I’ve just received an email reminding me of the Higher Education Empirical Research Database, which is an online repository of peer-reviewed and “grey” literature on various aspects of the higher education sector. This should be useful for anyone carrying out research in education and related areas, as well as support staff and senior managers. Here’s the text of the email describing the HEERD resource:
The HEER database (http://heerd.open.ac.uk) is an open and free web-based resource comprising summaries of published empirical research on higher education topics. It covers 11 thematic areas:• access and widening participation• business, community and regional issues• course design and structures• graduate labour market• institutional management and finance• international issues• learning teaching and assessment• quality assurance• research• staffing• students – characteristics, experiences, expectationsIt can be browsed and searched by thematic area, author, date, publisher, and subject. A range of types of research is included, from academic research published in journals and books to ‘grey literature’, such as policy research that is funded by policy and funding bodies. The database only stores research that is empirically-based and consequently opinion, position or theoretical papers are not included. Most of the research is currently UK focussed.