Collection: ERIC: What It Is, How To Use It
Description: This project will digitize “ERIC: What It Is, How To Use It,” a rare 1974 multimedia instructional kit produced by the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Designed to train the public in navigating the then-emergent Education Resource Information Center (ERIC), the kit consists of filmstrips, audio cassettes, worksheets, and documentation for instructors. This collection is a significant source for the history of information science and educational equity as it documents the federal government’s first major attempt to democratize access to educational research. ERIC’s mission is to make research (peer-reviewed articles, books, and government reports) available to the public to promote best practices in education and improve outcomes for the nation’s young people.
A key objective of this project is the digital reconstruction of the kit’s original multimedia experience. We will synchronize the filmstrips with their corresponding audio cassettes, using the “advance tones” as cues to merge the two media into a unified video. This process will unlock the original 1974 slideshow experience for modern researchers.