ERIC contract awarded
I'm kinda late on the ball with this for a number of reasons:
From the U.S. Department of Education:
Department Awards $34.6 Million Contract to Develop and Operate World's Largest Education Database
Department's Institute of Education Sciences to oversee development of searchable Internet-based catalog of education literature
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a five-year, $34.6 million contract to Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) of Rockville, Md., along with its subcontractors, to develop and operate a new database system for the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). The ERIC database will use the latest search and retrieval methods to cull education literature and give high-quality access to educators, researchers, and the general public.
...
"This is a major milestone in furthering the objectives of No Child Left Behind," said Secretary of Education Rod Paige. "For the first time, educators and policy makers will have an easy to use resource for gaining quick access to comprehensive and up-to-date information and research about education."
Libraries will also be able to indicate their in-house holdings so that individuals do not purchase information that is already available to them. Materials will be added to ERIC within one month of release, and authors will submit conference papers through an online system.
Giving a brief scan of CSC press releases on their website, it appears that they did not do a corresponding press release. Then again, looking at some recent deal announcements, $34 million might be a mid-range contract for them. Anyone familiar with this firm?