| Select from the following categories of questions: |
Q: Who is eligible to request materials from the NAL collection? Q: How
do I submit a request for a loan or copy of materials from the NAL collection? Q: Do
I need to know the NAL Call Number to submit a request? Q:
How do I find the NAL Call Number? Q:
What is my document delivery patron ID number? How do I get an ID number? Q:
Can I submit a rush request? Q:
How can I reserve audiovisual materials for a future show date? Q:
Does NAL provide translations? Q: Are there electronic journals that I can
access through NAL?
A:
The following groups are eligible to request materials from NAL (each is linked to a page that provides additional information on document delivery and lending services):
Individuals
not affiliated with USDA or
an eligible food and nutrition program should request materials through their
local libraries. In the United States, possible sources are public libraries,
state libraries, and land-grant university or other large research libraries.
If the publications you need are not available from your local library, have your
library submit an interlibrary loan request to NAL with a statement indicating
their non-availability (directions are provided on the Services
Available to Libraries and Institutions page).
Outside of North America,
individuals should request materials through major university, national, or provincial
institutions. Requestors in countries with an AGLINET (Agricultural Libraries
Network) library are encouraged to make full use of that library and its networking
capabilities. As an AGLINET participant, NAL provides free document delivery service
for materials published in the United States to other AGLINET members. To access
the AGLINET website, go to www.fao.org/library
and choose "Partnerships-Networks." Note that NAL does not loan collection
materials outside of North America, but copies of materials may be provided in
lieu of a loan.
A: Eligible
customers may request materials via email, Ariel, Docline, OCLC, fax or
mail. The Request Information
page provides details on how to format your requests.
A: No, but including
the NAL Call Number on your request will speed up the process.
A: Search AGRICOLA,
the online catalog and article citation database for the National Agricultural
Library.
A: If you are a USDA
employee or eligible food and nutrition patron, you will be assigned a document
delivery patron ID number (the ID number begins with "1" and is usually six
digits long, e.g., 100265) when you request materials from NAL. Libraries will
be assigned an ID beginning with "9" or their OCLC borrowing symbol
will be used as the ID. You will later be sent a registration form with your
document delivery patron ID number on it. Complete the form and return it to
NAL so that we can verify that your address information and delivery preference
are correct in our system. Once you receive your patron ID number, include it
on any future requests to expedite processing.
A: NAL cannot process
rush requests. However, turnaround time on most requests averages 2 days.
A: 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.
A: NAL does not provide
translation services; however, we provide a list of commercial
vendors. This list is for information only--it is not meant to be comprehensive
and should not be interpreted as an endorsement by the United States Department
of Agriculture or the National Agricultural Library.
A: USDA employees have desktop access to several thousand electronic
full-text journals and newspapers via DigiTop,
the Digital Desktop Library for USDA. Articles from these journals may be saved
or printed by you for your personal use (see DigiTop
Terms of Use for more details). Prior to submitting photocopy requests to
NAL for journal articles please try to locate the journal issue you need in
DigiTop. If the journal article
you need is not available in electronic form then submit your photocopy request
to us as explained on Services Available to USDA Employees.
(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.)
Q:
Does NAL loan materials outside the United States?
A: NAL does not loan
collection materials outside of North America; however, copies of materials
may be provided in lieu of loan. There is a limit of 50 pages per item.
Q: How
does NAL deliver materials to requestors?
A: NAL
will send materials by email post to Web, email attachment, Ariel, Fax, and
express mail to eligible customers. A more detailed
explanation of the different methods available is provided on the Delivery
Options page.
Q: How
do I indicate which method of delivery I want?
A: When you submit
a request for documents, indicate on the request the delivery method you would
prefer (for more information, see the Delivery
Options page).
Q: I
would like to receive my documents in PDF--will they be in color?
A: No, currently
the documents are scanned in black and white and then converted to PDF. (Note:
see Delivery Options for a more detailed explanation
of PDF document delivery.) If you need the copy be in color, please e-mail contact us
with your requirements.
Q: What
does the email notification look like for documents sent as PDFs?
A: If you select
"Email Post to the Web" as your delivery method, you will receive an email message
that contains a URL (Web page link) for the requested document (the message
could contain several URLs if you are sent more than one document in the message).
If you select "Email Attachment" as your delivery method, you will receive an
email message that contains a PDF attachment. Below are examples of what the
email messages look like for the two delivery methods:
| Sample Email Notification: PDF Posted to Web |
| The document referenced below has been provided to you by
the Document Delivery Services Branch of the National Agricultural Library.
You will need a PDF viewer, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 4.0 or
higher), to view your document. Adobe Acrobat Reader is freely available
for downloading to your computer at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.
If you have any problems with or questions about accessing your document
please contact us at relais@nal.usda.gov. This message contains 1 Request. Click on the following url to open the documents. The cover page includes your request information. 1. Request Number: REG-10005516. http://123.45.678.00/posttoweb/servlet/relais.DownloadDocument?1234567.pdf This document contains 3 pages (including the cover page), is 113KB, was posted on April 02, 2002 at 01:56:49 PM and will be available for 14 days or may be accessed 5 times. |
| Sample Email Notification: PDF Attachment |
| The attached document has been provided to you by the Document Delivery
Services Branch of the National Agricultural Library. You will need a PDF
viewer, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 4.0 or higher), to view your
document. Adobe Acrobat Reader is freely available for downloading to your
computer at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. If you have any
problems with or questions about accessing your document please contact
us at relais@nal.usda.gov. This message contains the document (REG10005518.pdf) for Request Number REG-10005518. The first page of the document contains the request information.  REG100055... (109KB) |
Q: Why
is "Relais" in the sender address of the email notification?
