Alternative Fuels: Technologies for a Healthy Planet 2008 Special Libraries Association Annual Conference Seattle, WA June 17, 2008 Alternative Fuels:

Alternative Fuels: Technologies for a Healthy Planet2008 Special Libraries Association Annual Conference

Seattle, WAJune 17, 2008



Alternative Fuels/Renewable Energy -- An emerging area of national concern

NAL – poised to provide information to support research

Alvetta Pindell,

Head, Information Research Services Branch

National Agricultural Library

[email protected] (301) 504-7217





What is NAL?National Library

USDA Library

Partner Institution





• Established in 1862 when President Lincoln signed the Organic Act creating the U.S. Department of Agriculture

• Achieved National Library Status - 1990

• Ensure and enhance access to agricultural information for a better quality of life

• The only U.S. National Library dedicated to agriculture and related subjects

National Agricultural Library





2007 Farm Bill Proposal $500 million-- Ag Bioenergy and Biobased

Products Research Initiative $150 million--Biomass Research and Development

Act $150 million--Forest Wood-to-Energy Program $100 million--Cellulosic Bioenergy Program Biomass Reserve Program (BRP) $710 million—Renewable Energy Supply & Energy

Efficiency Improvements Program





USDA Energy Goals

Ensure balance in production of Food, Feed, Fiber, and Fuels– Sustainable agriculture and natural

resource-based energy production– Sustainable bioeconomies for rural

communities – Efficient use of energy and energy

conservation– Workforce development for the

bioeconomyFAMU Biodiesel Fuel Workshop





Ag Research Challenges• Increasingly multi-disciplinary

• Increasingly data driven (e-Science)

• Exponentially increasing content prices

• Globalization

“Change is inevitable – are we to be architects or victims of its outcomes?”

Alton Thompson





Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

– Finding solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day, from field to table.

USDA’s intramural research agency





Regional Research Center

Bioenergy Research Locations

Thermal

Ethanol

Conversion

Biodiesel

Methane

Feedstocks

On-Farm

Citrus Waste





Ethanol from Citrus Waste:Winter Haven, FL

• Developed laboratory scale method to process citrus waste

• Working to demonstrate the process at the 10,000 gallon scale level at a local citrus processing facility





Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service

(CSREES)

• Extramural Research Agency

– Provides grants

• Links USDA and state components

– Land Grant Universities

– Extension





CSREES Partners





Opportunities for Success

• Creativity – innovation – history – spirit

• National Digital Library for Agriculture (NDLA) is envisioned as a dynamic system built on partnerships

• Multi-institutional collaboration





Today’s NDLA Building BlocksImportant Partnerships and Services• AGNIC• USDA’s Digital Desktop Library (DigiTop)• AgSpace: NAL digital repository• AGRICOLA – NAL’s database• USAIN• Land Grant Colleges and Universities





THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE FUTURE

Renewable Energy –The good: What is being done

–The bad: Challenges

–The future: Collaboration





NAL has much to offer:• NAL collection• Online access to selected full-text, bibliographic

references, data and other multimedia 24/7– Statistical analysis for accountability

• Outreach mechanisms including:– Listserv’s– Blogs– Training– Well connected with Google

• Attend/hold conferences to promote information sharing





NAL is poised for biofuels:• Provides access to literature from the national collection at

NAL and libraries and information centers around the world– NAL is the world’s largest agricultural library – Provides through DigiTop digital desktop access to

more than 2,400 scientific journals, databases and other resources for USDA employees around the world

• Manages conversion of print texts for the Internet• Partners with strong connections to the Land-Grant

Universities





NAL - A great foundation for research and information dissemination

• Establishes subject focused information centers, including the complementary centers:– Water Quality; – Alternative Farming Systems; – Rural Development; – Invasive Species– Animal Welfare

• Develops and manages extensive Web sites; including interagency sites: – Nutrition.gov,

– Invasivespeciesinfo.gov

NAL provides trusted, non-biased, science-based information





A voluntary partnership providing access to quality information

AGgricultural

Network

Information

Center









DigiTop - USDA's Digital Desktop Library

Delivers whenever they need it -- quality information

resources, many not available through the "ordinary" Web.





