eric and the 21 st century: education research in the digital age erwin flaxman james lonergan
TRANSCRIPT
ERIC and the 21st Century:Education Research in the Digital
Age
Erwin Flaxman
James Lonergan
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
Overview
A Brief History of ERIC The Current and Proposed Missions of ERIC The Current and Proposed Structures of ERIC The Current and Proposed Functions of ERIC Implications of the Proposal Responses to the Proposal Discussion
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
A Brief History of ERIC
To build a comprehensive education database
To provide access to the database to all education audiences
To synthesize the education literature
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Current Mission of ERIC
The mission of ERIC is to improve American education by increasing and facilitating the use of educational research and information to improve practice in learning, teaching, educational decision making, and research, wherever and whenever these activities take place.
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Current Structure of ERIC
Distributed Structure– Decentralized, Subject Oriented Clearinghouses– Centralized Processing Facility, Document
Reproduction Service, Outreach Service– System-wide Special Projects
AskERIC NPIN
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Current Functions of ERIC
Information Collection and Processing Thesaurus Development Reference and Other User Services Knowledge Synthesis Dissemination
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Current Functions of ERIC
Information Collection and Processing– Acquisitions– Processing
RIE (Fugitive Literature) CIJE (Journal Literature)
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Current Functions of ERIC
Thesaurus Development– Vocabulary Review Group with Clearinghouse
and library community members
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Current Functions of ERIC
Reference and Other User Services– AskERIC and Clearinghouse Question-Answering– Training for Database Searching
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Current Functions of ERIC
Knowledge Synthesis– Digests– Monographs– Resource Guides
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Current Functions of ERIC
Dissemination– ERIC Database– Clearinghouse Web Sites– Direct Mail– On-Demand– Workshops and Conferences
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Proposed Mission of ERIC
The mission of the new ERIC is to provide a comprehensive, easy to use, searchable, Internet-based bibliographic and full text database of education research and information for educators, researchers, and the general public.
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Proposed Structure of ERIC
Single Generalist Contractor Small Consultant Group of Subject Experts
(acting as advisors)
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Proposed Functions of ERIC
Acquisitions and processing limited to approved journals and document sources
Thesaurus development not proposed Reference and other user services are
optional Knowledge synthesis is optional
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
The Proposed Functions of ERIC
Dissemination
- ERIC Database
- U.S. Department of Education/Contractor web site
- Training Workshops (optional)
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
Implications of Proposal
Closing of Clearinghouses, Support Components, AskERIC and NPIN– Loss of subject expertise in Clearinghouses and
host institutions
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
Implications of Proposal
Information Collection and Dissemination - More rigorous selection criteria – Faster updating– Full-text whenever possible– Improved content coding– Reduced coverage of journal literature from 1,100
journals to an estimated 400– Reduced coverage of documents and journals to
those produced by “approved” contributors
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
Implications of Proposal
Thesaurus Development - Thesaurus to be reviewed, status unclear
Reference and Other User Services– Termination of AskERIC and clearinghouse question-
answering and referral services Knowledge Synthesis
– Elimination of ERIC Digests, monographs, and other synthesis publications
Dissemination- Elimination of Clearinghouse web sites
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
Responses to the Proposal
Over 3,000 individuals and organizations have sent comments to the Department of Education, including:
• American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
• American Association of Community Colleges
• American Association of University Women
• American Educational Research Association
• American Library Association• Children’s Defense Fund• Council for Exceptional Children
• Council of Chief State School Officers• National Association of Elementary
School Principals• National Association of School
Psychologists• National Association of of Secondary
School Principals• National Association of Social Workers• National Black Development Institute• National Education Association• National PTA
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
Summary of Responses
Support for:– More rigorous selection for database additions– Faster updating– More full-text– Improved content coding
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
Summary of Responses
Opposition to:– Closing of 16 ERIC Clearinghouses– Termination of AskERIC and Clearinghouse question-
answering and referral services– Elimination of ERIC Digests, monographs, and other
synthesis publications– Reduced coverage of journal literature from 1,100 to an
estimated 400– Reduced coverage of documents and journals to those
produced by “approved” contributors– Elimination of Clearinghouse web sites
June 10, 2003Special Library Association Annual Conference
ERIC and the 21st Century
Discussion of the impact of proposed changes for librarians