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ERIC

The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)isa digial library of educaticn related resources, sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S Department of Education. When the ERIC digital library opened to the public on September, 1,2004, the collection consisted primarily of electronic bibliographic records describing journal and non-jorunal literature selected by ERIC from 1966-2003. The collection has expanded to include ful-text articles. In years ahead the collection may include other electronic resources such as audio and video materials

ERIC's mission is
1. To provide a comprehensive, easy-to-use, searchable, Intermet-based bibliographic and full-text database of education research and information that also meets the requirements  of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002

2.. A fundamental goal for ERIC's future is to increase the availability and quality
of reseaech and information for educators, researchers, and the general public.

3. The Institute of Education Sciences is committed to continuously improve the efficiency and utility of ERIC so that it becomes a premier Web-based lbrary for accessing current and historical education resources.

4. Among these resources will be the studies produced by the what works clearing house in support of the Department of Education's initiative to identify the best scientifical
based evidence of "what works' in education

5. To realize its mission and goal and to meet rising user expectations in the digital age. ERIC is undergoing significant change.

б. Nearly all'aspects of ERIC's operations are being revamped, including the online system, resource acquisitions and processing, the list of journals indexed, and the delivery of full-text materials. ERIC is leveraging new technologies to streamline processing and speed delivery of timely information.

7. Redesigned online services are being released to the public in phased implementations including the centralized Website, enhanced search and retrieval functions, and Website personalization tools such as the capacity for users to save searches

8. ERIC is adopting metadata standards to help users refine their database searches and it adding metadata tags to new database materials to provide information about resouce quality

9, ERIC full-text materials, previously sold by the ERIC Document Reproduction Sevice (EDRS), are now available free-of-charge.

Two expert advisory panels provide research, technical, and content expertise to support this major modernization effort. The ERIC Steering Committee recommends standards and guidelines that will shape the ERIC acquisitions model and help guide direction on technical issues surrounding system design, digital archiving, metadata, and search and retrieval technologies. The advisory panel of Content Experts provides recommendations for selecting
journals and non-journal materials for inclusion in the ERIC database. Their advice is helping to
guide the continued growth of the database and outreach to the ERIC use community.