Help on searching the ERIC database

You can search any of the ERIC document resume fields listed on the Full Search page:

Examples - In the Author field type Smith to retrieve all documents by an author with that name;
Smith John for all documents by John Smith; or Smith Jo* to retrieve documents where where the author's name begins with Jo (e.g., John, Jon, Joann, etc.)

Type ED331* in the document number field to find all records with a document number beginning with ED331*.

Example - Type online systems to find the exact phrase online systems. Since the search is not case-sensitive, this is equivalent to Online Systems.

Look for two or more words at once by using the AND operator. Example - type education AND training to find records that have both the word education and the word training.

Look for words that are close to each other by using the NEAR operator instead of the AND operator. When you use NEAR, the closer together the words are, the higher the rank of the page, so the higher it appears in the list of search results. Example - type education NEAR training to match records where the word education is within 50 words of the word training.

Look for synonyms or similar words by using the OR operator. Note that if you don't use the OR operator and search using multiple words, the words are treated as a phrase. Example - type dogs OR puppies to find the word dogs or the word puppies, but not necessarily both.

Limit your search by using the AND NOT operator to exclude words. Example - type surfing AND NOT the Internet to find all instances of surfing, as long as surfing is not followed by the phrase the Internet.

Use double quotes if you want to use AND, OR, NOT, or NEAR literally. Example - type "houses near parks" to find records with the phrase houses near parks. Without the double quotes, this query would use the NEAR operator instead of the phrase.

Use a single asterisk (*) to look for words that begin with the same letters. Example - type key* to find key, keying, keyhole, keyboard, and so on.

Use a double asterisk (**) to look for all forms of a word. Example - type fly** to match fly, flew, flown, and flying.