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Main Library & McBay Science Library
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Hours
Main Library 7:30am – 2:00am
Circulation Desk 7:30am – 2:00am
Digital Humanities Lab 7:30am – 2:00am
Interlibrary Loan Office 8:00am – 5:00pm
Reference Desk 9:00am – 10:00pm
All Library Hours

STEM Subject Guide

Historic Documents Webinar (August 2023)

Ag/NUTR/Forestry Historical Documents Webinar

Slides

Sources

  • Monthly Catalog – pre 1976
  • Catalog of Government Publications – 1976 to present
  • Unreported Publication – GPO named – not discoverable through CGP, regional publications, put out by independent offices under USDA and printed outside of the government prior to 1962

Notable USDA publications

  • Numbered monographic series
  • Originated in USDA but authored by specific services
  • Agriculture Handbook
  • Agriculture Information Bulleton
  • Miscellaneous Publication
  • Technical Bulletin
  • May be catalogued individually or as a series

Example: Silvics of North America

  • USDA Agriculture Handbook under Forest Service
  • AGR HDB USDA
  • Worldcat is good at series information
    Economics and Statistics

  • Very strong in USDA

  • Economic Research Service (ERS) - explains stats, put into context
  • National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) - surveys, census every 5 years
  • ERS "Situation and Outlook" changes titles a lot
  • Digital Access is good
  • Mann Library at Cornell – ESMIS Economics, statistics and market information systems
  • NASS "quickstats" database
  • Cornell – Historical Agricultural Census – most current is NASS
  • AgEcon?

Food & Nutrition

  • Foods and Nutrition Service (FNS)
  • Administer nutrition program
  • Collect demographic data, evaluate how nutrition plans have changed after time, brochures also haha
  • Additional research functions - Agricultural Research Service or Economic Research Service
  • ARS can have food and nutrition, FNS focuses on programs themselves
  • X in calcium a day would be more ARS focus
  • Ag Handbook #8? -
  • Food Data Central (FDS) - "How much calcium is in my 2% milk?" - nutrient profile data and links
  • Nutrition.gov

Forestry

  • Research & Development Stations – each area
  • General References
  • Forest Atlas United States
  • Research Reports from Stations
  • Informational Brochures
  • Topographic Maps (hiking trails)
  • Forest Service Publications
  • FS – Forest Service General Publications
  • GTR-General Technical Reports
  • RB-Resource Bulletins
  • RN-Research Notes
  • RP-Research Papers
  • EIS-Environmental Impact Statements
  • Tree Search – US Forest Service Publications and Research
  • US Forest Service Library Catalog
  • Research Station Websites

Resource & Conservation Access

  • Internet Archive –water supply outlook, snow surveys, soil surveys
  • NRCS - in transition and adding historical data

ARS

  • AgResearch became Tellus
  • Last 10 years on ARS website
  • USDA National Agricultural Library's main search tool (SEARCH) includes PubAg, NAL Digital Collections, and Agricola
  • Digitized historic ARS series may be found in NAL Internet Archive collection

Google Doc:

Important Websites (as of August 2023)

Meeting Scientific Research Needs of the Food Community - 2/29/24

USAIN & AG Resource Dump

Miscellany

Core Sites

  • National Agricultural Library – U.S. Department of Agriculture. Produces a wide variety of information resources useful to producers, consumers, librarians, and teachers. Specifically look at the TOPICS page which highlights core resource areas.
  • USDA – information about the programs and services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Topics from animals to climate change to forestry to nutrition to trade.
  • FAO – information about the programs and services of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N.

Bibliographic and full text databases and resource center

General

  • AGRICOLA – database of bibliographic records created by the National Agricultural Library (NAL) and its cooperators, which contains citations for books, audiovisual materials, and journal articles, and web publications.
  • AGRIS – brings together world literature dealing with all aspects of agriculture. Millions of bibliographic records in 90 different languages from the member countries of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the U.N. Prioritizing the collection and harvesting of peer-reviewed and grey literature in equal measure . No full text
  • FAO publications – Full text to FAO publications – searchable via the search icon on the top right of the FAO pages
  • PubAg – a portal to USDA-authored and other highly relevant agricultural research. Includes full text.
  • PubMed – from the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes citations for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources. Includes veterinary medicine, animal science, nutrition and health, and genetics information.

Subject specific

  • AgEcon Search – repository of full-text journal articles, working papers, and conference papers in agricultural and applied economics.
  • Breeds of Livestock – Information on cattle, goats, horses, sheep, swine, and poultry breeds.
  • Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (CHLA) – a core full text collection of historical agricultural texts published between the early nineteenth century and the middle to late twentieth century.
  • Current Research Information System – (CRIS) The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) documentation and reporting system for ongoing and recently completed research projects in agriculture, food and nutrition, and forestry. Indication of published research about the projects may be included.
  • Farmland Information Center – a clearinghouse for information about farmland protection and stewardship.
  • National Agricultural Law Center – includes full-text of federal and state laws relating to agriculture and environment.
  • NRCS Soils Web site – Scientifically based soil information. Includes full-text technical manuals, soils surveys, and educational material.
  • Nutrition.gov – gateway to reliable information on nutrition, healthy eating, physical activity, and food safety for consumers.
  • PLANTS Database — by USDA, searchable by scientific and common name, provides taxonomy and distribution information, often includes photos and further information.
  • TreeSearch – full text of US Forest Service publications and research.
  • US Forest Service Library catalog – citations to forestry and forestry-related natural resource literature. Some full text.
  • USDA Economics, Statistics and Market Information System – (ESMIS) contains the full text of nearly 2500 reports and datasets covering U.S. and international agriculture and related topics. Mostly statistical but some analysis as well.
  • USGS National Wildlife Health Center – includes information about avian flu, chronic wasting disease, and West Nile virus.

Statistics

  • Agricultural Statistics (Annual) – (USDA) contains statistics on agricultural production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns.
  • Census of Agriculture – taken every five years, and provides statistics by state, county and zip code.
  • Commodity Markets – A World Bank website provides monthly world prices of commodities (pink sheets) as well as forecasts of key commodity prices.
  • FAOSTAT – free access to food and agriculture data for over 245 countries and territories and covers all FAO regional groupings from 1961 to the most recent year available.

Image Specific Sites

  • ARS/USDA Image Gallery – animals, crops, fruits and vegetables, insects and lab work.
  • Bugwood Images– includes invasive species, forestry, agriculture, integrated pest management, plants, insects, diseases, fungi, wildlife, fire and other natural resource issues. Most images are in the public domain.
  • Iowa State Entomology Gallery – includes some ants, bees, wasps as well as beetles, lice, cicadas, flies and mosquitoes, grasshoppers, ticks and damage to crops by insects.
  • Noble Foundation Plant Image Gallery — searchable by scientific or common name, includes photos and background information.