Searching the ERIC Database at UST: A Brief Guide

Accessing ERIC:
This database is available to the UST community  anywhere on campus from our library web page, located at http://www.stthomas.edu/libraries/index.htm.   Simply click on "Online Databases", then select "Silverplatter" to find it.   It's also available to UST students, faculty and staff  from off-campus through our proxy server.

Search Strategy

It’s important to approach database searching systematically. ERIC is a very large database, and unless you can be specific about what you want, it will return too many irrelevant results. Follow these steps for the best results:

1. The initial step is to write down your topic statement. Include all desired aspects of your research topic.

Topic Statement: I’d like to research how critical thinking skills can be incorporated into the college curriculum.

2. Next, extract the primary or key concepts from the topic statement.

Key Concepts (for statement above): Critical Thinking, Curriculum Development, College.

3. Select search terms. In order to do this, you need to log in to the database. Start from the UST Libraries Web page, and click on Online Databases. From the databases screen, you can click on the Silverplatter button.  The next screen allows you to select one or more databases. From the search screen, click on Thesaurus.  You can type in the concepts for your search to find the "descriptors" used by the database in indexing, and run searches under those terms. 

ERIC Descriptors for the key concepts above:

Critical Thinking: critical thinking, evaluative thinking, thinking skills.
Curriculum Development: curriculum development
College: higher education

4. Combine your searches. Use OR to combine lines in your search history that refer to the same concept. OR means that you retrieve everything under each set combined. Use AND to get a set which contains only the references that include both/all of your concepts. AND narrows your search to just the intersection of the sets included. Your result should be a well-focused search. If you get too many or too few results, check with a librarian about how you can refine your search.

Example Search:

#1 critical thinking or evaluative thinking or thinking skills
#2 curriculum development
#3 higher education
#4 #1 and #2 and #3

See a graphical depiction of Boolean searching 

5.  To view your results, click on "Display Records".  

6.  To mark specific references for printing, click on the checkbox at the beginning of each reference.  When you have finished looking through the list of references, click on Show Marked.  This pulls up a list of only the ones you've chosen.

7. To print your marked references, click on the "Print" button that's part of the database screen (not on the browser's regular print button at the top).  A screen comes up that allows you to change some of the print defaults.  Unless you wish to do that, simply click on the "Display for print" button at the bottom of the screen.  A list of your chosen references appears, with a record of your search queries at the top.

8.  When you're finished, be sure to back up one screen and click on the "Log Out" button.  This helps to make the database available to others who may be trying to access it.  Now you're ready to get your articles and ERIC Documents and start reading! 

Michelle Filkins / Mail #MOH206 / Opus Hall./ Minneapolis/ MN / 55403
mmfilkins@stthomas.edu
9/99 mf