Happy Holidays from NAL

Click the image above for a larger view and a little holiday magic.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Libraries on December 24, 2008 EST | Permalink

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This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Crossroads of Ag and Public Health

What is the connection between what you eat and how you feel?

Does the way an animal or crop is raised impact its nutritional value?

How are farming methods contributing to environmental problems and human health issues?

These questions and others like them represent the crossroads of agriculture and public health, that complex interdependency between what we eat and how it is raised with our individual and collective well-being.

They are the kinds of questions that seem to be popping up more and more, from the mainstream press to scientific journals and trade publications.

But clearly the frequency of the questions does not mean we have answers. In fact, as any researcher knows, most so-called answers just lead to more questions, more debate and more avenues for research.

To help bring some order to all that research and to the multiplicity of answers derived from it, the Center for a Livable Future, a research institute partnering Johns Hopkins University with its School of Public Health, recently launched a new Web site, the Agriculture and Public Health Gateway.

The gateway provides a central starting point for anyone interested in exploring the ag-public health connection. It lets you simultaneously search four key databases dealing with agriculture (NAL's AGRICOLA), ag safety (the National Agricultural Safety Database), medicine (PubMed) and the environment (Earthtrends). Or you can browse a range of Web-based goodies -- articles, reports, databases, programs, videos and more -- organized by topics such as crop production, community and occupational health, or food safety and labeling.

You'll find more details about the site on the Center's blog, or just jump in and start exploring. And when you find answers to the questions above, let us know.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Animals and Farm Safety and Food and Nutrition and Libraries and Natural Resources & Environment and Organic Production and Plants and Crops and Rural Life and Water Quality on November 04, 2008 EST | Permalink

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Hey! What a rich and inviting pool you left for exploration here. Thanks!! I also noted related ideas from an NPR broadcast today. This was on gut (human) microflora, and their contributions (or detraction) from our physical well-being. See: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95900616 These connections are not new. JI Rodale started "Prevention" magazine - then soon added "Organic Gardening." This witnesses his belief in food production and health outcome relationships. Thanks for these neat notes! - Karl

Submitted by: Karl Schneider on November 4, 2008 09:55 PM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on November 5, 2008 11:23 AM

Submitted by: Karl on November 6, 2008 10:00 AM

Submitted by: Water Damage on November 21, 2008 08:12 AM

Submitted by: Alex Tiller on November 26, 2008 01:42 PM

NAL Director Moves On

As Director of the National Agricultural Library for the last six years, Peter Young has rubbed shoulders with a lot of big wigs.

He has shown off NAL to three different Secretaries of Agriculture (Veneman, Johanns and Schafer), repeatedly argued NAL's case to a host of Ag Department officials, and shaken more library directors' hands than kernals in a corn field.

He has pushed for digital collections, spoken on the role of libraries in cutting-edge research, and held fast to the idea that libraries have a bright future.

He is definitely a glass-half-full kind of guy, and it shows in his demeanor.

His faith and confidence are infectious. Warm and jovial, he can talk the stripes off a bee. He's approachable, sincere and supportive, encouraging innovation and cheering on risk-takers. He doesn't stand still, and neither does the staff he leads.

But from this day forward, the staff will be moving on without him.

Peter has wrapped up his time as NAL's Director to become Chief of the Asian Division at the Library of Congress.

It's his third stint at LC, and, he says, it's a bit like coming home, both because of his previous work there and because his father once walked the same halls.

So we bid him a fond farewell, with heartfelt gratitude for his leadership and a deep appreciation for his efforts on behalf of the Library and its staff. And we send him off with a chat and a laugh and a hug, as best befits his time here, for though he has rubbed shoulders with big wigs, it's his time with his staff that he says he most treasures.

We feel the same. Good luck, Peter.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Biography and Libraries on October 31, 2008 EST | Permalink

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Peter has been a supporter and champion of collaborations between the NAL and the land-grant and agricultural library community. Projects such as AgNIC benefited greatly from Peter's encouragement and vision. His leadership will be greatly missed by his state-based partners.

