in the Current Index of Journals in Education and ERIC Documents from Resources in Education Index.
Electronic Access to Eric Documents (1966-Present)
ERIC database
The index and a limited amount of full text content is available to UM faculty, staff and students through the ERIC database from EBSCOHost. While the database searches the same publications as on the ERIC website, the EBSCO database allows for a more precise search. Beyond the basic types of searches, ERIC database searches can be narrowed by educational level, intended audience (i.e. administrators or teachers), or government level, as well as other options. Full text options vary.
Note that there are two types of universal document ID in the database:
- Items with an ED before the six digit ERIC number are ERIC Documents, such as research reports, conference papers, issue papers, or monographs.
- Items with an EJ before the six digit ERIC number are ERIC Journals, such as articles, reviews, reports, etc., that have appeared in a journal publication.
Visit this link to view a sample ERIC record.
The ERIC website, available at: http://www.eric.ed.gov/, provides access to more than 1.2 million articles and abstracts. More than 110,000 of these articles are available with full text. The online database can be searched in a variety of ways, including:
- Keyword, title, journal name, or author
- ERIC number or ERIC descriptor
- ISSN or ISBN
- Source institution or sponsoring agency
Searches can also be limited by date or type of document.
Access to Print Versions
As of mid-2004, ERIC documents are only made available electronically. Most items created prior to mid-2004 are available on microfiche. You can track down relevant publications through the library's online catalog, but be aware that the catalog doesn't have all ERIC documents in it. To ensure that you are searching as many ERIC documents as possible, use the ERIC website or the ERIC database to identify the publications by their unique six digit number (see the link to the sample ERIC record above). Once you have the unique six digit number, you can determine the microfiche call number.
If you have a citation that says...
| EJ six digit number... | Eric Journals are not available in the ERIC microfiche set. To access these publications, use the library's catalog to determine where the journal named in your citation is located. Alternatively, UM students and staff may try using ResearchPort to identify journals available electronically. |
| ED 1.310/2:six digit number... | These publications can be found on microfiche on the 4th floor of McKeldin Library in the U.S. Government Information, Maps & GIS Services Computer Lab. Ask for assistance at the 1st Floor Information Desk. |
| ED six digit number... | These publications can be found on microfiche on the 1st floor in the periodicals department. Ask for assistance at the periodicals reference desk. |
**Note that the six digit number is a universal document ID. If your citation says
"ED 1.310/2:381102", you will be able to find it under "ED 381102" and vice versa.
Other Resources:
See also: Indexes and Abstracts section of UM Libraries' guide to Education resources.
See also: Guide to ERIC This guide lists different print indexes on education topics, and how to locate those publications on microfiche or microfilm using the indexes.
