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EDUCATION: GENERAL RESOURCES     

This guide is concerned with resources dealing with a broad range of education issues, including “gateways,” directories, rankings, statistical sources, clearinghouses.  Websites utilized in compiling this page include federal agencies, academic libraries/departments, professional associations/organizations.

This guide was designed with free Internet accessibility in mind.  Some academic sites, however, include databases which are restricted to their respective academic communities.

This page is highly subjective in its selection of sites.  Lack of inclusion of other sites does not reflect on the validity or importance of such sites, since there are thousands of noteworthy sites from government sources, academic and professional associations/ organizations.  It is also good to remember that since many of these sites profiled here are comprehensive in nature, there is an inevitable amount of overlap and duplication.

BUBL LINK: Catalogue of Internet Resources: 370 Education

•  Links to 18 education- related pages for general resources, educational levels (elementary, secondary, higher), specific topics (teaching, special education, distance learning, curricula, public policy issues, etc.)
•  Links on each page vary in number; there are currently a total of over 280  links
•  Each link is annotated; includes a brief description of content, author/sponsoring body
•  International in scope, but primarily from the UK and USA
•  Excellent; very useful for an overview of various aspects of education

Digital Librarian: Education

•  Maintained by Margaret Vail Anderson
•  Alphabetized directory of over 120 education-related sites for the following resources: meta-sites, clearinghouses/networks, discipline-specific sites, directories, journals, professional associations/organizations, journals, testing, standards, statistics
•  Primarily U.S. in scope, with limited international resources; includes resources on the
K-12, and collegiate levels
•  Short annotations accompany most links
•  Links to related “Digital Librarian” pages: “College & University,” “Directories—Schools
(K-12)”
•  Excellent; with its broad overview, this site’s links are representative of many aspects of the field of education; a great place to begin general research

ED.gov

•  Home page of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE)
•  The primary site for comprehensive information on the federal government’s education resources
•  Contains audience-specific links for students, parents, teachers, administrators
•  “A – Z Index” (accessible by “Help” feature) links to documents (programs/projects/reports) for several hundred education-related topics; cross-referenced
•  “State Information and Contacts” (accessible by “About ED”) links to websites/resources for all states and territories
•  Also includes information on DOE’s initiatives, programs, resources, publications, job openings
•  For best navigation, search the “Site Map”
•  Best official source for the federal government’s resources for education

Education Internet Sites

•  Prepared by Jacqueline Gill, City College Libraries, City College of New York
•  “A CCNY Reference Resource”
•  Directory of links to over 450 websites for 65 educational topics, including the following: educational levels (Pre-K through college/university), subject areas (arts, English, geography, literature, mathematics music, sciences, social sciences), certification, curriculum, home schooling, “No Child Left Behind,” policy formulation, personnel, standards, statistics, professional associations/organizations and more
•  Many sites are geared toward information resources for practitioners; especially useful for all aspects of children’s education
•  Excellent annotations accompany each link
•  Topics are cross-referenced
•  Outstanding; this extensive site covers a broad range of resources which cover all aspects of American education; highly recommended

Education: Professional Associations and Organizations

•  Yale University Social Science Libraries and Information Service
•  Directory of links to over 35 professional associations/organizations
•  Concentrates on professional development sites and topic-specific sites (with an emphasis on teaching-related sites)
•  Annotations accompanying each link give a brief background on the association/organization
•  Excellent; not extensive, but its links are representative of many of the most authoritative  associations/organizations in the field

Education Resource Organizations Directory (EROD)

•  Maintained by the U.S. Department of Education, EROD “… is intended to help you identify and contact organizations that provide information and assistance on a broad range of education-related topics”
•  “State/Territory Search” is a browsable directory of the each state/territory’s official state department of education (“State Education Agency”), additional affiliated state agencies, non-governmental professional associations/organizations, federally sponsored state/regional centers, “Other State Resources”
•  “Organization by Type” allows users to browse agencies/organizations by educational level (higher education, community colleges, adult education), population-specific sites (child care, “correctional education,” children with special needs) or topic (arts, literacy, “national history day,” etc.)
•  Searchable by title, topic, name, keyword
•  Also includes an FAQ feature for the database, “Organization Submittal Form”
•  Currently includes links to over 2,950 agencies/organizations/programs
•  “Each entry in the directory is verified and updated at least annually”
•  Outstanding; this comprehensive resource is the best source for identifying a state’s official education agencies and NGO associations/organizations 

Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)

