Locating Material for Research

Topics Covered in Session 3

Locating Material for a Topic

To be good researchers, students must familiarize themselves with and become experts in their topics. The number of journals which are published today precludes anybody being able to afford to subscribe to all of them. Hence, you need to use the library and other sources in order to access pertinent information on your topic.

The amount of material which was being published changed radically after the federal government’s aid to education programs began in the 1960s. To qualify for funds, school districts had to evaluate whatever it was they were doing with the funds, and hence many of these evaluations began being published in various journals. Also, as part of the federal funding programs, a national clearing house (Education Resources Information Exchange – ERIC) was established to function as a resource to disseminate educational evaluation and research materials.

Primary Sources
Data which are directly involved in the topic that concerns you. They include original documents, test scores, records, interviews with people directly involved in the topic, artifacts, relics, etc.
Secondary Sources
Data which are descriptions or interpretations made by people not directly involved in the topic that concerns you. They include reference books, newspaper articles, analyses and summaries of work done by others.

Major Sources of Information on Education

ERIC - Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE) Lists articles published in virtually all educational journals and provides one paragraph summaries of each article. Starts in 1969.
ERIC - Resources in Education (RIE) Lists materials such as documents, speeches, program reports, etc. which are not published in journals. Starts in 1969.
Digest of Educational Statistics Presents a regularly updated listing of most statistics related to education in the United States.
Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) Contains abstracts of doctoral dissertations in education completed at major American and European universities.
Education Administration Abstracts
Other - student may also find pertinent material in indices and periodical in other fields such as psychology, sociology, public administration, business administration, etc.

Computer/Online Resources

ERIC is available online as well as in the Hunter College Library and most other major college libraries. Keep in mind that for CIJE, you will only receive a citation and summary of an article. You likely will have to go to a library to retrieve the actual article.

Go to askEric – Clearinghouse

Search engines available on the World Wide Web also can provide valuable information on topics. For instance, you can access GOOGLE Education Categories. However, complete copies of articles are rare and difficult to come by without paying fees.

Go to Google – Education