College and Research Libraries


SARAH A. GARRETT AND ARLENE E. LUCHSINGER 

The National Program to Microfilm 

Land-Grant Agricultural Documents 

The origin, implementation, current status, and benefits of an ongoing, 
nationwide project to microfilm agriculture-related publications are de-
scribed. The program is a cooperative one between the National Agricul-
tural Library and the libraries of various land-grant institutions , and in-
cludes millions of pages of materials published prior to 1970 . 

MILLIONS OF PAGES of agricultural or ag-
riculture-related publications have been 
issued by U.S. land-grant institutions. 
Those ,published before 1970 will be more 
widely available as the result of a massive 
archival microfilming program undertaken 
cooperatively by the National Agricultural 
Library1 and the libraries of these institu-
tions. A portion . has been completed and is 
available from various commercial vendors. 

The land-grant colleges and universities 
were born on July 2, 1862, when Abraham 
Lincoln signed what is commonly known as 
the Land-Grant College Act of 1862. Also 
known as the Morrill Act after its sponsor, 
Justin Smith Morrill , it allotted the states 
30,000 acres of land from the public domain 
for each of their members of the Senate and 
of the House of Representatives. This land 
was to be sold to provide an endowment so 
that each state could establish "at least one 
college where th-e leading object shall be, 
without excluding other scientific and clas-
sical studies, and including military tactics, 
to teach such branches of learning as are re-
lated to agriculture and the mechanic arts 

. . in order to promote the liberal and 

Sarah A . Garrett, records management super-
visor, Gulf Oil Exploration & Production Co ., 
Casper Office , Casper, Wyoming, was project 
contact for the Southwestern Land-Grant College 
Microreproduction Project. Arlene E . Luchsinger 
is biological sciences bibliographer, University of 
Georgia Libraries, Athens , and coordinator , 
Southeastern Land-Grant College Library Mi-
croreproduction Project . 

510 I 

practical education of the industrial classes 
in the several pursuits and professions of 
life. "2 This was further strengthened by the 
second land-grant act in 1890, which pro-
vided each state with annual appropriations 
of funds for support of instructional pro-
grams. 

The Morrill Act has been <lescribed by 
the National Manpower Council as "the 
most important governmental step in con-
nection with the training of scientific and 
professional personnel . . . which laid the 
basis for the country's extensive state col-
lege and university system. "3 

The Hatch Act of 1887 provided funds for 
the establishment of agricultural experiment 
stations at colleges and universities en-
dowed by the Land-Grant Act of 1862. It 
stated that their purpose was "to aid in ac-
quiring and diffusing among the people of 
the United States useful and practical in-
formation on subjects connected with agri-
culture, and to promote scientific investiga-
tion and experiment respecting the princi-
ples and applications of agricultural 
science. " 4 With these acts of Congress, a 
foundation for agricultural research and 
publication was established in the U.S. 

Extension work to give instruction 
beyond the boundaries of the campuses was 
authorized by the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, 
which stated that its purpose was "to aid in 
diffusing among the people of the United 
States useful and practical information on 
subjects relating to agriculture and home 
economics and to encourage the application 
of the same .... "5 The Cooperative Exten-



sion Service created by the . Congress is a 
unique partnership between the land-grant 
institutions and the Department of Agricul-
ture. The research findings of both are car-
ried to the farms by one service. 

"In this way, the Great Triad of American 
Agriculture, the so-called green revolution, 
was born: (1) the research phase-the use of 
research data in the education and training 
of students, (2) the resident teaching phase 
and the dissemination of the results of re-
search data to farm people, and (3) the ex-
tension phase. "6 

This type of cooperation was further ex-
tended when a "Memorandum of Under-
standing between the Land-Grant College 
and University Libraries and the United 
States Department of Agriculture (National 
Agricultural Library)" was established "des-
ignating the state land-grant libraries as re-
positories for the land-grant agricultural 
publications of their respective states. This 
agreement was sent in January 1973 to 
directors or other appropriate officials of the 
larger 'land-grant libraries; it was viewed as 
an interim step to initiation of a microfilm-
ing program of this literature. "7 

The signators to the "Memorandum" 
agreed to "collect, store, and provide ready 
access to complete files of the major serial 
publications of their State agricultural ex-
periment stations, extension service, and 
colleges of agriculture. "s 

Discussion of the possibility of microfilm-
ing land-grant agricultural publications con-
tinued. "At the Midwinter meeting [of the 
American Library Association in 1974] the 
National Agricultural Library revived its 
plans to initiate a cooperative microfilming 
program .... "9 

The purpose of the project was defined as 
"primarily archival since many of the docu-
ments are rapidly deteriorating. NAL and 
the cooperating libraries feel a strong 
obligation to preserve these documents on 
film for scholars. " 10 It was also felt that the 
project would "provide participating librar-
ies with the opportunity to reduce the 
amount of physical space needed to house 
these publications in paper form ... [and] 
could serve as a model for similar micro-
filming operations. "11 

The first agreement to film was signed by 
a group of land-grant libraries in the New 

Agricultural Documents I 511 

England states-Connecticut, New Hamp-
shire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
and Vermont-and by the National Agri-
cultural Library on July 20, 1975. The 
agreement provided generally for a sharing 
of the microfilming cost, preparation of the 
materials for filming by the land-grant in-
stitutions, and receipt of c0pies of the film 
both by the cooperating libraries and by 
NAL, which will retain an archival-quality 
master negative of all items filmed. The 
company doing the filming was to retain 
sale rights. 

The New England filming was completed 
in 1976, and other states have followed. 
Filming has been continued by groups of 
states with one library supplying a coordina-
tor for the project. Other states (i.e., Flor-
ida, Kentucky, Utah, and California) have 
filmed their material individually. 

The filming of the documents of the first 
twenty-three states has resulted in 801 titles 
on 1,328 reels of 35mm microfilm plus 
1, 726 sheets of microfiche. 

A general pattern has been followed by 
the land-grant institutions in their participa-
tion and preparation of the materials to be 
filmed. Initial details of the group en-
deavors have typically been worked out at 
meetings of the library directors with NAL 
personnel. Such details included choice of 
coordinating library, method of payment, 
materials to be included, and schedules to 
be followed. A rough count of titles and 
number of pages to be filmed was prepared 
prior to the meeting so that a basis for plan-
ning was available. 

After this meeting, a formal letter of 
agreement was sent to NAL. This letter 
specified the amount of funds to be commit-
ted by the land-grant institution and gave 
the name of its project contact person. The 
coordinating library then signed an agree-
ment with NAL. A person from that library 
was designated coordinator. 

The coordinator then consulted with each 
of the libraries in the regional group, giving 
instructions on selecting titles to be filmed 
and on the collation and preparation of the 
materials for shipment to the filmer. At that 
point, the individual libraries began prepa-
ration of their materials while the coordina-
tor handled the call for bids. 

A detailed search of the history of the 



512 I College & Research Libraries • November 1980 

parent body was initiated to ensure correct 
naming of the institution . In many cases, 
the archivist provided this information. The 
National Union Catalog was also consulted 
to locate prior usage. Identification of all 
titles issued by the institution began. The 
local card catalog was used to assemble the 
rough list. Again, the NUC and Library of 
Congress Catalog as well as the Dictionary 
Catalog of the National Agricultural Li-
brary , the Union List of Serials , New Serial 
Titles , and state library catalogs were 
checked to ensure completeness of title list-
ings. This listing was then supplied for the 
bid process. 

A careful inventory of the titles available 
in the library determined materials needed 
to complete sets. Letters requesting dona-
tions of needed materials were sent to other 
land-grant libraries , to NAL, and to agri-
cultural personnel associated with colleges 
of agriculture and home economics, agri-
cultural experiment stations, and extension 
services. It was sometimes necessary to 
reassure agricultural personnel that " that 
old stuff" was really something the library 
wanted, but much useful material was con-
tributed by these sources . 

As material was collected and collated, a 
Standard Bibliographic Target describing 
the title and to be included on the film was 
prepared. This target described not only the 
history of the parent organization, and the 
title itself with the peculiarities of issue and 
printing, but also the actual volumes, issue 
numbers, inclusive dates, and number of 
pages on film . 

A Document Description Form , to assist 
the filmer in correctly filming the materials, 
detailed title changes , missing issues , odd 
pagination, size variations, etc. 

The titles were listed, packed, and 
shipped in a standard manner , with an 
optional return of materials available. After 
filming, each library checked the reels of 
film and sheets of microfiche pertaining to 
their documents to ensure accuracy and 
quality before final acceptance. 

During the initial filming by the New 
England group, a handbook entitled Micro-
filming Agricultural Documents was de-
veloped under a separate subcontract with 
Warner-Eddison Associates . It was seen "as 
a working tool for planners and implemen-

ters of similar projects elsewhere in .the 
United States. "12 

Later, after going through the filming of 
the University of Kentucky's materials, 
Antoinette Powell wrote Preserving Land-
Grant Agricultural Documents to serve as a 
further guide to the process. This was pre-
pared from the point of view of an indi-
vidual land-grant institution rather than that 
of the group project. 

In addition to the microfilm from the li-
braries in the New England states, that of 
Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Caro-
lina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, 
Florida, Kentucky , California , U tab, 
Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, 
Arizona, and Nevada is completed and 
available commercially. The documents of 
Illinois, Nebraska, and Wisconsin are cur-
rently being filmed , and Colorado, Kansas , 
Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South 
Dakota, and Washington land-grant libraries 
will begin the bidding process in 1980. 

Three commercial firms have handled 
different groups of states, and the appropri-
ate film can be purchased from them. They 
are Graphic Microfilm , Inc. , Western Mi-
crofilming, and Bell and Howell. The Utah 
materials are available from the Utah State 
Archives, in microfiche format only. 

While there seems to be general agree-
ment that the archival purpose of this proj-
ect has been realized, many secondary 
benefits have surfaced during its execution. 
Previously unknown titles have been iden-
tified and added to collections, more com-
plete documentation of many titles, both 
cataloged and uncataloged , has been 
achieved, and the addition of missing issues 
to known titles, both in library and archival 
collections, has been possible. 

Staff members participating in this project 
were reference librarians, serial librarians, 
and bibliographers . The detailed examina-
tion of bibliographic data and the actual 
publications helped them to become more 
aware of the scope of these agricultural 
documents. Materials such as typescript 
annual reports that were available only at 
parent institutions are now available to any-
one with access to the film. 

At New Mexico State University a docu-
ment delivery system has been established 
with the Agricultural Information Services, 



which should ensure a more complete col-
lection in the future. The project also 
served to stimulate an updated policy state-
ment within the library describing priorities 
for the holding location of NMSU docu-
ments. This coincided with and aided 
another concurrent NMSU Library proj-
ect-the location and reclassification of all 
state documents including, of course, the 
agricultural documents. 

It also seemed to those participating in 
the various libraries that the implementa-
tion of this project led to an increased 
awareness of the library and its operation, 
to a greater degree of cooperation between 
agricultural and library personnel, and to a 
greater utilization of the library's resources 
by personnel from the agricultural depart-
ments. The total nationwide project should 
certainly increase accessibility to as well as 
expand the amount of information available . 
It has even been suggested that rural de-
velopment agents of less developed coun-
tries purchase the films for the appropriate 
technologies that might be derived from 
them . 

The words Alice Sizer Warner wrote as 
the original New England project came to 
its conclusion would seem to describe well 
the feelings of all who have completed one 

Agricultural Documents I 513 

of these projects. She wrote in a letter to 
the New England institutions, and quoted it 
in the foreword to Microfilming Agricultural 
Documents , "None can deny that there 
have been frustrations. We hope we can 
convey to you, however, the feeling of ex-
cited, exhausted satisfaction in seeing 181 
white boxes, neatly stacked, which tell the 
story of New England's earth and stones, 
the products that have grown thereon, the 
animals that have fed thereon, and the peo-
ple who have made it all work. We have 
been privileged to trace all this from the 
first hand-written reports on root vegetables 
to environmental impact statements regard-
ing the highways we take for granted 
today. " 13 

Auburn Library Topics asks, in writing of 
the completion of their library's share of 
this effort, " to what avail?" and answers 
with the conclusion that "these papers are 
not only the result of hundreds of man-
years of work by specialists in all aspects of 
rural life but, indirectly, a chronicle of the 
struggle of Alabama farm families to survive, 
and if possible, to improve their lives. " 14 

So, not only are millions of pages of agri-
cultural documents being preserved but also 
a social history of rural America is being 
documented. 

REFERENCES . 

l. "On January 24, 1978, four USDA agencies-
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) , Coop-
erative State Research Service (CSRS), Ex-
tension Service (ES ), and the National Agri-
cultural Library (NAL)-merged to become a 
new organization, the Science and Education 
Administration (SEA), U.S. Department of 
Agriculture," Agricultural Libraries Informa-
tion Notes 4:12 (Feb. 1978). 

2. U.S. , Statutes at Large , 12:504. 
3. National Manpower Council , A Policy for 

Scientific and Professional Manpower (New 
York: Columbia Univ. Pr. , 1953), p.248. 

4. U.S. , Statutes at Large , 24:440. 
5. U.S., Statutes at Large , 38:372. 
6. Joseph Bailey Edmond , The Magnificent 

Charter: The Origin and Role of the Morrill 
Land-Grant Colleges and Universities (Hicks-
ville, N.Y.: Exposition, 1978), p.xv. 

7. "National Resource Publications ," Agricul-
tural Libraries Information Notes 1:1 (Nov . 
1975). 

8. "Memorandum of Understanding between 
the Land-Grant College and University Li-

braries and the United States Department of 
Agriculture (National Agricultural Library)," 
mimeographed (1973), p . l. 

9 . Joseph F. Caponio , " National Agricultural 
Library Progress Report ," mimeographed 
(Beltsville , Md.: United States Department 
of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library , 
Feb . 6, 1974), p.2 . . 

10. " Microfilming State Land-Grant Agricultural 
Publications ," Agricultural Libraries Infor-
mation Notes 1:1 (Nov. 1975). 

11 . " Easy Access to State Agricultural Docu-
ments, " Information 6:295 (Dec. 1974). 

12. Warner-Eddison Associates, Inc., Microfilm-
ing Agricultural Documents: A Manual of 
Procedures Derived from Microfilming Agri-
cultural Publications Held by Public Land-
Grant Institutions in New England (Belts-
ville, Md. : U.S. Department of Agriculture , 
National Agricultural Library, 1976), p.i. 

13. Ibid., p.iii. 
14. "Canker, Bitter Rot, Root Knot, Black Spot , 

Soft Rot, Mange," Auburn Library Topics 7:2 
(May-June 1977).