•  Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
•  “An internet-based digital library of education research and information,” ERIC “… provides access to bibliographic records of journal and non-journal literature indexed from 1966 to the present”
•  Target audiences include teachers, researchers, students, educational administrators, parents, media, business communities, “general public”
•  Contains more than 1.2 million abstracts/citations for journal articles, books, conference papers, policy papers, “research syntheses,” and “other education-related materials”
•  Searchable by author, keyword(s), ERIC Thesaurus Descriptions
•  Each abstract/citation includes the following: author(s), title, descriptors, peer-reviewed status, publisher, publication date, additional “identifiers”
•  Also includes a substantial number of full-text documents
•  Currently indexes over 600 education-related journals; includes information on each journal’s ISSN, years of coverage, peer-reviewed status, content description, number of records in ERIC
•  “ERIC Microfiche Digitization Project” seeks to digitize over 340,000 documents (1966-1992) which are currently available only on ERIC microfiche
•  Outstanding; this is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) resources for accessing non-book educational resources; in recent years, many of ERIC’s “clearinghouses” have been transferred to other institutions (primarily in academia), but this still remains an extremely valuable resource for conducting educational research over the past 40 years

Education Virtual Library

•  Maintained by Charles Sturt University (Australia)
•  Part of the WWW Virtual Library
•  This meta-site for Internet-based education resources links to hundreds of sites for the following resources: educational level (K-12 through higher education), clearinghouses, databases, funding, lectures/tutorials, teaching methodologies, software, educational technology
•  Each link includes “Complete Record Details” (site description, educational level, country of origin, contact information)
•  International in scope
•  Links to related “WWW Virtual Libraries” for applied linguistics, biosciences, languages, technology
•  Outstanding; in keeping with the WWW Virtual Library tradition, this site is comprehensive, accessible to all audiences and easy-to-navigate

Education Web Sites

•  Part of the outstanding “Web Based Resources,” a gateway to e-journals/websites for over 40 disciplines in business, humanities, life sciences, physical sciences and social sciences; maintained by Lewis A. Armstrong, William Allen White Library, Emporia State University
•  “This site is always under construction”
•  Directory of several hundred links to 30 education-related resources areas, including general sites/search engines, directories, technology, professional associations/organizations, testing, practical sites (lesson plans, classroom discipline, “teaching tips”)
•  Not annotated
•  Excellent; although there are a number of “dead” sites, this is still a very good resource for accessing practical information for the field of education

Education Week on the Web

•  Sponsored by Editorial Projects in Education (EPE)
•  A premium source for the latest educational news on a state and national basis
•  Provides daily news, weekly news, special reports, commentary
•  Primary concentration is on education from K -12; topics include administration/management, teaching, legal news, testing/accountability
•  “Commentary” and “Opinion” include “blogs,” “chats,” polls
•  Includes a browsable/searchable events calendar
•  Excellent resource for keeping abreast of American educational trends and happenings

Education World

•  Sponsored by EDmin.com
•  Online since 1996, this meta-site—with links to thousands of sites—focuses on practical resources for administrators/teachers, K-12
•  Basic content areas include lesson planning, “technology integration,” professional development, and administration/management (“Administrator’s Desk”)
•  Its internal search engine (EdWorld) is limited to educational sites
•  Also includes glossary, survey, weekly columns, site reviews, state/national standards
•  Contains significant commercial content
•  Outstanding; this eminently practical site is one of the best resources for “real world” advice for K-12 professionals

Educational Directories and Rankings

•  Maintained by Lorna Lueck for the Davidson Library, University of California Libraries (USCBL)
•  “A list of print and online educational directories and rankings available in the Davidson Library”
•  Includes print citations and links to websites for the following: educational institutions by type (K-12, colleges/universities (both domestic and international), vocational/technical schools), accredited schools/accrediting organizations, degrees/programs by subject, distance education, educational organizations/agencies, faculty/administrators, school codes, “study abroad” programs, rankings (colleges/universities, undergraduate/graduate levels)
•  Print resources cited should be available in many academic libraries
•  Not annotated
•  Excellent; one of the best sources for quick location of directories/ranking for educational institutions/programs

Educator’s Reference Desk

•  Maintained by the Information Institute of Syracuse (IIS), “the people who created AskERIC, the Gateway to Educational Materials, and the Virtual Reference Desk”
•  This multi-faceted resource provides “2,000+ lesson plans, 3,000+ links to online education information, and 200+ question archive responses”
•  “Resource Guides” offers a browsable directory of links in 12 educational categories (including administration/management, evaluation, “specific populations”); these include over 340 sub-topics, each of which may include “archived responses,” Internet sites, “online communities”/discussion groups, professional associations/organizations; almost all links are annotated
•  “Lesson Plans” has a browsable directory of over 2,000 sites organized by 12 content areas/disciplines; this may also be searched by education level; includes information on developing lesson plans
•  “Question Archive” is comprised “… of over 200 responses on the practice, theory, and research of education”
•  Outstanding; this is one of the most popular “gateways” to education resources currently online; its content includes a great deal of practical information for professionals in the field; highly recommended