Selected DigiTop Journals:

• Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining• Oil and Gas Business• Biomass & Bioenergy• Renewable Energy• Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews• Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society• And many more….





AGRICOLA (NAL’s Catalog) – providing citations

to agricultural literature in all formats and periods, including

printed works from as far back as the 15th century. • Nearly 5 million records

• Bibliographic citations to literature on all aspects of

agriculture, some of which provide full text

• Two databases: Article Citations and Catalog

• Citations from 1578 to the present

• Front end to the digital repositories in AgSpace





AgSpace •Suite of repositories for old and new

works of USDA indexed into AGRICOLA•14,000 new articles•300,000 pages of historic works•Content includes: images, articles, book chapters, books. •Into the future… datasets, presentations, videos, patents, lab notes





USAINThe United States Agricultural Information

Network is an organization for information professionals that provides a forum for discussion of agricultural issues, takes a leadership role in the formation of a national information policy as related to agriculture, makes recommendations to the National Agricultural Library on agricultural information matters, and promotes cooperation and communication among its members.





The Good• USDA National leadership

• Bioenergy leadership by USDA-REE

• NAL preparing to support renewable energy





Bioenergy and Biofuels Information Resources





1890 Institutional Activities – examples

Florida A&M University-- Crescent Moon Organic Farm - Biofuels workshop

Langston University – Wind mills with the Kiowa Tribe

Prairie View A&M – Raising canola & sunflower crops

Virginia State University –oilseed crops biodiesel production Building Capacity: Beginners Biodiesel Production and

Use February 2008Jennifer Taylor, PhD, Small Farm Programs





The Bad – Challenges

– Federal investments dispersed – Lack of tools for handling and

preserving large scale data sets– New energy industry interests– Globalization– Interdisciplinary research





What NAL has been doing to gear up:– Championing work groups to develop needed

databases to help connect & coordinate biofuels research within USDA

– Analyzing collection and services for maximum preparedness for request as

– Proposing and campaigning for the Info Center





FUTURE = OPPORTUNITIES The Proposed Biofuels Information Center would:

• Draw attention to USDA’s many long-standing accomplishments in biofuels research

• Enhance the visibility of USDA current research efforts• Connect and partner with other Federal, university and

industry programs• Deliver customized information alert services• Provide outreach and training services• Provide an information gateway• Respond to consumer questions





THETHE reality: Librarians are essential to successful

research because we foster

CreativityInnovation

HistorySpiritWe know

what needs to be done!





Parting Words of Wisdom

“I believe that the Creator has put ores and oil on this earth to give us a breathing spell. As we exhaust them, we must be prepared to fall back on our farms, which is God’s true storehouse and can never be exhausted. We can learn to synthesize material for every human need from things that grow.”

George Washington Carver





NAL Contact InformationGeneral web site: www.nal.usda.gov

Research and Reader Services:

NALAsk a Question

www.nal.usda.gov/services/ask.php

Reference Email [email protected]

Service Desk Phone (301) 504-5755

Service Desk Fax (301) 504-6110

Borrowing

www.nal.usda.gov/services/request.shtml





Information Centers

Alternative Farming: [email protected] (301)504-6559Animal Welfare: [email protected] 504-6212Food & Nutrition: [email protected] 504-5414Food Safety: [email protected] 504-5360Invasive Species: invasivespeciesinfo.gov 504-6454Rural Information: [email protected] 1-800-633-7701 Water Quality: [email protected] 504-6212

Alternative Fuels: Technologies for a Healthy Planet 2008 Special Libraries Association Annual Conference Seattle, WA June 17, 2008 Alternative Fuels:

Documents

healthy planet

fuels sustainable agriculture

biomass research

farm citrus waste slide

ag research challenges

research alvetta pindell

national library status

alton thompson slide