ERIC in Cyberspace: Expanding Access and Services1 

b y  R o b e r t M . S t o n e h i l l  a n d  Ly n n  S m a r t e  

Abstract: 
In recent years, the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system has under­
gone tremendous changes in the kinds of products and services"it offers and the methods by 
which users can access them. AskERIC, a computer network-based question-answering 
service and virtual libral)', exemplifies these changes. This article describes AskERIC, other 
ERIC gopher sites, the National Parent Information Network, ERIC listserv activity on the 
Internet, and ERIC 's offerings on commercial online services. It also lists resources for 
librarians who do training sessions on ERIC and sketches ERIC 's future direction. 

More than 20 years after providing the world's first online 
database, the Educational Resources Infonnation Center (ERIC) 
has again become a recognized leader in using state-of-the-art 
technology to support teaching and learning. Historically recog­
nized as an online dat<lbase primarily used by librarians · and 
scholars, ERIC has evolved into a national network of resources 
and services available "at the desktop" to educators, pol icymakers, 
and parents. There are two facets to this evolution: enhancing 
access to ERIC infonnation and enhancing U1e infonnation itself. 

Enhancing Access. In U1e last decade, ERIC has exp:mded from 
a system that produced one online database to a system U1at 
produces a wide variety of online and CD-ROM resources. 
Online access to ERIC infonnation, previously provided only by 
cosUy commercial services, is now available U1rough ERIC 
components, libraries, universities, and government agencies­
often for free. B u t  most important, the advent and increasing 
availabil ity of advanced telecommunications and electronic stor­
age and retrieval systems-and especial ly U1e explosive growU1 
of ti1e Internet-have dramatically expanded the ways in which 
users can now have low-cost, on-demand access to ERIC infor­
mation. 

These developments, when coupled wiU1 oU1er initiatives such a<; 
obtaining toll-free 800-numbers and Internet addresses for each 
ERIC component, establishing ACCESS ERIC �l'> a contact point 
for new users, and creating an active ERIC Partners program, 
have resulted in a dramatic upsurge in ti1e use of ERIC resources 
and in requests for ERIC services over U1e past five years. In 

1 99 1 ,  approximately 1 percent of users contacted ERIC 
Clearinghouses <md support components via e-mail; by 1993, 
that figure had risen to 19 percent. In 1 9 87, we estimated ti1at the 
total online usage of the ERIC database amounted to 1 00,000 
hours per year. Now, combining online database use (which has 
expanded beyond the traditional commercial vendors such as 
Dialog to include services such as America Online and 
CompuServe) with CD-ROM an.d Internet use, it is estimated U1at 
ERIC resources are being accessed at a rate as much as ten times 
greater tium ti1at of ti1e mid- 1 980s. 

Despite ti1ese impressive gains, we have only begun to realize ti1e 
potential of a universally accessible information superhighway. 
Today, we estimate U1at perhaps 10 to 1 5  percent of the 2.5 
million teachers in the United States are connected to ti1e Internet 
at U1eir schools (alU10ugh U1e National Education Association 
reports ti1at approximately two-tl1irds of its members have com­
puters and modems at home); tomorrow, we expect all schools, 
teachers, and students to have full access to information re­
sources located ti1roughout ti1e world. As a first step toward 
accommodating ti1is dramatically  increased demand for informa­
tion, ERIC is planning to provide direct, state-of-tile-art, user­
friendly access to tlJe ERIC database and ti1e AskERIC Virtual 
Library witl1 technical support and the capability to host hun­
dreds of simultaneous users. 

Enhancing the Information. For ti1e first 20 years of its exist­
ence, ERIC concentrated on building its bibliographic database, 
which now contains summaries of approximately 850,000 docu­
ments and journal articles. While ti1e database is in many ways 

'The following text is based on a presentation made by the authors at the Special Libraries Association 85th Annual Conference, Atlanta, June 1 994. 

- 1 2  Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 3 



still the cornerstone of ERIC's infonnation network, ERIC has 
been steadily diversifying its products and services-usually in 
response to user requests . 

Examples of ti1ese current and future improvements include: 

• The expansion of tile ERIC database to include conuner­
cially published books, machine-readable data files, and 
multimedia products. 

