Evidence Synthesis Methods Interest Group

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Charge: To promote and develop competencies around evidence synthesis including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and other related methods of research synthesis, through activities such as: Facilitating discussion and peer-support; Creating and managing a resource page; Encouraging programming and publications around systematic reviews through ACRL.
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  • 1.  any new news about ERIC?

    Posted May 20, 2025 02:09 PM

    Hi all --

    I'm reaching out to see if anyone has heard anything new about ERIC over the past couple of weeks. Back on April 28th, some of us received a communication from Matthew Soldner, the acting director of IES, on the topic of "Continuing the Work of ERIC,"  saying that a contract with AEM Corporation was renewed, but that work on ERIC would have a "more refined scope." I e-mailed Soldner the same day to ask what "refined scope" means and whether ERIC would stop covering any journals (given previous reports which said ERIC's title list was going to be cut 45%), but I got no response. 

    Thanks for any intel -- much appreciated!

    Bernadette  :)



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    Bernadette Lear
    Education, Behavioral Sciences, and Social Sciences Librarian
    Penn State University Libraries
    She/Her/Hers,Ms.
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  • 2.  RE: any new news about ERIC?

    Posted May 21, 2025 09:33 AM
    To my knowledge, the full list of deselected journals has not been shared. Matthew Soldener doesn't respond to my emails either. I submitted a FOIA request to get the full list of deselected journals. The details of the FOIA request:

    Date Requested: 04/16/2025
    Status: In Process

    I'm hoping to glean some things at the upcoming EBSS Social Work Committee panel. Details below.

    Finding Grey Literature: Weathering the Storm of Disappearing Data

    Wednesday, May 28 at 10:30am ET / 9:30am CT / 8:30am MT / 7:30am PT

    Register in advance for this meeting:


    Join the ACRL EBSS Social Work Committee and our expert panelists to discuss strategies for searching grey literature during the turbulent current times of disappearing government data. Librarians and researchers who have conducted scoping reviews and other types of research know how tricky it can be to comprehensively search the grey literature at the best of times. Now, with government data disappearing and government databases that include significant amounts of grey literature potentially downsizing, this process is tougher than ever. Panelists will discuss the importance of grey literature in research and their recommendations for finding it.

     

    The discussion will last one hour and include time at the end for Q&A. The event will be recorded and made available soon after.

     

    Panelists:

    Briana S. Last, PhD, is an assistant professor in the psychology department. They are a behavioral health services and policy researcher. 

     

    Sarah Bonato is a reference and research librarian at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, ON and the author of the book Searching the Grey Literature. Without grey literature sources, she would find it a challenge to connect many library users with the right information.

     

    Erin Pollard Young was the project officer for ERIC, a large online database of education research hosted by the US Department of Education. She has extensive experience with obtaining, cataloging, preserving, and disseminating grey literature.

     

     

     

    --

    Amy Riegelman (she, her, hers)
    Social Sciences & Evidence Synthesis Librarian, University of Minnesota
    Information Specialist for Campbell Disability Coordinating Group




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: any new news about ERIC?

    Posted May 21, 2025 10:56 AM
    Thank you! Yes, I am looking forward to attending the webinar, too!

    Bernadette  ��

    Bernadette A. Lear (she/her/Ms.)
    Education, Behavioral Sciences, and Social Sciences Librarian
    Penn State University Libraries
    BAL19@psu.edu | 717-948-6360





    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: any new news about ERIC?

    Posted May 21, 2025 02:58 PM

    I responded to Bernadette on the EBSS group, but in case others missed it - Elizabeth Webster at Michigan State did hear back from him. Here's a link to the relevant ALA Connect thread (it was in this discussion group so everyone should be able to see it). 



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    Laura Harris
    Web Services and Distance Learning Librarian
    SUNY Oswego
    She/Her/Hers
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    Original Message