NET Gain No. 7: AskERIC (January 1997)

AskERIC Q&A

Anyone may send an education-related question to AskERIC. Questions sent to the AskERIC Web site or e-mail box (askeric@ericir.syr.edu) are directed to one of the 16 Clearinghouses in the ERIC system. Responses, which take two working days, typically include a brief ERIC search, a publication such as an ERIC Digest and referrals to other resources such as a listserv, Web site, or professional organization.

The AskERIC Virtual Library

• AskERIC Toolbox (http://ericir.syr.edu/Qa/Toolbox/)
  Includes links to education-related sites such as Classroom Connect, EdWeb, the Institute for Learning Technologies at Columbia University, the National Center for Technology Planning, the NetVet Veterinary Resources page and the Web66 K12 WWW project. Other features are Internet Project Resources, Cool Internet Sites for Kids and Internet Search Tools and Training Resources. Cool Sites for Kids includes links to Ask an Expert, Ask Dr. Math, the Internet Public Library, Kids on the Web, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
• AskERIC InfoGuides (http://ericir.syr.edu/cgi-bin/index_infoguides) InfoGuides are similar to annotated bibliographies of resources on a particular topic. A typical InfoGuide includes gopher and web sites, listservs and electronic journals and newsletters; ERIC resources such as ERIC Clearinghouses, an ERIC search and ERIC Digests; information on retrieving ERIC journal articles and documents; and other resources such as bibliographies, encyclopedias, other databases, professional associations and government sources.
• AskERIC Lesson Plans (http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/) These actual lesson plans include all the information such as grade level, time required, required materials, major objectives and activities. Directions for submitting lesson plans to the collection are also included.
• Education Listserv Archive (gopher://ericir.syr.edu:70/11/Listservs) This section consists of addresses of a host of education-related listservs.
• Television Series Companion Materials (http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Television/) Provides materials from places such as the Discovery Channel School, Newton's Apple, PBS Online, Frontline Online, C-Span, the ABC Classroom Connection, CNN Newsroom, and Teen Court TV. Other resources in the AskERIC Virtual Library are the ERIC Conference Calendar, professional and commercial announcements and catalogs and special project information.

This "NET Gain" was compiled by Judith Wagner (ERIC/ACVE, Ohio State University), David Carlson (NCRVE, University of California at Berkeley), and Peter Seidman (NCRVE). An online archive of columns is available on the NCRVE World Wide Web server (http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/NetGain/) Readers are encouraged to let the authors know about any changes in the resources listed, as well as about other resources they find useful.

Judy Wagner: 800-848-4815; wagner.6@osu.edu
David Carlson: 800-(old phone deleted);
Peter Seidman: 800-(old phone deleted);