Submitted by: Connie Britton on November 3, 2008 11:24 AM

Submitted by: Karl Schneider on November 4, 2008 10:18 PM

Submitted by: Katie Newman, USAIN President on November 6, 2008 01:08 PM

Curling Up with a Great Print-Out

A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you.          Daniel J. Boorstin

Fear not, Dr. Boorstin. Despite the fact that electronic book readers and portable, handheld devices of increasing sophistication can go to bed with you, most people still prefer the old fashioned book.

In fact, in a bit of technological irony, the same year that the iPhone was named Time Magazine's Invention of the Year, one of the other leading vote-getters was the Espresso Book Machine, a modern marvel that delivers print and bound books on demand in less than ten minutes.

Now, the Shapiro Library at the University of Michigan has an Espresso Book Machine of its own.

Staff there are getting ready to bring the unit online next week, but the buzz has already begun.

The future, it seems, is here, and it is very cool.

The library will be able to serve up copies of out-of-copyright books from its own digitized collection, along with thousands of titles from the Open Content Alliance, the Internet Archive (including the Biodiversity Heritage Library) and other digital sources. That's well over 2 million books available to be printed out for about ten bucks each.

Sure, many are likely available for loan (for free) just a few floors up from the book printer, but many others, due to condition, age or location, likely are not. You also can't scribble in the margins of the library copy, so folks addicted to highlighters and marginalia are relieved.

But note the phrase "out-of-copyright" two paragraphs above. The shiney new book printer and its handlers can't skirt copyright, so a whole host of books must still be acquired one of the old fashioned ways.

But is that enough to kill the thrill? Would you find a print-on-demand service a useful thing, even if you can't get anything newer than the 1920s?

Of course, if you've got a hankering for historical information, check out the National Agricultural Library Digital Repository. We can't print and bind what's there for you, but pull 'em up on your new smartphone or PDA, and you can still take 'em to bed.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Copyright and Libraries on September 25, 2008 EST | Permalink

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what interest me is the open content alliance. The copyrights issue can get me headache.

Submitted by: warren on December 5, 2008 03:26 AM

A Public Service Announcement

We here at NAL just learned today that a certain well-known coffee chain has decided to close its store across the street from the library.

No specific closure date has yet been provided, but I'll try to keep track of that so that library customers can be forewarned.

Librarians missing their daily caffeine fix can be a bit grumpy, and I'd hate to see you caught in the crosshairs.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Libraries on July 18, 2008 EST | Permalink

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I was wondering if that was your Starbucks. I'm really sad that it is. It made a huge difference to me when it arrived. Civilization being defined as the ability to walk to coffee and a newspaper (Starbucks has both). I know that there is one over the Beltway, but it is not the same. This one was within walking distance and was in a great location! Saving gas and exercise at the same time. So sad. So short sighted given that all those new apartments/condos will be full of coffee drinkers. Donna Herendeen formerly of NAL,

Submitted by: Donna Herendeen on July 23, 2008 12:36 PM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on July 23, 2008 03:39 PM

Looking for a Vet Med Library?

Thanks to my colleagues at the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists (IAALD), I've found a great new resource on the Web for those of you with interests that run toward veterinary medicine.

The Veterinary Medical Libraries Section of the Medical Library Association has created an international directory of veterinary medical and related libraries and posted it to the Web.

Each listing includes full contact information for the library itself, as well as for personal points of contact, along with the library's Web address.

As IAALD's blog points out, the international listings are still being developed. Even so, the directory's an impressive list of academic and other libraries associated with the vet med, animal care and research communities, including colleges of veterinary medicine, vet hospitals and professional organizations, zoological gardens and aquariums, pharmaceutical companies and national libraries of medicine or agriculture, NAL among them.

So, the next time you need to do research related to veterinary medicine, you might want to start with this directory. Or, if your needs run toward animal welfare and research alternatives, head directly to NAL's own Animal Welfare Information Center. They can give you the lowdown on ways to improve animal care and use in research, testing, teaching, and exhibition, and help you meet the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Animals and Libraries on June 12, 2008 EST | Permalink

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This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

How Much Does It Take?