• 

• 

• 

The provision of full-text access to ti1e materials indexed 
in ti1e ERIC database, beginning with the ERIC Digests 
Online file. ERIC Digests-short sununaries of research 
and developments in education-are already available in 
full text on tile Internet and in the online m1d CD-ROM 
versions of ti1e ERIC database. Beginning in 1 995, ERIC 
will begin providing experimental, full-text, online access 
to new documents indexed in the database. 

The development, by ACCESS ERIC, of a series of 
reference and referral databases, including mmual edi­
tions of a Directory of Educalion-Related lnfonncllion 
Centers, a Calendar of Educalion-Related Conferences, 
and a Directory of ERIC Information Service Providers. 

ACCESS ERIC also produces Tile ERIC Review journal 
titree times a year, which provides an indepth look at 
trends and issues in education. 

The establishment of AskERIC, which includes online 
question-answering services ru1d the AskERlC Virtual 
Library; an extensive National Parent Infonnation Net­
work; m1d an active research and development prognun 
applying emerging technologies to the dissemination of 
education infonnation. 

The expansion of ERIC ' s  role in providing Internet access 
to ti1ird-party infonnation, such as ti1e Educational Test­
ing Service's  Test Collection datab[t._e, CNN Newsroom 
and Discovery Channel materials, tiJe Public 13roadcast­
ing System 's Newton's  Apple and Academy One lesson 
plans, ru1d more. 

AskERIC on the Internet 

ll1e AskERIC Question-Answering Service 

In 1 992, ti1e ERIC Clearinghouse on Infonnation & Technology, 
based at Syracuse University, began operating AskERIC, a 
prototype Internet-based electronic question-answering, help, 
and referral service. The free question-answering service allows 
users to "AskERIC" ti1eir questions about le[trning, teaching, 
infonnation technology, or education administration by sending 
an e-mail question to askeric @ericir.syr.edu . Drawing on tile 
extensive resources of ti1e ERIC system and an indepth knowl­
edge of all tile education resources available on the Internet, 
AskERIC infonnation specialists respond to queries with a 

Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 3 

customized e-mail answer. ERIC Clearinghouses provide addi­
tional infonnation in ti1eir specialty areas when needed. 

AskERIC information specialists currently respond to questions 
from more tllan 350 people each week. State education networks 
in New York, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Nortll 
Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Idal1o, and Connecticut are among 
tile networks that feature easy access to AskER! C. Here are some 
of ti1e infonnation requests posted to AskERIC recently: 

Are ti1ere any articles on the changed role of tlle elemen­
tary school library in a whole language school? 

I an1 looking for infonnation about states that have imple­
mented nongraded or multigraded classrooms in primary 
grades. 

Please send me any current infonnation available on tlle 
topic of flexible scheduling for libraries. 

Can you give me infonnation on implementing global 
education? 

Do you have infonnation relating to gender equity in ti1e 
elementary and secondary classroom? 

In 1 993, tile ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early 
Childhood Education, located at ti1e University oflllinois, began 
collaborating wit11 tile ERIC Clearinghouse on Infonnation & 
Technology on ti1e Parents AskERIC project. This service pro­
vides infonnation to parents, early childhood educators, child 
care givers, and oti1ers interested in ti1e growtll, development, and 
care of children titrough adolescence. By mid- 1 994, Parents 
AskERIC was receiving and responding to more tllan 50 queries 
each week. 

To send a question to AskERIC or Parents AskERIC, e-mail to 
ask eric @ericir.syr.edu . 

ll1e AskERIC Virtual Library 

Anoti1er service of AskERIC is tile AskERIC V irtual Library, an 
electronic collection of education resources including more ti1an 
600 lesson plans, print and video materials, research summaries, 
answers to frequently asked questions, and discussion groups for 
practicing educators and l ibrarians. ll1e Virtual Library also 
provides access to ERIC Digests ru1d to more t11an 70 InfoGuides 
on such topics as chemistry for kids, children' s  literature, and 
multicultural education. Each InfoGuide includes a description 
of the topic covered, a list of approximately 10 citations from an 

. ERIC database search of the topic, descriptions of relevant 
Internet l istservs, ru1d infonnation on other related Internet re­
sources. 

Other resources available through the AskERIC Virtual Library 
include answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on topics 

1 3 -



such as scheduling and outcome-based education, Internet guides 
and directories, bibliographies, infonnation about education 
conferences, and news from the ERIC system. l11rough AskER I C. 
users may also access the ERIC database and tJ1e In ternet sites of 
various state departments of education. 

