Q: Who May Borrow From NAL?

A: Through an interagency agreement with the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA, the National Agricultural Library (NAL) has expanded the categories of users eligible for direct loan of books and audiovisuals, free photocopies of journal articles, and comprehensive reference and research services. These services are provided free-of-charge in response to job-related requests.
The expanded categories include personnel working for the following programs:

• Child Nutrition Program (school district and individual school faculty, librarians or media center staff, nurses and food service personnel)
  
• Nutrition Education and Training Program (NET)
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
• Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
• Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
• Child and Adult Care Food Program, including Head Start (CACFP)
• Food Stamp Program
• University of Maryland Nutrition Extension Agents and Dept. of Nutrition and Food Science Faculty (UMD)
• Howard University Department of Nutritional Sciences Faculty

On your direct borrowing requests, please be sure to note which of the above programs you work for.

For more information, please see: Services Available for Eligible Users
For document delivery guidelines, please see: Document Delivery Services

A. Those patrons not having these affiliations should contact their local library to place an interlibrary loan request.

For more information, please see: Services Available to Individuals. If you have questions, please contact NAL's Document Delivery Services Branch at (301) 504-6503 (Monday to Friday 8:30-4:30 Eastern Time)

Q. What food and nutrition materials are in the NAL collection?

A. The food and human nutrition materials at the NAL consist of books, journals, and audiovisuals covering a broad range of topics. In addition, free photocopies of journal articles are also available to those eligible to borrow directly from NAL. Feel free to browse FNIC's resource lists and Models and Replicas in the National Agricultural Library Collection for a sampling of our materials.
 

Q. Is the publication I want available at NAL?

A. The availability of materials can be verified by calling the Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) at (301) 504-5719 (Monday to Friday 8:30-4:30 Eastern time);via e-mail at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/fniccomments.html; or through:

AGRICOLA (AGRICultural OnLine Access)

A database of bibliographic records created at NAL, will allow you to confirm if specific publications are available. You will also be able to access the call number, exact title, author and other information about the publication.