The National Agricultural Library

The National Agricultural Library is one of four national libraries of the United States. It houses one of the world's largest and most accessible agricultural information collections. In fiscal year 2005 (Oct 2004 through Sept 2005) NAL delivered more than 80 million direct customer service transactions.

It provides reference and information services, document delivery, interlibrary loan and interlibrary borrowing services to a variety of audiences. Available services are based on eligibility.

This is an extensive library, with more than 3.5 million items that cover all aspects of agriculture and related sciences. The depth and richness of the collection make it a unique resource, with many materials not available anywhere else in the world. NAL's collection fills over 48 miles of shelves, making it one of the largest agricultural collections in the world.

"Special Collections" houses rare books, manuscript collections, nursery and seed trade catalogs, photographs, and posters from the 1500s to the present. Materials cover a variety of agricultural subjects including horticulture, entomology, poultry sciences, natural history, and are not limited to domestic publications. As part of the united states department of agriculture (usda) and the agricultural research service (ars), special collections at the national agricultural library is charged with arranging, describing, preserving and making available rare materials significant to the history of agriculture and the usda.

This is searchable, and many publications are available for download through the Digital Library., including all of the agricultural handbooks from 1894 to 1992,

Ask a Question Professional reference staff at the National Agricultural Library can help you find the information you need. Staff members answer questions using authoritative, pertinent resources and produce guides to resources on important topics. Let them help you.

Request Library Materials NAL is the primary provider of work-related agricultural information to USDA employees. We also loan books and other media and provide photocopies of material in our collection, that may not be readily available from other sources, to libraries and other select groups.

NAL Agricultural Thesaurus (Tesauro en español) The NAL Thesaurus is an online tool for browsing agricultural and biological concepts and terminology. The thesaurus arranges terms in a structured format to help find terms of possible interest.

Glossary (Glosario en español) The Glossary is a collection of over 2,400 definitions of terms related to agriculture, biology and its ancillary subjects.

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