Information Needs in the 21st Century: Will ERIC Be Ready?

Authors

  • Lawrence M. Rudner ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, University of Maryland, College Park

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v8n44.2000

Keywords:

Educational Research, Federal Programs, Financial Support, Information Dissemination, Online Systems, User Needs (Information)

Abstract

Ubiquitous for 35 years, the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is known for its database and recently for its range of web-based information services. I contend that federal policy with regard to ERIC must change and that ERIC will need massive restructuring in order to continue to meet the information needs of the education community. Five arguments are presented and justified: 1) ERIC is the most widely known and used educational resource of the US Department of Education, 2) senior OERI and Department of Education officials have consistently undervalued, neglected, and underfunded the project, 3) ERICs success is due largely to information analysis and dissemination activities beyond ERICs contracted scope, 4) information needs have changed dramatically in the past few years and ERIC cannot keep up with the demands given its current resources, and 5) the ERIC database itself needs to be examined and probably redesigned.

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Author Biography

Lawrence M. Rudner, ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, University of Maryland, College Park

Lawrence Rudner is with the College of Library and Information Services, University of Maryland, College Park. He has been involved in quantitative analysis for over 30 years, having served as a university professor, a branch chief in the U.S. Department of Education, and a classroom teacher. For the past 12 years, he has been the Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, an information service sponsored by the National Library of Education, U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Rudner holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (1977), an MBA in Finance (1991), and lifetime teaching certificates from two states.

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Published

2000-08-27

How to Cite

Rudner, L. M. (2000). Information Needs in the 21st Century: Will ERIC Be Ready?. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8, 44. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v8n44.2000

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Section

Articles