The ERIC database is the world's largest source of education information, containing abstracts of documents and journal articles on education research and practice. The database covers descriptions and evaluations of programs, research reports and surveys, curriculum and teaching guides, instructional materials, position papers, and resource materials.

Provided by the U.S. Department of Education, this version of the ERIC database (1966-July 2004) contains 1.1 million bibliographic citations to a broad collection of education-related resources, from government reports to journal articles. Other materials include conference proceedings, project and program descriptions, curriculum guides, bibliographies, and more. Beginning in October 2004, ERIC provided access to the full-text of approximately 107,000 ERIC documents (published in 2003 or earlier, and indexed January 1993 - July 2004) in PDF image format. In 2005, ERIC began adding the journal and non-journal literature published in 2004 and 2005 to the ERIC database. With contributor permission, ERIC will provide access to these materials in .pdf text format.