AskERIC' s information base and user base continue to grow. 
Originally targeted for teachers, library media specialists, and 
administrators in K-1 2  settings, AskERIC now serves all indi­
viduals interested in education issues. During tJ1e first week of tJlC 
AskERIC Virtual Library' s existence (in February 1 993), tJ1ere 
were 300 user connections to the AskERIC gopher. At present, ru1 
average of 1 1 ,000 people access U1e Library each week.l11e total 
number of AskERIC gopher transactions for 1 994, including 
searches witJ1in tJ1e menus of U1e Library, will exceed one 
million. 

In recent monU1s, U1e AskERIC Mosaic/World-Wide Web front­
end and server was introduced. The WWW site enables users to 
access U1e Virtual Library in multimedia and hypercard. Plru1s for 
tJ1is server include creating fully fonnatted and linked InfoGuides 
t11at will allow users to link directly to oU1Cr resources on U1e 
Internet. 

AskERIC services have received national recogniti on and praise 
from individual users. In 1 994, AskERIC w<t<; a finalist for the 
prestigious Computerwor/d Smithsonian Award in U1e category 
of education and academia. Users often return e-mail messages 
expressing tJ1eir appreciation for the infonnation provided, the 
quick response, and the person alized service provided by 
AskERIC's infonnation specialists. 

1l1ere are several ways to access U1e AskERIC Virtual Library. 
If you have Gopher or FTP capabilities, connect to ericir.syr.edu . 

If you have Mosaic, Lynx, or anoU1er WWW client, open the 
URL and connect to: http://eryx.syr.edu, or tel net toericir.syr.edu 

and type "gopher" at the login prompt. 

Other ERIC Gopher S ites 

In late 1 993, ilie ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment <md Evalu­
ation, hosted by 1l1e CatJ10lic University of America, followed 
U1e lead of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Infonnation & Technol­
ogy and became t11 e  second clearinghouse to establish an Internet 
gopher site. By U1e end of t 11e year, more than 1 ,500 users were 
accessing U1e Clearinghouse' s gopher site weekly. Materials 
from more than 60 organizations are now posted at U1is gopher 
site. One of tJ1e more popular services offered is the Test Locator 
Service. A collaboration of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assess­
ment and Evaluation, tJ1e Educational Testing Service, the Buros 
Institute of Mental Measurements, and Pro-Ed, the service helps 
users gailier relevant tests from a database of more Uwn 1 0,000 
test descriptions, i dentifies where reviews of the tests can be 
found, and provides advice on how best to select and evaluate the 
tests. l11is gopher site also features a comprehensive collection of 

- 1 4  

pointers directing users to various Internet locations for search­
ing U1e ERIC database and ERIC Digests Online. Users are 
expected to log onto tJ1is site more U1an 60,000 times by ilie end 
of 1994, executing more U1an 300,000 transactions. 

You can reach U1e Assessment and Evaluation gopher directly via 
gopher.cua.edu, under Special Resources. 

1l1e ERIC Clearinghouse on S cience, Mailiematics, and Envi­
ronmental Education operates a gopher site at The Ohio S tate 
University. Users log in approximately 500 times each week to 
view and download Clearinghouse publications, a list of j ournals 
covered by U1e Clearinghouse, and suggestions for oilier Internet 
resources of interest to U1e science, maU1ematics, and environ­
mental education communities. 

You can connect to U1e Science, MaU1ematics, and Environmen­
tal Education gopher server at gopher.ericse.ohio-state.edu and 
to U1e World-Wide Web server at http://gopher.ericse.ohio­

state.edu . 

1l1e ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communica­
tion at Indiana University also has a World-Wide Web site for 
Digests and oU1er full-text p·ublications from ilie Clearinghouse. 
To access U1is server, connect to  http://www. indiana.edu/ 

-eric _reel. A gopher site i s  also forthcoming in early 1 995 . (111e 
address for thi s s i t e  should be available from 
ericcs@ ucs.indiana.edu after tJ1e n ew year.) 

1l1e level of interest in ERIC electronic resources continues to 
grow. One way to measure use of ERIC-sponsored gopher 
sites is to monitor tJ1e number of "root logins" or visits by 
individuals to these electronic libraries. Exhibit 1 shows U1e 
number of logins to ERIC gophers starting i n  February 1993 
witJ1 tJ1e establishment of U1e AskERIC gopher site. 

