Page 169 - DLIS405_INFORMATION_STORAGE_AND_RETRIEVAL

Information Storage and Retrieval

Notes exact words found in a record, while searching by Descriptors allows you to locate records indexed
by subject, regardless of the terminology the author may have used. The ERIC Thesaurus will allow
you to conduct systemic searches and save time by reducing guesswork and trial-and-error methods.
Getting Started - Search ERIC Using ERIC Descriptors
To plan your search using ERIC Descriptors, we recommend that you follow these steps:
Describe the topic in your own words.
Divide the topic into major concepts.
Use the Thesaurus to locate the appropriate Descriptors for each concept of the topic.
Add the Descriptor(s) to your search.
If you’d like to take a shortcut, you might try simply doing a keyword search, retrieving a record
that looks relevant to your topic, and then examining the Descriptors. You can even click on one of
the Descriptors to start a new search.

The Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors, 13th Edition, contains an alphabetical listing
of terms used for indexing and searching in the ERIC database.
This word-by-word alphabetical display is probably the most familiar since it provides a variety of
information (a “display”) for each Descriptor. This includes a Scope Note, Use For (UF) and Use
(USE) references, Narrower Terms (NT), Broader Terms (BT), and Related Terms (RT). Each of these
segments of the Thesaurus display is explained in detail below.

Scope Note
A Scope Note is a brief statement of the intended usage of a Descriptor. It may be used to clarify an
ambiguous term or to restrict the usage of a term. Special indexing notes are often included.

TESTS
Devices, procedures, or sets of items that are used to measure ability, skill, understanding, knowledge,
or achievement.

Use a more specific term if possible—this broad term corresponds to pubtype code 160
and should not be used except as the subject of a document.

Oral Interpretation
The oral interpretation and presentation of a work of literature to an audience Alerts indexers and
searchers to an earlier Thesaurus instruction.

Prior to mar80, the instruction “oral interpretation, use interpretive reading” was carried
in the thesaurus.

Non-formal Education
Organized education without formal schooling or institutionalization in which knowledge, skills,
and values are taught by relatives, peers, or other community members.

164 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY