This guide to searching for special education information in the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) database covers: selecting a search system, using the "Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors," using Boolean logic, planning the search, and using the ERIC Clearinghouses as resources. (DB)

For the last three decades, the engineering higher education and professional environments have been completely transformed by the "electronic/digital information revolution" that has included the introduction of personal computer, the development of email and world wide web, and broadband Internet connections at home. Herein the writer compares…

Knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) revolves around the investigation and creation of knowledge, processes, algorithms, and mechanisms for retrieving knowledge from data collections. The article is an introductory overview of KDD. The rationale and environment of its development and applications are discussed. Issues related to database design…

This manual, designed to be used with a video tape, provides information for conducting a workshop to familiarize educators with the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). Objectives of the workshop include: (1) to develop an understanding of the contents and structure of the ERIC database; (2) to develop an understanding of ERIC as a…

This 15-minute videotape introduces viewers to ERIC and emphasizes ERIC's connection to the electronic information highway. Topics covered include (1) the basic structure of the ERIC system, including the 16 subject-specialized clearinghouses; (2) benefits offered, including publications, the ERIC database, information quality, and the ERIC…

Reviews the history and structure of ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center), and describes the resources provided by the system that offer opportunities for networking by education librarians. Such resources include the ERIC database, publications, search services, document delivery services, and outreach programs. Opportunities for…

Describes the aims of the new British Education Index to periodical literature and assesses its utility to teacher educators and its place in information provision for teacher education. The extent to which criticisms have been met is reviewed, and its place among international education databases is outlined. (JD)

In the fall of 1988, a survey was conducted to evaluate the adoption of CD-ROM systems in U.S. colleges and universities by examining which major CD-ROM databases were available through the reference departments of academic libraries. The sample was composed of 200 institutions of higher education offering graduate degrees in psychology. The…

Designed to evaluate the usefulness of the BIOSIS PREVIEWS database when searching the psychiatric literature, this study compared the effectiveness of this online database with the effectiveness of two other computerized databases, MEDLINE and PsycINFO (Psychological Abstracts), which psychiatric researchers and clinicians usually rely on when…

The Database Advisor (DBA) is a tool designed to guide users to the most appropriate World Wide Web-based databases for their research. Developed in 1997 by the Science Libraries at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), DBA is a Web-based front-end to bibliographic and full-text databases to which UCSD has remote access. DBA allows the…

Explores to what extent the germ theory, when it was still a relatively new idea, is evident in the bibliographic records in the "Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office of the United States Army" (Index Cat), the largest medical bibliographical tool ever published. Data suggest that scientists are quick to apply the new…

Details the development of the FISHLIT bibliographic database at the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology Library at Rhodes University (South Africa), and the subsequent CD-ROM publication of the database by NISC (National Information Services Corporation). Discusses the advantages of CD-ROM publication, costs and information service provision,…

Describes an investigation of tools, techniques, and methods for the evaluation of interactive library catalogs, with emphasis on diagnostic methods and on use of the catalog in the wider context of user information-seeking behavior. A front-end system (Olive) developed to test various enhancements of traditional transaction lodging as a…

In 1989 a two year collaborative project, CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) & Humanities, was initiated between the Faculty of Arts and IBM Netherlands during which General Information Retrieval All Faculties For Bibliographic Education (GIRAFFE), a program for the retrieval of information on general bibliographies, was developed. The…

This paper identifies the bibliographic and numeric databases on CD-ROM and computer diskette that should be most useful for investigators in communication, marketing, and communication education. Bibliographic databases are usually found in three formats: citations only, citations and abstracts, and full-text articles. Numeric databases are…