Adaptive Device Locator System (ADLS): An expert system computer program that can be used to locate assistive technologies.

Artificial intelligence: A term describing the use of computers to perform operations that are associated with intelligence in human behavior, such as learning and decision-making.

AskERIC: A service operated by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology at Syracuse University. Services include the AskERIC Question and Answer service, a virtual library, update information about ERIC, lesson plans for teachers, and access to the complete ERIC database.

Assistive technology specialist: A relatively new professional role that includes assessing the need for assistive technologies, being aware of options for their use, locating them, training others in their use, installing them, assisting in their implementation, troubleshooting problems in their operation, and evaluating their effectiveness.

Boolean connectors: Use of the terms AND, OR and NOT to connect keyword descriptors when searching databases. AND is used to narrow searches, OR is used to broaden them, and NOT is used to exclude unwanted items. George Boole developed the logic system that guides such search strategies, which came to be known as Boolean logic. Boolean connectors are sometimes referred to as Boolean operators (see Keyword descriptors).

Consideration of assistive technology: The process of reviewing the need for assistive technology of students enrolled in special education programs. During that process, the status of existing assistive technology being used is reviewed and a determination is made whether additional, or new, assistive technologies may be needed or whether additional assessments may be necessary in order to make a determination of additional needs. The process takes place during the development of a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) and specifications for the use of any assistive technologies are written into the IEP at that time.

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC): The major professional organization for those who are involved in the education of students with disabilities and those who are gifted. CEC has numerous divisions that focus on special areas of topical interest. CEC maintains the ERIC Disabilities and Gifted Education Clearinghouse (see Exceptional Child Education Resources and Technology and Media Division).

ED Number: A unique number that is used to identify an abstract in the ERIC system.

ERIC: Acronym for Educational Resources Information Center

ERIC Clearinghouse: A component of the ERIC system that specializes in acquiring and maintaining information about a specific topical area in education.

ERIC Digest: A two-page summary of educational topics of interest that are produced by the ERIC Clearinghouses. Approximately 100 of these are produced each year.

ERIC Document Reproduction Service: A component of the ERIC system from which the complete text of many of the documents that are abstracted in the ERIC system can be purchased. Most of those documents are reports that are not available from other sources, such as professional journals and textbooks. The documents are available in either printed form, on microfiche, or via electronic mail.

ERIC System: A confederation of agencies that monitor much of the world's educational literature, abstract that literature, store it in searchable databases, and make the information available in a variety of forms. The ERIC system is comprised of 16 clearinghouses that are funded by the ERIC system and thirteen additional adjunct and affiliate clearinghouses funded by other agencies and support centers.

ERIC Thesaurus of Descriptors: A publication of the ERIC system that provides a list of all of the terms that are used to classify the topics of abstracts (see Keyword descriptors).

Electronic wizard: A computer program that provides help when performing various online tasks. For example, the ERIC system uses a "wizard" at one of its sites to help people structure their search of the ERIC database. The wizard monitors the keyword descriptors that are being used to search and makes suggestions for alternate terms to use, based on the descriptors that have been used to classify abstracts (see Keyword descriptors and ERIC Thesaurus of Descriptors).

Exceptional Child Education Resources (ECER): A database of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education that is operated by the Council for Exceptional Children. It contains numerous special education abstracts, over and above those that are maintained in ERIC's Resources in Education. The information in ECER also is available for purchase on CD-ROM.

Expert system: A development of artificial intelligence that combines the computer's capacity for storing specialized knowledge with a general set of rules intended to replicate the decision-making process of a human expert (see Adaptive Device Locator System).

Hyper-ABLEDATA: A database of more than 20,000 assistive technologies that is available on CD-ROM or the World Wide Web. Searches of the database can be conducted by type of product, product name, company name, or Boolean word search (see Boolean connectors).

Keyword descriptor: A term that has been used to describe the contents and topic of a given article that is abstracted in the ERIC system. Searches of the ERIC (and many other) databases are conducted by searching for all documents that contain a particular keyword descriptor (See Boolean connectors).

Microfiche: A form of microfilm in which up to 96 miniature photos of pages of text are displayed on a 4 by 6 inch card-like form that can be enlarged and displayed on the screen of a machine called a microfiche reader. Documents in the ERIC system are available on microfiche at most education or research libraries.

Resources in Education (RIE): A print periodical that is produced by the ERIC system. An issue of RIE contains copies of all abstracts produced since the prior issue. It can also be used to conduct manual searches for articles using keyword descriptors.

Technology and Media Division (TAM): A division of the Council for Exceptional Children that focuses on technology applications in special education. Professionals interested in such applications join CEC and then the TAM division. TAM publishes the Journal of Special Education Technology.

Telnet: A special computer program that allows people who are using telecommunications to log on to other sites. Telnet is most often used to log on to large mainframe computers. If someone is using a Web browser, such as Netscape or Internet Explorer, a special helper application must be installed in order to use Telnet.

Virtual library: Resources that one might find in an actual library, but are available only via a computer-mediated experience. In the context of this lesson, AskERIC maintains a virtual library that consists of a variety of educational resources and media that can be accessed via the Web.