USDA/Mann Library Web Site

[Susan Barnes]

News:  By way of Cornell's Mann Library, USDA statistics now can be
accessed through the World Wide Web

ITHACA, N.Y. - Back in the old days - two years ago -  Cornell University
agriculture students surfed the USDA Economics and Statistics System gopher
site at the university's Albert R. Mann Library for the latest in crop and
farm statistics.  Well, that was then.

Now, the USDA site has jumped onto the World Wide Web.  As of early March,
it can be found at: <http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda>.

To help students, faculty, growers and farmers prosper, Mann Library began
providing  access to USDA statistical data from the Economic Research
Service (ERS) and the National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) in
1993.  These files included crop, livestock, and agricultural economic
statistics from the United States and other countries.  Last year, the
system was expanded to include reports from the ERS, NASS, and the World
Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB).  These included weekly, monthly, and
quarterly forecasts and estimates on crop production, dairy outlooks, wheat
forecasts, and many others.

Recently the World-Wide Web and simple-to-use graphical browsers have
revolutionized Internet use. "In the early 1990s, when the library was
creating the system, gopher technology was the leading Internet access
method, " said Oya Rieger, Public Services Librarian. "During the last two
years, the World-Wide Web became the preferred Internet protocol.  Our
system upgrade enables the library to improve the user interface
substantially, making it much easier to locate and use related
information."

Beginning in October 1995, a group headed by Rieger performed the technical
upgrades necessary to migrate the ERS, NASS, and WAOB data and reports into
the World-Wide Web environment.  Although this new, improved delivery
mechanism is now available, the gopher remains to continue service for
users for whom Web access is difficult because of hardware or software
constraints.

Much of this Web upgrade project was funded by the USDA's Cooperative State
Research, Education and Extension Service.  Since January 1994, the system
has hosted more than 150,000 users --  an average of more than 200 accesses
per day -- with user support provided by Mann and USDA staff.

Mann Library now maintains Web, gopher, telnet and FTP access to data from
the USDA.  For gopher access, connect to: <usda.mannlib.cornell.edu>.  For
telnet access, connect to: <usda.mannlib.cornell.edu> and log in as <usda>.
No password is needed for telnet access.  To use the anonymous FTP
protocol, connect to <usda.mannlib.cornell.edu> and log in as <anonymous>.
Then, change the directory with <cd usda>.

For questions about accessing this information through the Internet,
contact the Mann Library Reference Desk at (607) 255-5406, or send e-mail
to help at usda.mannlib.cornell.edu.

Albert R. Mann Library supports the instruction, research, and extension
programs of Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
College of Human Ecology, Division of Biological Sciences, and Division of
Nutritional Sciences.  A land grant library for New York, Mann is open to
the general public.  Mann is one of the Cornell University Library system's
19 unit libraries.



Susan Barnes

Assistant to the Director
Albert R. Mann Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY  14853

(607)254-4993