How much money does it take to run a national library?

Answer: It depends. The National Agricultural Library's (NAL) allocation for FY2006 was $22.8 million, but that same year the National Library of Medicine (NLM) received $315 million (PDF|8.52 KB).

How is NAL managing on a budget that is only a small fraction of NLM's?

Answer: Good question. And you're not the only one asking it. In fact, the question has been surfacing and re-surfacing for some time.

Back in 2000, USDA appointed an Interagency Panel to assess NAL's pursuit of its legislated mandate. Knowing the figures above, I'm sure you won't be surprised by the Panel's conclusion: that NAL is unable, with that level of support, to do what it was established to do.

The Panel went on to recommend annual increases to the NAL budget with a total target increase to $100 million (in 2001 dollars).

USDA then went on to ask the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board (NAREEEAB) -- a diverse 31-member panel that advises the Secretary of Agriculture on top priorities and policies for food and agricultural research, education, extension and economics -- to review the Interageny Panel's report and make its recommendations. Based on that review, along with thirty days of public comment, the NAREEE Board fully agreed with the Panel, but they took the funding recommendation one step further: The Board urged "an immediate increase of $10 million . . . to launch the revitalization process."

Sounds good. What happened?

Answer: The Library did not receive any additional funding. In fact, the stagnant appropriation yielded a net decrease in spendable dollars.

Then, in 2007, the NAREEE Board conducted a major five-year review of NAL, the first since their review of the Interagency Panel's recommendations. They released their findings (PDF|115 KB) in February 2008. Noting the intervening years of flat budgets, the Board declared NAL at a "tipping point," going on to describe the "critical cutbacks" on the table. To counteract the resulting loss of programs and services, the Board recommended "funding increases for NAL over the 'long term'" to shore up the collection and to repair or replace the Library's building.

How much of a funding increase did the Board recommend?

Answer: The NAREEE Board did not tie a dollar figure to its recommendation.

Spurred by their support, however, NAL staff crafted a discussion paper (PDF|35 MB) that brought together all the issues, figures, goals and ideas that staff had been wrestling with for over three years about where the Library wanted to go and what it would take to get there. Released just last week, the paper summarizes the Library’s programs, services, audiences and opportunities for growth and projects the costs for a variety of new endeavors.

Of course, the report does not represent the official policy or position of the Agricultural Research Service or the United States Department of Agriculture, but the Library has released it in hopes that it will stimulate discussion, evoke critical comment and spark debate about NAL's future.

Okay, what next?

Answer: Read the discussion paper, "Blueprint for Success," (PDF|35 MB) and let us know what role you see the Library taking in the future. Do our goals mesh with yours? Do you want us to expand our online resources, to restore journal subscriptions, to lead a national effort to collect the best of agricultural research?

Or tell us what value you place on the Library in the context of agricultural research. How do you use us? What more do you need us to do for you?

We are a national library, which means we're your library. What can we do to serve your needs regarding agriculture and the environment?

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Libraries on May 05, 2008 EST | Permalink

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Sounds like another BOOK Fahrenheit 451! For more that 10 years I've depended on Dr.Jim Dukes work at ARS-Grin, and the fact that books are no longer salable through their services is deplorable. It an abomination and says something about the control of information in a "free" society.

Submitted by: David on June 25, 2008 05:46 PM

Somebody Out There Loves Us

In a survey NAL took two years ago, we learned that over half of the 6,000 or so respondents did not know we existed. We're working to change that.

One way is by making ourselves more visible in our immediate community.

Last month, the Library hosted the Women in Business group from the Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce and shared with them an inside look at our collections and our work.

It's not the kind of thing we do every day, but we do it often enough that we might occasionally take it for granted, this showing off the place and its riches. Fortunately, one attendee didn't take it for granted. Instead, she wrote a glowing and appreciative review in a blog entry penned just a few days after her visit.

And though she finds our building to be "chunky," "distant" and "foreboding" (and who doesn't, frankly?), she discovers within it "a remarkable collection to delight any lover of nature and history."

