- Email: [email protected]
Natural Resources Conservation Service Web Site
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Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 71–110
Natural Resources Conservation Service Web Site [ONLINE]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC. Available from ⬍http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/⬎ [Accessed May 1999] In the midst of the Dust Bowl in 1935, the Soil Conservation Service was established in the United States to help farmers and ranchers learn to prevent soil erosion and conserve their land. Renamed the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in 1994, the agency today oversees 20 programs designed to help conserve the nation’s land, water, plants, and animals. In addition to conducting their hallmark soil surveys, the agency now, among other things, forecasts snow and water supply, helps local groups install watershed protection projects, and enhances fish and wildlife habitat. Working in partnership with other federal, state and local agencies, private citizens and environmental organizations, the mission of the NRCS is to provide leadership in a national effort to “help people conserve, improve, and sustain our natural resources and environment.” The NRCS Web site has a variety of information for a wide range of users, from educational materials for young children to detailed technical information for conservation professionals. The home page is nicely arranged with attractive graphics. Centered under the USDA/NRCS logo are pictures linking to featured parts of the site. To the left side of the page are seven standard links, which also appear on many other pages: “What’s new,” “About NRCS,” “Whom We Work With,” “What You Can Do to Help Conserve Our Natural Resources,” “General Information,” “Technical Resources” and “Programs.” There is also a drop down menu of “quick links” at the top of the page with a dozen entries. Standard background information on the agency, its mission, history and organization is provided, with links to the various offices and personnel directories. The site is very good at spotlighting general interest and educational information. Tip sheets on such things as setting up a backyard pond, composting, and pest management are linked under the “Backyard Conservation” graphic. Other featured links include an explanation of the use of buffer strips and a charmingly illustrated tutorial for kids: “S.K. Worm Answers Your Questions About Soil and Stuff!” For those interested in policy, there is information about the conservation provisions of the 1996 Farm Bill. This page includes summary information and a very helpful compilation of proposed, interim, and final rules published in the Federal Register. Other policy information, such as legislative summaries and congressional testimony, is under the link to the NRCS Office of Legislative Affairs page. For researchers, scientists, and conservation professionals, the meat of the site is in its links to scientific and technical data. This is available through the “Technical Resources” link on the home page. There is a mix of metadata, online maps, tables, text and interactive databases. Descriptions of many resources available to NRCS staff and to the general public are available, with information on how to order them. Not all of the data is available to the general public; a disclaimer in the introduction to the “Data Resources” site lists certain types of data available only for staff and cooperating agencies. The National Resource Inventory, a quinquennial survey of natural resource characteristics
Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 71–110
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and land use on non-federal lands, is the principal data source for the “State of the Land” section. It provides analysis and assessment of the health of America’s private lands. “The State of the Land” is searchable, and provides links to downloadable GIS files and survey data. Maps and tables are grouped into 20 categories, including wildlife habitat, cropland, socioeconomic, and land cover/use. Many are viewable on the Web in gif files, although the resolution is often not good enough to read the text. All can be downloaded in compressed postscript files, and some in ASCII pipe delimited data files. Statistical tables can be displayed in HTML or can be downloaded in Excel or pipe delimited files. Each map or table is accompanied by detailed metadata, which includes descriptive information such as the source and distributor, as well as information on definitions used, reliability of data, uses, and cautions in using the product. There are also links to several interactive tools, which provide access to NRCS data on other Web servers. The “Plants” database, which replaces the publication, National List of Scientific Names, provides standardized plant names, symbols, and attribute information. It is searchable by scientific name, common name, symbol, family, and genus. Subsets of the database, such as wetlands plants or threatened and endangered plants, can also be searched. The entire database can be downloaded from the site in ASCII format. Soil data collected by NRCS is available from the National Soil Survey Center in several interactive tools. One of them, the MUIR database, allows users to select specific data tables from individual soil surveys. The data is not displayed in the browser, but made available to the user by ftp. Full text of the soil surveys is currently available for only about 20 counties. Most are in pdf format; some are in HTML. Only four of these prototype online surveys have the accompanying maps in GIF format. For finding general information, the site is attractive and easily browsed, but users looking for specific information may find its organization confusing at times. This is no doubt a natural consequence of the decentralized nature of the agency. With 15 research centers and institutes in addition to regional, state, and local offices, NRCS’s data is dispersed on several different servers. Many of the categories under the “Technical Resources” page are confusing and unclear. The link for “Data Resources,” for example, links to metadata and ordering information, as well as to general program and research center pages, which the user then has to browse through to find the actual data. Some attempts to group information have been successful, such as the “State of the Land” section, mentioned above, while others have not. The “Publications” link under “General Information” lists only four titles. There is no comprehensive indexing or search engine, making it difficult for those unfamiliar with the agency’s organization, programs, and research centers to find information. A few other minor flaws include lack of dates on most pages, and a few dead links. Overall, the NRCS Web site provides access to a wealth of information and publications. With better organization and indexing it could be an invaluable resource for locating conservation information. Carolyn Ottow Government Publications The Valley Library Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331, USA PII: S1352-0237(99)00139-2
Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 71–110
Natural Resources Conservation Service Web Site [ONLINE]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC. Available from ⬍http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/⬎ [Accessed May 1999] In the midst of the Dust Bowl in 1935, the Soil Conservation Service was established in the United States to help farmers and ranchers learn to prevent soil erosion and conserve their land. Renamed the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in 1994, the agency today oversees 20 programs designed to help conserve the nation’s land, water, plants, and animals. In addition to conducting their hallmark soil surveys, the agency now, among other things, forecasts snow and water supply, helps local groups install watershed protection projects, and enhances fish and wildlife habitat. Working in partnership with other federal, state and local agencies, private citizens and environmental organizations, the mission of the NRCS is to provide leadership in a national effort to “help people conserve, improve, and sustain our natural resources and environment.” The NRCS Web site has a variety of information for a wide range of users, from educational materials for young children to detailed technical information for conservation professionals. The home page is nicely arranged with attractive graphics. Centered under the USDA/NRCS logo are pictures linking to featured parts of the site. To the left side of the page are seven standard links, which also appear on many other pages: “What’s new,” “About NRCS,” “Whom We Work With,” “What You Can Do to Help Conserve Our Natural Resources,” “General Information,” “Technical Resources” and “Programs.” There is also a drop down menu of “quick links” at the top of the page with a dozen entries. Standard background information on the agency, its mission, history and organization is provided, with links to the various offices and personnel directories. The site is very good at spotlighting general interest and educational information. Tip sheets on such things as setting up a backyard pond, composting, and pest management are linked under the “Backyard Conservation” graphic. Other featured links include an explanation of the use of buffer strips and a charmingly illustrated tutorial for kids: “S.K. Worm Answers Your Questions About Soil and Stuff!” For those interested in policy, there is information about the conservation provisions of the 1996 Farm Bill. This page includes summary information and a very helpful compilation of proposed, interim, and final rules published in the Federal Register. Other policy information, such as legislative summaries and congressional testimony, is under the link to the NRCS Office of Legislative Affairs page. For researchers, scientists, and conservation professionals, the meat of the site is in its links to scientific and technical data. This is available through the “Technical Resources” link on the home page. There is a mix of metadata, online maps, tables, text and interactive databases. Descriptions of many resources available to NRCS staff and to the general public are available, with information on how to order them. Not all of the data is available to the general public; a disclaimer in the introduction to the “Data Resources” site lists certain types of data available only for staff and cooperating agencies. The National Resource Inventory, a quinquennial survey of natural resource characteristics
Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 71–110
99
and land use on non-federal lands, is the principal data source for the “State of the Land” section. It provides analysis and assessment of the health of America’s private lands. “The State of the Land” is searchable, and provides links to downloadable GIS files and survey data. Maps and tables are grouped into 20 categories, including wildlife habitat, cropland, socioeconomic, and land cover/use. Many are viewable on the Web in gif files, although the resolution is often not good enough to read the text. All can be downloaded in compressed postscript files, and some in ASCII pipe delimited data files. Statistical tables can be displayed in HTML or can be downloaded in Excel or pipe delimited files. Each map or table is accompanied by detailed metadata, which includes descriptive information such as the source and distributor, as well as information on definitions used, reliability of data, uses, and cautions in using the product. There are also links to several interactive tools, which provide access to NRCS data on other Web servers. The “Plants” database, which replaces the publication, National List of Scientific Names, provides standardized plant names, symbols, and attribute information. It is searchable by scientific name, common name, symbol, family, and genus. Subsets of the database, such as wetlands plants or threatened and endangered plants, can also be searched. The entire database can be downloaded from the site in ASCII format. Soil data collected by NRCS is available from the National Soil Survey Center in several interactive tools. One of them, the MUIR database, allows users to select specific data tables from individual soil surveys. The data is not displayed in the browser, but made available to the user by ftp. Full text of the soil surveys is currently available for only about 20 counties. Most are in pdf format; some are in HTML. Only four of these prototype online surveys have the accompanying maps in GIF format. For finding general information, the site is attractive and easily browsed, but users looking for specific information may find its organization confusing at times. This is no doubt a natural consequence of the decentralized nature of the agency. With 15 research centers and institutes in addition to regional, state, and local offices, NRCS’s data is dispersed on several different servers. Many of the categories under the “Technical Resources” page are confusing and unclear. The link for “Data Resources,” for example, links to metadata and ordering information, as well as to general program and research center pages, which the user then has to browse through to find the actual data. Some attempts to group information have been successful, such as the “State of the Land” section, mentioned above, while others have not. The “Publications” link under “General Information” lists only four titles. There is no comprehensive indexing or search engine, making it difficult for those unfamiliar with the agency’s organization, programs, and research centers to find information. A few other minor flaws include lack of dates on most pages, and a few dead links. Overall, the NRCS Web site provides access to a wealth of information and publications. With better organization and indexing it could be an invaluable resource for locating conservation information. Carolyn Ottow Government Publications The Valley Library Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331, USA PII: S1352-0237(99)00139-2