ERIC - Education Resources Information Centre

OK, so here is the database for finding all those bibliographic references (over 1.3 million in fact) for education literature, as well as a growing collection of full text articles. This database covers:

• journal articles

• books

• research syntheses

• conference papers

• technical reports

• policy papers

• other education-related materials

From the “Search Eric” tab your options are: Basic, Advanced or Search the thesaurus. On the right of the search screen is a “Search Tips” box that provides useful help. The Basic search allows you to enter a search term or terms and choose keyword, tile, author, descriptor (subject from the thesaurus) or ERIC number, from a dropdown menu.

The Advanced search option provides more control over the search strategy, for example:

• Full text

• ED/EJ (ERIC document or ERIC journal)

• Peer reviewed

• Publication date (pre 1966 – 2011)

• Publication type

• Education level

One particularly good feature of this database is the “thesaurus” – very useful and you can search it alphabetically or by category. Using the category option you can drill down through subject topic menus to get the broad, narrow, related, and used for terms as well as a scope note. If you choose the alphabetical option you also drill down through the topics. With that description you are sure to find the exact aspect of a subject you are looking for. One thing to note is that the “Thesaurus” does use American spellings such as “catalog”. More records are added monthly to ERIC. PDF of full-text articles can be downloaded. When you have found something of interest you can place it on your “Clipboard”. From the clipboard you can print, email, export citations or save to “My ERIC” for future use. You can search for specific journal titles under “Our Collection” and then “Journal List”.

As a test for New Zealand content, a search for “New Zealand flax” brought up one hit, “Maori chief” found four. ERIC indexes the New Zealand Journal of Adult Learning and New Zealand Journal of Geography. So why not try this database all you students, teachers, tutors and researchers out there.

Vanessa

Queen by right

Anne Easter Smith

This is the latest novel about the War of the Roses from Anne Easter Smith. It goes back to the start, to Richard, Duke of York and wife, Cecily Neville. It is evident that both Richard and Cecily love each other very much, which is a rare occurrence when the marriage has been arranged. It follows Cis from when she first met Richard to the crowning of their son, Edward, as king of England. When she first meets him, he has just been made an orphan by King Henry. His father tried to revolt against the Henry and proclaim himself king. This is because Richard and his father had more right to the throne than Henry (a family tree at the start shows this very well). So Richard must now grow up with this shadow over his head, and he spends the majority of his life trying to prove that he is loyal to the king.

Once Cecily and Richard are married, they become very wealthy and together they own much land between them. This status leads Richard to English holdings in France and Ireland, before he is forced to come back to assert his right in England. This novel follows his frustration at not being able to take his place at the king's side, due to powerful enemies. However, it also follows Cecily, and how she must also fight to keep her family alive and well. It shows how powerful and powerless women could be, in a time when a woman was little more than her husband's possession. Cecily Neville was a strong woman who fought tooth and nail for everything that she had. As a result, she will forever known as “Proud Cis”. She is also the ancestor of the current royal family in the UK.

I really loved this book. Sometimes the politics became confusing, but the author provided a family tree, a map and a list of characters at the start which helped immensely. I would recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, and to anyone who enjoys reading medieval fiction.

(Reviewed by Jasmine)

Going Bovine

Libba Bray

Cameron has got Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of mad cow disease. There are two things you need to know about Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease:

1. It's fatal. There is no coming back from this one.

2. It eats little holes in your brain and makes you go mad.

   With that in mind Going bovine is told from Cameron's point of view and when a punk rocker angel tells him to save the universe and himself in the process he's off on a wild adventure with an hypochondriac dwarf and an immortal garden gnome.
   

   This book plays with reality and Libba Bray has no problem seeing just how far we are willing to go. She takes us on an insane journey in and out of conciousness making sure to poke fun at reality T.V. consumerism and terrorism along the way. A great read for anyone with a sense of humour willing to laugh in the face of death.

(Reviewed by Donald)

Young adult winter reads

More New Releases

The Happiest Refugee

When Anh was two years old, his parents made the decision to escape war-torn Vietnam and make a new life elsewhere. A crowded boat, attacked by pirates (twice), days and days at sea drifting without food or water, and eventual rescue by the Australian Coastguard – this was how Anh’s new life began.

Settling in to Australia, the Do’s felt nothing but gratitude for the wonderful country that welcomed them, gave them somewhere to live, and provided them with so many opportunities. Ahn’s parents worked long hours so that their children could go to the best schools and dress like other Australians. Inspired by his parents, (father Tam’s mantra being “there’s only two times – now or too late”) Ahn works hard at school and then University. Always at the back of his mind is that he wants to “give something back” to the country that adopted him and to his mother who sacrificed so much to give her children a better life.

The Happiest Refugee is an incredible, uplifting story filled with humour and heartache. Anh Do is a stand-up comedian who has featured regularly on Australian television on programmes such as Dancing With the Stars, Deal or No Deal, and Rove Live.

(Reviewed by Jill)