This account of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) provides information on its background and origin, and traces the development of the system from initial planning in 1962 through mid-1979. Although this is essentially an overview of the growth of the system, some of the more complex aspects of the ERIC story are included in the historical narrative, as well as critical comments, judgments, and evaluations designed to provide a more complete understanding of the factors involved in various events. Individual chapters deal with the background, beginning operations (1962-1965), building the ERIC system (1965-1966), ERIC's operation as a system (1966-1969), evaluation and reorganization of the system (1969-1972), building the thesaurus and improving the vocabulary, information processing procedures and the system components involved, and information services offered by the system. Footnotes for each chapter include references, and an ERIC chronology and indexes by personal name and subject are provided. (MER)