For over three decades, the most frequently used, quoted, and disseminated educational documents were the ERIC Digests. Available on the ERIC website in the ERIC Digests Online (EDO) file, these highly focused, terse, and brief papers gained prominence and universal use around the world.
The ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Student Services was the primary producer of ERIC Digests that focused on counseling topics and issues. In all, ERIC/CASS produced over 250 Digests, many of which were included in books, articles, and separately published Digest collections.
With the major restructuring of the ERIC system and the elimination of the individual clearinghouses in 2004, ERIC discontinued the production of Digests. Although the Digests produced through 2003 can still be accessed under "ERIC Digests" on the ERIC website, the files have all been converted from the handout-friendly 2-page HTML format to a cumbersome multi-page PDF format. Again, we want to emphasize that no new ERIC Digests are being developed.
In response to this situation, ACA has launched its own program to develop a series of "ACA Counseling Digests" similar to those that had been produced by ERIC/CASS. These new Digests will carry on the tradition of providing quality information with authority and brevity; and they will be readily accessible to ACA members at no cost.
The ACA Digest program is part of a larger ACA initiative to develop an online library that will increase members' access to counseling-relevant resources. When the first phase of development is completed by the end of 2006, the ACA online library will contain: 1) the full-text of all of the VISTAS articles from 2004, 2005, and 2006; 2) a dozen collections of full-text resources on critical counseling topics; 3) 189 of the most recent ERIC/CASS Digests in the original 2-page format; and 4) at least a half dozen new ACA Digests. To insure the ongoing growth, expansion, and relevance of the library, ACA plans to add dozens of new VISTAS articles and 10-12 new ACA Counseling Digests each year.