A: NAL is using Relais
Express Plus software from Relais
International Inc. to deliver documents.
Q:
If I request that my document be sent as a PDF posting or email attachment,
will my colleagues in other agencies also be able to access these documents?
A: Documents sent
as PDF email attachments or postings to the web fall under the same copyright
restrictions as those sent via fax, Ariel, or regular mail. They are intended
for the research purposes of the person who requested them. All USDA employees
can request materials from NAL. Researchers in other non-USDA agencies should
submit requests for materials through their agency libraries or information
centers.
Q: Since
the PDF posting expires in 2 weeks, what happens to documents that are sent
while I’m on extended leave or on a detail with no email access?
A: If you anticipate
being away for an extended period, indicate on your document request that you
want to temporarily change the delivery method to fax, regular mail, or email
attachment (Note: PDF attachments can be very large and your alloted mailbox
space could fill up). If you're away unexpectedly and the 2-week period has
passed to access the PDF documents posted to the Web, you'll have to resubmit
your requests.
Q: When
I click on the URL to open the PDF document, I get a message saying the document
is no longer there.
A:You can access
the PDF document on the web a total of 5 times or for 2 weeks, whichever comes
first. If you have exceeded these limitations, you will have to resubmit your
request for the document.
If you have not exceeded the limitations on access, your email system may be
filtering out part(s) of the URL provided in the email message. Instead of clicking
on the link, highlight it, and copy and paste it into the address window of
Internet Explorer or Netscape, as you would paste any URL that you wanted to
open in the browser. After pasting the address, hit enter to open the document.
If you’re still unable to access the document, send an email to contact us
providing the “REG-“ number of the document (the REG- number will be provided
in the email notifications; see sample email message) and
we’ll repost it or send it to you by another method. You should also check with
your email or systems administrator to see if the email settings allow HTML
email.
Q: When
I click on the URL to open the PDF document, Netscape or Internet Explorer opens
and freezes before the PDF can open.
A: If Acrobat Reader
is configured to open up within the browser's window, using an older version
of the browser could interfere with the PDF document opening. Check the version
of Netscape or Internet Explorer and update it. Also make sure you're using
the latest version of Acrobat Reader.
Q: When
I click on the PDF attachment, it doesn't open.
A: Some email programs,
such as Groupwise, will not automatically open the PDF attachment file contained
in an email message. Right click on the attachment file and select Open with...,
then select the program Acrobat Reader from the program list (it may be abbreviated,
e.g., AcroRd32).
If
you’re still unable to access the document, send an email to contact us
providing the "REG-" number of the document (the REG- number will be provided
in the email notifications; see sample email message) and
we’ll resend it as an attachment or send it to you by another delivery method.
Q:
How can I save the PDF?
To save a PDF that was posted to the Web:
Q: I
can view the PDF document, but I can’t print it.
A: Check your version
of Adobe Acrobat Reader–-it should be 4.0 or higher to successfully print documents.
To download the highest version, go to Adobe.
Also check that you are selecting the Print function in Acrobat Reader,
and not the Print function under File in the Netscape or Internet
Explorer window.
Q: Are
there any fees for copies or loans of NAL material?
A: Yes, for a complete
list of fees, see Document
Delivery/Interlibrary Loan Charges. Note that the following are exempt from
charges: United States federal agencies, the Historically Black Colleges and
Universities, the 1994 Land Grant Tribal Colleges, eligible
food and nutrition program patrons, CIRLA
(Chesapeake Information and Research Library Alliance) member libraries, and
AGLINET libraries (Agricultural Libraries Network: to access the AGLINET website,
go to www.fao.org/library and choose
"Partnerships-Networks").
Q:
Is prepayment required?
A: No, you will be
invoiced (note: libraries submitting requests through OCLC may choose to pay
charges through OCLC's IFM system rather than being billed). Invoices are issued
quarterly by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and each invoice
will include an additional $10 billing fee. All payments are payable to NTIS.
You are encouraged to set up a deposit account or arrange for credit card billing
through NTIS. Payments must be drawn on a U.S. bank payable in U.S. dollars.
NTIS accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. If you currently
have an account set up with NTIS, you may use it to pay for your NAL services.
For information about payment options or setting up a deposit account please
contact NTIS at (703) 605-6640 or eyates@ntis.gov.
Q:
Are the stacks at NAL open for browsing?
A: NAL has closed
stacks. Special exceptions may be granted on a case by case basis. Contact the
Access Services Librarian at (301) 504-6041 prior to your visit to inquire about
obtaining stack access privileges.
Q: Can
I request material from the stacks? Q:
Is there a fee for photocopies on site?
A:
You can submit requests for
materials to be pulled from the stacks using AGRICOLA
on any of the computers in the lobby area. Up to 35 items may be requested per
day.
A: There is no charge
for photocopying for USDA employees on site. For visitors not affiliated with
USDA, the photocopying fee is 10 cents per page using a coin-operated systems
or 9 cents per page with the purchase of a 50-cent copier card.
Document
Delivery Services Branch
National Agricultural Library, rm. 300
Beltsville, MD 20705
(v) 301-504-6503 (f) 301-504-7593
contact us
Updated: 16-Jan-2004