ISTC 201- Using Information Effectively

C. Wood, Instructor

Using Online Databases - Periodicals and ERIC documents

Access Cook Library’s home page:  http://cooklibrary.towson.edu

1.  What is a database?

An organized body of related information.

2.  What is the difference between a Primary Source and a Secondary Source?  Which source would be more desirable as a reference for a research paper?

A primary source is a firsthand or eyewitness account of a certain event.  For example, a letter, or a journal entry about an event that the author witnessed is a primary source.  A secondary source is anything written by someone who was not there at the time of the event, or hasn’t been with the person that they are writing about.  They can get information from other sources in order to write their account, but they weren’t there firsthand.

Using the ERIC Database

3. What does the acronym ERIC stand for?

Education Resources Information Center

4. What agency of the Federal Government sponsors the ERIC database?

The US Department of Education

5.  The ERIC database has access to the ERIC Thesaurus Search.  Why might you use this feature of the database?

You can use it to find other topics that relate to your topic of research.  You can also use it as a dictionary tool.

 6.  Put your topic choice into the ERIC Thesaurus Search.  Record the definition for your topic in the box.

Adult Education: Providing or coordinating purposeful learning activities for adults.

7.  Click on  Advanced Search.   Type your topic in the first box.  Scroll down to the  Limit your results box.  Select Journal Articles and  Publication Type Reports – Research/Technical.  What would you expect to retrieve with this search?

Journal articles and reports that deal with my topic, “Elementary Education.”

8.  Run your search by clicking on "Search."  How many results (hits) were returned for your topic?

13,198

 9.  Not all article appearing in the ERIC database are available online full-text from ERIC.  How might you find out where you could get an article full-text online (link) if the ERIC database doesn't offer it?

Click on the ‘View Links’ and ‘Find It.’  It will tell you what school has it and the availability.  You can then request it to be sent to the Towson University Cook Library from there.

10.  Choose an article from your list of results.  Click on the title of the article to see the full record. What ERIC descriptors are assigned to this record that are related to your search terms?

Accountability, Audits, Cheating, High Stakes Tests, School Personnel, Scores, Elementary Education, Public Schools, and Statistical Analysis,.

11.  In the record of the article you have chosen, what information might you find that would help you to determine whether or not this particular article would be of value to your research project? 

reading the abstract to see if the article matches your purpose.

12.  List the following information for the above article ( the Source line includes the journal title, volume, issue number pages and date.)

Author(s) of the article: Brian A. Jacob, and Steven D. Levitt

Title of the article: “To Catch A Cheat”

Title of the Journal in which it appears: Education Next

Volume, Issue, Pages and Date: Volume 4, 1st Issue, pages 68-75, Winter 2004

13.  Using the "How To" section on the Cook Library webpage, locate the APA citation style for journal articles.  Using that information as a guide, enter the full citation for your article in the box below.  Be sure to note the indenting style of the citations.

Jacob, B.& Levitt, S.  (2004).  To catch a cheat.  Education Next, 4(1), 68-75.  20 November 2005 ERIC (Ebsco) database.