National Preservation Project

About the USAIN National Preservation Special Project Committee
A National Preservation Program for Agricultural Literature was written by consultant Nancy Gwinn in 1993 under the leadership of a U.S. Agricultural Information Network Advisory Panel on Preservation. Following the adoption of the plan, USAIN established the National Preservation Special Project Committee to implement the plan.

Goals of the Plan are to preserve and provide access to agricultural literature published or produced prior to 1950. Preservation may involve treatment of originals or reformatting, depending upon the nature of the material being preserved. Goals are accomplished through a series of systematically organized and coordinated projects combined with local initiatives. The plan focuses primarily on U.S. publications. Projects supported through the National Preservation Program are expected to employ all relevant archival preservation standards and guidelines.

Categories of Literature, and the Responsible Group or Institution as Identified in the National Preservation Plan:
  • The Core Historical Literature Project. Cornell University's Mann Library.
  • Federal Documents. National Agricultural Library.
  • State and County Documents. State responsibility, coordinated nationally.
  • Popular and Trade Journals. University-based initiatives.
  • Pre-1862 monographs and serials. National Agricultural Library.
  • Unique Collections. Local initiatives.
  • Archives and Manuscripts Materials. Local initiatives.
  • Non-print Collections and Audiovisual Materials. Local initiatives.
  • Newspapers. US Newspaper Program.
To see documents related to the National Preservation Plan, NAL.


Preserving the History of U.S. Agriculture and Rural Life Grant Projects
Cornell University, on behalf of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network (USAIN), and in cooperation with other land grant university libraries, has received three grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to preserve the most significant published materials on the history of state and local agriculture and rural life. In the first phases of the project, USAIN provided funding for consultant Carolyn Clark Morrow to write the grants. The grant project uses a model developed for the National Preservation Program for Agricultural Literature, partnering scholars and librarians to identify and preserve the most significant agricultural literature of a state.

 States that have participated in Phases I-VI:
  • Alabama
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Illinois
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvani
  • South Dakota
  • Texas
  • Washington
  • Wisconsin
A Phase VII grant proposal was submitted to NEH covering 2008-2010.
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