National Parent Information Network 

The National Parent Infonnation Network (NPIN) is an 
extensive electronic infonnation service for parents, parent 
educators, and otJ1ers working in collaboration witJ1 families. 

Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 3 



Exhibit 1 

User Logins to ERIC Internet Gopher Sites 

1 5,000 

1 3,000 users each week 

1 2,000 

9,000 

6,000 

3,000 

February 1 993 December 1 993 September 1 994 

Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 3 1 5 -



It is being developed by U1e ERIC Clearinghouse on Elemen­
tary and Early Childhood Education and U1e Columbia 
University-based ERIC Clearinghouse on Urbru1 Education, in 
partnership wiU1 U1e National Urban League, several local 
housing projects, U1e IJiinois Parent Initiative, and Prairienet 
(U1e East Central Illinois Freenet). 

NPIN offers a continually expanding collection of parent­
oriented materials from a variety of sources, including the 
National PTA, U1e National Urbru1 League, ru1d U1e Center for 
Early Adolescence, as well as ERIC. Short articles are avail­
able on such topics as childrearing ru1d child development; 
immunization schedules, nutrition, and oU1er general health 
concerns; behavior problems; disabilities; working with 
children's teachers; and home activities related to mat11, 
science, and reading. A question-answering service is being 
developed Umt will link parents �md parent educators to 
subject experts in professional associations, ERIC 
Clearinghouses, and govenunent agencies. 

Already available to anyone wiU1 ru1 Internet connection, in 
U1e near future NPIN will also be accessible through parent 
centers, public l ibraries, schools, hea1U1 clinics, �md social 
service agencies. Thanks to a major equipment grant from 
Apple Computer, Inc., NPIN will soon be housed on a World­
Wide Web server on U1e Internet that is specifically devoted to 
child development, care, and education and U1e parenting of 
children from birU1 U1rough adolescence. 

To reach the NPIN site, gopher to gopher.prairienet.org and 
enter U1e ERIC Clearinghouse in the Education Center or 
connect to U1e AskERIC Virtual Library at ericir.syr.edu and 
select Other Education Resources. TI1e WWW address is 
http:!lwww.prairienet.orglhtmls!eric!npinlnpinhome.htnll. 

ERIC and Listservs 

A Iistserv is an electronic discussion group on U1e Internet. 
Several ERIC Clearinghouses have recently started or are 
currently administering l istservs in UJCir topic area�. 

• TI1e ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management 
at U1e University of Oregon launched, wiU1 technical 
assistance from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Infonnation 
& Technology,. K 1 2ADMIN, a listserv for administra­
tors and individuals wiU1 ru1 interest in school adminis­
tration. Principals, school board members, and teachers 
are among those joining U1e listserv and conversing 
electronically. Usage has increased rapidly, at the rate 
of about 24 new subscribers each week. I3y U1e end of 
1 993, about 450 people were registered subscribers to 
K l 2ADMIN. 

• TI1e Director of U1e ERIC Clearinghouse on Infonna­
tion & Technology, Mike Eisenberg, co-coordinates 
LM_NET, the listserv for school library and media 
specialists. This discussion group now boasts more than 

• 

2,300 members and offers unique services such as a 
formal mentoring program; searchable archives, which 
are located on AskERIC; monitoring of oU1er relevant 
listservs; and a regularly updated member directory. 

TI1e ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early 
Childl10od Education maintains U1ree public, 
unmoderated listservs on U1e Internet: ECENET on 
early childhood education, MIDDLE-L on middle level 
education, and REGGIO-L on U1e Reggio Emilia 
education philosophy. ¥IDDLE-L is a joint effort of 
the Clearinghouse and U1e Center for Early Adoles­
cence at U1e University of NorU1 Carolina at Chapel 
Hill.  REGGIO-L, cosponsored by the Merrill Palmer 
Institute at Wayne State University in Michigan, 
provides a forum for discussions of t11e internationally 
acclaimed municipal early childhood program in 
Reggio Emilia, Italy. Each of U1ese Iistservs has 
between 350 and 400 subscribers. 

