Copies or loans of NAL materials are provided in response to job-related requests. Requests for materials may be submitted in person, electronically (via Ariel, e-mail or facsimile) or by U.S. Postal Service. Employees eligible for service from a local library such as ARS field libraries or Forest Service libraries should make use of these resources before contacting the National Agricultural Library (NAL). Providing complete, accurate citations and the NAL call number for a document (available from AGRICOLA ) will speed the processing of requests.
Access to Electronic Journals
USDA employees have desktop access to several thousand electronic full-text
journals and newspapers via DigiTop,
the Digital Desktop Library for USDA. Prior to submitting photocopy requests
to NAL for journal articles please try to locate the journal issue you need
in DigiTop. (Note: You may assume
that if the journal issue you need was published prior to 1995 then it probably
won't be available in DigiTop.)
Copy Service
A single copy may be provided, in lieu of loan, from materials in the NAL collection.
All requests must indicate compliance with copyright restrictions.
Loan Service
The loan period for NAL materials is one month. Loans may be renewed for an
additional month if no one else is waiting to use the material. Make renewal
requests in writing or by calling (301) 504-5798 prior to the due date.
Audiovisual Booking Service
NAL does not offer advance
booking services. We loan most audiovisual materials for 28 days (loans are
limited to North America). NAL's turnaround time for processing loan requests
is 2 working days, and audiovisual loans are delivered by Federal Express next
day delivery service. NAL recommends submitting requests 1-2 weeks ahead of
time if you want to obtain audiovisual materials for a specific show date.
Copies from Non-Circulating Materials
The following materials are non-circulating: Serials (except for USDA serials);
rare, reference, and reserve books; microfiche; microfilm; and proceedings of
conferences or symposia. Although these materials may not be borrowed, requests
may be filled in the form of a microform or paper copy if the request does not
fall under copyright restrictions. Please indicate on your original request
form if a copy of the material is acceptable in place of a loan. You may also
request a copy of the table of contents in order to request specific chapters
or sections at a later date.
Format for Requesting materials
Please see the Request Information page for
details on what you must do when requesting document delivery.
Delivery Options
Electronic delivery is the preferred method of document delivery at NAL. Copies
of material and hardcopies of microform materials can be delivered:
Books borrowed from other sources will be delivered by express service to ensure their safe receipt, and must be returned to NAL by express service. All other materials will be delivered through U.S. Postal Service.
Interlibrary Borrowing or Purchase
If materials are not available at the NAL, we will try to obtain them from another
source. Turnaround time on interlibrary loans varies depending on location and
availability of materials. If a current item cannot be obtained through borrowing,
NAL will attempt to purchase it, which also adds to the turnaround time. Including
a "Not Needed After" date on all requests is essential.
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Delivery Services Branch National Agricultural Library, rm. 300 Beltsville, MD 20705 (v) 301-504-6503 (f) 301-504-7593 contact us Updated 04-May-2004 |