Through OERI's new AskERIC service, information about these and a vast array of other topics is now readily available to teachers with access to Internet. Operated by OERI's ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Clearinghouse on Information and Technology at Syracuse University, AskERIC combines an electronic mail (e-mail) question-and-answer service with an extensive collection of online resources that teachers can search on their own.
Teachers who e-mail an educational question to AskERIC will receive an answer within 48 hours. In response to the types of questions that teachers have posed, AskERIC staff have assembled other electronic resources that evolved into the AskERIC Electronic Library that is accessible online. It includes ERIC Digests (short, full-text research summaries), literature searches, InfoGuides (descriptive summaries on educational topics with pointers to electronic resources), hundreds of lesson plans, mini-searches on popular topics, frequently-asked questions, and more.
Originally available only in New York, Texas, and North Dakota, AskERIC is now a menu item on the state electronic teacher networks in Florida, Washington, California, Massachusetts, and Illinois, as well as PBS's Learning Link and the Community Learning Network in British Columbia, Canada. Plans call for expansion to even more states in the months ahead.
Within weeks of its inception in November 1992, AskERIC was already handling about 250 teacher inquiries per week. Now, over 15,000 users access the AskERIC Electronic Library each week!
Try it out. If you have Internet access, e-mail a question or request for information to askeric@ericir.syr.edu. You can access the AskERIC Electronic Library through Gopher, or by telneting to ericir.syr.edu (login as "gopher"). For more information, call the ERIC clearinghouse at 315-443-9114.
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