The AskERIC Virtual Library provides its users wiU1 access to 
a number of education-related listservs, which are archived on 
U1e gopher site. This service enables users to browse U1rough 
U1e conununication on several listservs witlwut having to 
become members. Exhibit 2 shows listservs currently archived 
on U1e AskERIC Virtual Library. 

ERIC on Commercial Networks 

ACCESS ERIC coordinates wiU1 a number of commercial 
online services to offer ERIC infonnation to commercial 
network subscribers. Services such as America Online, 
CompuServe, GTE Educational Network Services (GTE-ES), 
and America Tomorrow give ERIC U1e opportunity to reach 
mil lions of current �md potential users. 

The AskERIC Online section of America Online is t11e most 
frequently accessed of ERIC's  commercial bulletin boards. 
America Online users have access to ERIC Digests Online, 
searchable ERIC Reference and Referral Databases, an ERIC 
Library of downloadable files and popular ERIC bibliogra­
phies, informational brochures, responses to frequently asked 
questions, and a message board. To date, America Online 
users have posted more U1ru1 1 ,000 messages and downloaded 
more than 1 8,000 ERIC files U1rough AskERIC Online. ERIC 
infonnation specialists respond to more t11an 75 queries each 
week from America Online users. 

ACCESS ERIC staff upload brochures, bibliographies of 
popular topics prepared by U1e ERIC Document Reproduction 
Service, and lead articles from The ERIC Review for 
CompuServe users . In addition, staff update t11e ERIC Direc­

tory of Education-Related Information Centers, ERIC Calen-

- 1 6 Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 3 



Exhibit 2 

Listservs Archived on the AskERIC V irtual Library 

Name 

ECENET-L@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU 

ED NET@ nic. umas.edu 
Education Policy Analysis Archives 

ED POLY AN@ ASUVM.IRE.ASU .EDU 
EDTECH@ MSU .BITNET 

Higher Education Processes Conferences Archives 

hs-computing@ delos.com 

ISED- L@ adler.mec.mass.edu 

ISLMA @ ux l .cso.uiuc.edu 

K 1 2ADMIN @suvm.syr.edu 
KIDSPHERE-request@vms.cis .pitt.edu 

LM_NET@suvm.syr.edu 
MIDDLE-L@ VMD.CSO. UIUC.EDU 
REGGIO-L@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU 

SATL-CON@ SUVM.SYR.EDU 

SUPERK 1 2 @suvm.syr.edu 

vocnet@ cmsa. berkeley .edu 

dar of Education-Related Conferences, rmd Directory of ERIC 
Information Service Providers quarterly on GTE-ES. 13oUl 
ACCESS ERIC and the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary 
and Early Childhood Education contribute material to the 
America Tomorrow (ATLIS) network. 

FACTOID :  From U1e beginning of 1 993 to the middle of 1994, 
America Online and CompuServe users downloaded 20,724 
copies of ERIC materials. 

Conunercial networks such as America Online and GTE-ES are 
enhancing their services by providing users wiU1 Internet access, 
which allows them to obtain the whole array of Internet-based 
ERIC services described earlier in U1is article. 

ERIC Training Resources 

In light of tl1e expanded services available U1rough ERIC, educa­
tion librarians may wish to make use of the following training 
materials: 

ERIC Overhead Transparencies 

ERIC now offers a set of33 ERIC overhead tnmsparency masters 
tlwt present an in troduction to U1e database, describe U1e work of 
U1e ERIC Clearinghouses, and discuss electronic access to ERIC 

Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 3 

Subj ect 

early childhood education 
educational potential of the Internet 

education policy 
educational technology 

advanced precollegiate computing education and training 

independent school educators 

Illinois school library media specialists 
K-12 educational administration 

global network for K-1 2  children and teachers 
(formerly Kidsnet) 
school library and media services 
middle school education 
Reggio Emilia philosophy of early childhood education 

U.S. Secretary of Education's Satellite Town Meetings 

supercomputing implementation and 

utilization in the K-1 2  environment 

vocationcl education 

infonnation. ll1e transparency masters (paper copies) are avail­
able free from ACCESS ERIC (see address at tile end of tilis 
article). 

Anyone interested in presenting infonnation about tlle AskERIC 
service in workshops or to classes may purchase a set of 15 color 
transparencies for $ 1 5  plus $2 shipping and handling from tile 
ERIC Clearinghouse on Infonnation & Technology, Syracuse 
University, 4- 1 94 Center for Science and Technology, Syracuse, 
NY 13244-4 100. Phone: 1 -800-464-9 107 or 3 1 5-443-3640. 
Fax: 3 15-443-5448. E-mail: eric@ericir.syr.edu. 