Gary Price’s List of Lists: Education

•  Sponsored by Specialissues.com
•  This sub-page is a directory of links to rankings of educational institutions by category; includes higher education, distance education, public education
•  Scope is almost exclusively domestic, with very limited international information
•  Contains 47 rankings from 18 industry/trade journals (some rankings on specific topics are available for multiple years)
•  Rankings dates span from 2002 through 2006
•  Links to Specialissues.com sub-pages for 20 additional industries
•  Outstanding; this is an excellent resource for determining educational institutions’ standings over a period of time

Guide to Information Resources in Education

•  Maintained by Erica Carlson, George B. Brain Education Library, Washington State University
•  Guide to the education-related print, database and Internet resources available at the library
•  Print resources include dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, glossaries, handbooks, certification/standards information; these may be found in academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Databases/electronic journals are restricted to the Washington State University community; they may be found in academic libraries and large public libraries
•  Internet resources link to “gateways,” “research reports,” news, statistics, discussion lists, professional associations/organizations, career information
•  Brief annotations accompany citations and links
•  Outstanding; another great introduction to basic education-related resources of many types; sections on professional resources and on “research reports” are especially useful

Internet Public Library: Education

•  Sponsored by the School of Information, University of Michigan
•  Links to 24 websites, which represent some of the most useful sites for education; “gateways,” clearinghouses, newsgroups, statistics, standards, U.S. Department of Education
•  Annotations accompany each link
•  Also links to magazines, professional associations/organizations
•  Links to 12 IPL sub-pages for additional topic-specific educational categories, including adult education, alternative education, K-12, higher education, vocational education
•  Excellent; like other IPL Internet guides, this one is a great place for an overview of the field, due to the quality of its links, ease-of-navigation and suitability for novices as well as experienced researchers

Internet Resources in Education

•  Created and maintained by Lorna Lueck, University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) Libraries
•  Directory of categorized links to over 270 websites for the following resources: professional associations/organizations/research centers, counseling/clinical/school psychology, general education, electronic journals/news services, ERIC, government/statistics, graduate schools of education, lesson plans/teacher activities, mailing lists, publishers, standards/frameworks, student’s pages, style guides
•  Scope is national, with an emphasis on California’s educational resources; includes resources on K-12 and collegiate levels
•  Minimal annotations
•  Links to related USCB Library Research Guides for educational standards, educational directories/rankings, tests/measurements
•  Outstanding; sections on counseling/psychology, statistics, lesson plans/activities, and standards/frameworks are especially useful; highly recommended

Intute: Social Sciences - Education

•  “A free online service providing access to the very best resources for education and research”
•  Intute is the successor site to the Resource Discovery Network (RDN), one of the foremost British meta-sites for quality resources useful to researchers at all levels
•  “A consortium of seven universities working with a whole host of partners bringing together the expertise of people and processes through which we can evaluate web resources and provide a structured approach to help people find and use them”
•  “Education” component links to over 1,300 sites for the following sub-categories and “related areas”: general education, education by level (pre-school, primary, secondary, higher, adult, “further”), topic-specific education (international, “special,” vocational), additional resources (policy, educational technology, educational theory, educational psychology, teaching methods)
•  Each link is accompanied by an annotation and is identified as a “research type”
•  Results are categorized by “resource type” (professional association/organizations, government bodies, companies, journals/publications, research centers/institutes)
•  Scope is international, with an emphasis on the UK and USA
•  Excellent cross-referencing
•  Outstanding; one of the best resources of its type currently available, due to its subject breadth, excellent organization and quality of site annotations; highly recommended

Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators

•  Created in 1995 and maintained by Kathy Schrock, Administrator for Technology, Nauset Public Schools, Cape Cod, Massachusetts; sponsored by Discovery Education
•  “A categorized list of sites useful for enhancing curriculum and professional growth”
•  “Subject Access” directory provides annotated links in 23 subject areas
•  Updated on a regular basis
•  Contains an excellent “Interactive Site Map”
•  Outstanding; this is one of the best sites for resources for K-12; very accessible and a great place to find practical “hands-on” information

