Preparing Documents for Users with Particular Reference to ERIC.

People who develop information into a consumable form seem at times to work in a vacuum, failing to consider the potential users. Some helpful tips for preparing documents for easy retrieval and use, based upon guidelines followed in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system, are presented. The three major areas of evaluation are content, readability and indexing. The most significant part of the selection process is judging the quality of document content. To make these judgments easier, report writers should state clearly objectives, hypotheses, methodology, conclusions, and recommendations. The second criteria, readability, refers to the physical makeup of the document. Authors should keep in mind that their products will be copied and disseminated as received, and that, as a general rule, each generation of copying represents a 10% loss in resolution. Documents processed for the ERIC system are abstracted and indexed by subject specialists. Whether or not an author provides an abstract or keywords, the least he must do is to be sure that all the usual bibliographic information is provided. A structured vocabulary is used for indexing, and terms are chosen so as to make the document readily retrievable by potential users. (Author/SJ)