The Journey to the Electronic Student Record

A virtual Electronic Student Record (ESR) is a collection of student records that reside in a variety of information systems and locations and on multiple types of databases. It contains information from many student-related encounters. When we reach our destination, these records will collectively reflect the current student status and lifetime history of a student. The ESR is virtual in the sense that the information does not physically reside in one place. When viewed on a computer workstation, the ESR appears to be in one place. In reality, the individual records were retrieved from many information systems. One important point about the virtual ESR is that it does not "own" information; therefore it avoids the extensive cost and complexity involved in establishing and maintaining large repositories and warehouses of information.