Is it enough to say "thank you" to such effusive praise?

I sure hope so.

Thank you, Peg.

And thank you, too, to all our customers, to our USDA colleagues and to our partners across the federal government, education, and libraries. You make it all worthwhile.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Libraries on April 16, 2008 EST | Permalink

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This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

You're Only as Young as You Feel

You've seen those lists every fall describing the experiences of that year's class of college freshmen, haven't you?

The most recent, for the class of 2011, hightlight that "they've never 'rolled down' a car window," and "never saw Johnny Carson live on television." Hard to believe, but there it is.

The annual update is meant to help bridge the generation gap, to set the historical and cultural context of the campus newbies for those about to meet them.

Sure, okay ... but what it seems to do even more successfully is to make the rest of us feel old. (Never saw Pete Rose play baseball? Jeesh!)

But if you really want to get a sense of time's furious pace, check out Steve Abram's quick recap of the Internet era:

• Web sites (as we've come to think of them) have been around only about 14 years.
• Blogs, as a form, debuted almost 10 years ago.
• Google has helped us search for the last nine years.
• Wikipedia joined the world in 2001.
• MySpace began in 2003, Facebook in 2004. [Sidebar: Abrams places MySpace back to 1999, citing Wikipedia, but more authoritative sources support the later date.]
• And YouTube joined us just three years ago, in February 2005.

Quite the reality check, isn't it?

Compare all that to the history of libraries, these august institutions that have been around since time immemorial, performing nearly the same functions through the centuries -- collecting materials and serving as a repository of knowledge.

Is it any wonder that our heads are spinning trying to integrate the young and fast-moving Web?

And yet, when looked at against the warp speed infiltration of all things Internet, libraries have adjusted rather quickly.

But what's in our future? Who knows, but take the jump to gain some street wisdom on the matter.

Then come back and offer some insights of your own. If you're a librarian, what are you doing to stay technologically young and nimble? If you're not, what do you want to see libraries do to meet your Web-adjusted expectations?

Think young. Be young. We're gonna need it.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Blogging and Libraries on January 25, 2008 EST | Permalink

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Do you know where one would find the final rule, published in the Federal Register, addressing the implementation of the Food Security Act of 1985?

Submitted by: William Arens on February 25, 2008 04:45 PM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on February 25, 2008 05:16 PM

Squawk Back

Funny librarian cartoons are hard to find. Every so often the New Yorker will have a good one, but they're still a rare breed. (And don't even mention that awful Noah Wylie movie. Embarrassing does not equal funny, and besides, it's live action, not animation, so it doesn't count.)

But then I stumbled onto a few budding collections (thanks to Stephen Abram's blog), and came across a comic strip that's just perfect for today's topic.

By Emily Lloyd at Self Check

Any chance that could be you?

If so, now's your chance. In honor of World Usability Day, I'm inviting you to tell us what you think about the National Agricultural Library. (Honestly, it's a standing invitation, but if you're one of those who needs an occasion, here it is.)

Do you like our Web site? Do we give you what you need right up front? Can you find your way around? Are there topics we're not covering that we should be?

What about our services? How'd we do answering your questions? Or getting you the article you need?

Or, dare I ask, what's your take on InfoFarm, this witty and informative blog you're reading? Are we filling a niche or missing the mark?

Friend, foe, frenemy...we'd like to hear from you.

Of course, if commenting's not your thing -- and you really just come for the edifying links -- then head on over to Usability.gov for the ins and outs of building great Web sites, or PlainLanguage.gov for tips on making your writing easier to understand. Master what's in those two sites and you'll make friends out of enemies in no time (at least on the Web).

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Libraries on November 08, 2007 EST | Permalink

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Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

I know this isn't what you're looking for, but--how fun to find my cartoon here! I grew up in DC; my sister worked for APHIS for years before heading to Georgetown Law. Thanks for "quoting" me. Best, Emily

Submitted by: Emily Lloyd on November 8, 2007 05:00 PM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on November 8, 2007 05:10 PM

Submitted by: Karl Schneider on November 10, 2007 08:46 PM