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

•  “Located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences,” the NCES “… is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations”
•  Primary audiences for NCES’s data/survey products include Congress, federal agencies, state education agencies, government officials, professional educational associations/organizations, media, business, “general public”
•  “Annual Reports” include the “Digest of Education Statistics,” the “Condition of Education,” and “Projection of Education Statistics,” three of the most useful overviews of American educational data/trends available
•  Scope is primarily on the U.S.; there is a limited numbers of data/surveys on international topics
•  Includes numerous surveys for all levels of American education  (including early childhood education, assessment surveys)
•  Data reports/surveys cover a wide variety of topics, including the impact of crime on schools, vocational education, educational finance, rural schools, student aid, faculty/staffing, literacy
•  “Subject A-Z” (under “Publications & Products”) provides access to hundreds of NCES reports/documents which are archived from the early 1990s; there are over 160 topics (many of which are divided into sub-topics); excellent annotations accompany most links
•  Includes locator feature for school districts, public schools, private schools, colleges; includes school’s characteristics (student body composition, educational level/”grade span,” affiliation, “enrollment characteristics”); also includes locator feature for public libraries
•  “State Education Data Profiles” includes numerous data indices on all educational levels, demographics, and “National Assessment of Educational Progress” for each states; also provides comparative data concerning national averages
•  Provides information on NCES’s structure/organization, event, initiatives, employment opportunities, conferences/workshops/training, resources, publications/products, services
•  For best navigation, browse the “Site Index”
•  Outstanding; this the best resource (official or otherwise) for data/surveys on education in the U.S.; it is comprehensive, very well organized and it should be the first lace for undertaking any research in this area; highly recommended

National Library of Education (NLE)

•  Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), the NLE is “… the federal government’s main resource center for educational information”
•  Links to several of the DOE’s best online resources: Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM), National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF), U.S. Network for Educational Facilities (USNEI)
•  Provides contact information/hours of operation for the NLE; also discusses its policies, organization, main collection, special collections, reference services
•  Outstanding; best official resource for locating print and online federal resources for educational research for the U.S.

Resource Guides: Education

•  Maintained by David Vassar for Fordham University Libraries
•  Discusses the print, databases/electronic journals and Internet resources available at the Fordham University Libraries
•  Print resources include directories, encyclopedias, guides, handbooks, “institutional descriptions,” rankings, testing/assessment instruments; many of these may be found in academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Databases are restricted to the Fordham community; they may be found in academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Internet resources link to “general interest” sites (“gateways,” associations/organizations) and 25  topical areas
•  Annotations accompany print citations, databases and Internet resources
•  Outstanding; this is another example of a well-designed academic site which provides a thorough overview of the field of education

Resources for Education

•  Maintained by Meg Meiman, University of Delaware Library (UDL)
•  Guide to the education-related print, database and Internet resources available at the University of Delaware Library
•  Print resources include directories, encyclopedias, guides, handbooks, testing/assessment instruments, statistical reports; many of these may be found in academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Databases/electronic journals are restricted to the University of Delaware community; they may be found in academic libraries and large public libraries
•  Internet resources link to over 70 sites for guides/indexes, higher education, overnment sites, grants/scholarships/financial aid, K-12, testing, free electronic journals/reviews/magazines
•  Annotations accompany databases and internet resources
•  Links to additional guides for specific educational topics: education law, directories, tests/measurements, financial aid, special education, research
•  Also links to “Other University of Delaware Resources for Education” (Education Research Center, Center for Teaching Effectiveness, School of Education)
•  Outstanding; like other guides produced by the UDL, this covers a broad range of resources which provide a thorough overview of the field of education

Selected Education Web Sites

•  Maintained by the New York State Library
•  Directory of categorized links to over 200 websites for the following resources: general/meta-sites, professional associations/organizations, charter schools, distance education, employment, literacy, gifted education, federal resources, online journals, schools, special education, statistics/reports, “subject areas” (art, English, geography, health, history, math, music, science)
•  Excellent annotations accompany all links, with the exception of professional associations/organizations
•  Links for general/meta-sites and online journals are especially useful
•  Outstanding; this is an excellent resource for accessing many of the best sites for the entire field of education; highly recommended

Web Sites for Educators

•  Created and maintained by Gutman Library Research Services staff, Harvard Graduate School
•  Directory of over 270 “freely available” links for 49 areas of education, including K-12, higher education, directories, policy issues, topic-specific categories (charter schools, gifted/talented, home schooling, comparative/international educations, special education), professional interest (administration/policy, professional associations/organizations, conferences, journals) and more
•  No annotations
•  Outstanding; this excellent resource offers some of the best sites for a wide variety of educational topics; a great place to start research; highly recommended

What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)

•  “Established in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, researchers and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence on what works in education”
•  “Aims to promote informed education decision making through a set of easily accessible databases and user-friendly reports that provide education consumers with high-quality reviews of the effectiveness of replicable educational interventions”
•  “Current Topics” include information on successful strategies/”interventions” for improving the  following: “character education,” dropout prevention, early childhood education, reading (K-3), mathematics (elementary/middle schools)
•  Feedback/suggestions are welcomed from policymakers, professional educators, and the general public
•  Includes information on WWC’s staffing/organization, technical assistance services, programs, publications/reports
•  Outstanding; one of the best resources for accessing current information on practical policies and improvements in select areas of American education


Websitesrepresented on this page are for informational purposes only.  Johnson & Wales University Library is not responsible for the accuracy, content or stability of any websites linked to this page.

Compiled by Rick Keogh, 11/00; latest revision 8/07

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