ERIC Video 

ERIC: In Action offers viewers a broad perspective on ERIC as 
tl1eir premier source for education infonnation. TI1e I S-minute 
video covers ERIC's basic structure, major benefits, 
key index features, and options for locating materials. It is 
available for $ 1 5  from U1e ERIC Clearinghouse on Infonnation 
& Technology (see address above). 

A Pocket Guide to ERIC and All About ERIC 

ll1e Pocket Guide is an 1 8-page prunphlet tl1at offers an overview 
of ERIC products and services and contact infonnation for tl1e 
ERIC Clearinghouses, support components, online and CD-

1 7 -



ROM vendors, and reprint services. All Abo Ill ERIC is a booklet 
t11at includes sections for new users and for staff of libraries and 
resource centers interested in providing access to ERIC. All 
About ERIC offers basic tips for searching t11e database, a 
reproducible search worksheet, and a lumdout for education 
students called "ERIC Tips for Teachers in Training." 13otll 
publications are free from ACCESS ERIC (see address below); 
bulk copies are available for training. 

Curriculum Package 

The ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult. Career, �md Vocational 
Education has prepared an ERIC training curriculum called Your 
Guide to ERIC ($30). The package includes four leaming mod­
ules, transparencies, relevant ERIC publications, and a set of 
Quick Search Cards, which give step-by-step instructions for 
searching ERIC on CD-ROM. The modules provide ru1 introduc­
tion to ERIC and its products and services; explain what types of 
documents are included in t11e database, how they are selected, 
and how new documents may be submitted; cover types of 
searches, appropriate descriptors, �md search strategies; and 
describe how to obtain copies of ERIC documents and journal 
articles as well as ot11er types of infomJation and services from 
ERIC. Quick Search Cards may also be ordered separately ($5). 

For more information or to order, contact t11e Center on Educa­
tion and Training for Employment Publications Office, The Ohio 
State University, 1 900 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 432 . 0--
1 090. Phone: 1-800-848-48 1 5  or 6 1 4-292-4353 . Fax : 6 1 4-
292- 1 260. E-mail : ericacve @magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu . 

Future Directions 

In identifying and adopting new strategies for· providing a full 
range of education materials and services. we have begun to 
understand iliat t11e next immediate challenge for ERIC is to 

- 1 8  

provide on-demand, free or low-cost, electronic access to a wide 
variety of materials in many formats (including video, audio, and 
hypennedia). We have taken t11e frrst steps, but much remains to 
be done. 

Fortunately, ERIC will have new allies in meeting these chal­
lenges. In M<rrch 1 994, the U.S. Congress aut11orized the estab­
lishment ofU1e National Library ofEducation. ERIC, in conjunc­
tion wit11 other key information and technology programs, will be 
instrumental in t11e development of t11e new Library. As it 
evolves, t11e Library will become t11e U.S. Department of Educa­
tion' s one-stop information service where print and online infor­
mation resources, reference and referral services, and informa­
tion technology applications will be carefully crafted to meet t11e 
needs and demands of educators, students, and parents. Everyone 
at ERIC looks forward to p�rrticipating in iliis venture. 

Robert M. Stonehill, fonner director of t11e U.S. Department of 
Education ' s  ERIC program, is currently Acting Director, State 
and Local Services Division, U.S. Department of Education, 
Office ofEducational Research, OfficeofResearch and Dissemi­
nation, Washington, D.C.,  20208. Phone: 202-2 1 9-2088.  Fax: 
202-2 19- 1 8 1 7 .  E-mail :  rstoneh i @ inet.ed.gov. 

Lynn Sm�rrte is director of ACCESS ERIC, t11e outreach compo­
nent of the ERIC system, sponsored by t11e U.S.  Department of 
Education. ACCESS ERIC, 1 600 Research Boulevard, 3-C, 
Rockville, Mrrryl�md 20850. Phone: 1 -800--LET-ERIC (538-
3742) or 3 0 1 -25 1 -5467 . Fax : 30 1 -25 1 -5 767 . E-mail:  
lsnurrte @ inet.ed.gov. 

Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 3 

ff 
]