phone: 814-865-3708
Life Sciences Library
408 Paterno Library
Kathy Fescemyer
Title: Life Sciences Librarian
phone: 814-865-3708
Life Sciences Library
408 Paterno Library
Crop science is the study of using plants as food, fuels and fiber. Research includes plant breeding, plant genetics, plant physiology, crop rotation, control of weeds and insects. Soil science is the study of soils for growing plants. Research may include crop rotations, soil classification, soil fertility, drainage and irrigation. Crop and soil science may also be known as agronomy.
This guide provides links to databases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, web sites and other resources to find authoritative information in the area of crop and soil sciences. Some of these references are only available to faculty, staff and students of Penn State.
To find research articles on crop and soil sciences use the following databases to find citations, which are also known as references.
Databases to Use:
Don't forget: Try These First if you want general popular interest magazines and newspapers or pro and con debate information.
Already have a citation? Use Citation Linker to see if Penn State has it online or in print!
Article Search Tips
Finding the best articles on your topic requires a number of steps.
Get the full text
Once you find the citation, try the 
button to see if Penn State has the electronic or print version of the article you need. If the electronic version is available, it will appear as the first link on the Get it! menu. If the article is not available electronically, click on The CAT link to automatically search our catalog and see if Penn State has a print copy. If no other copy is available, you use the InterLibrary Loan link to request it from another library.
Use The CAT for finding books owned by Penn State.
CAT Search Tips: The CAT is the list of what is owned by Penn State Libraries.
Go to the Browse function if you are looking for a specific title or author (type last name first).
Go to the Keyword function and combine terms to search on a topic then use the subject headings from relevant books for additional search terms.
Write down the call number and location for any book you want.
For electronic books, click the words "online content" to access the full text.
Quick Guide to Searching the CAT (HTML version) or Quick Guide to Searching in the CAT(easy-print PDF version).
Learn how to refine your search with Savvy Searching in the CAT (html) or easy-print PDF version: Savvy Searching in the CAT.
Suggested CAT Search Terms: Search for organisms (i.e. soybean or Glycine max), processes (i.e. cell culture) or concepts (i.e. alternative crops or other terms such as genetically modified).
Call Numbers: At University Park, the majority of resources for crop and soil sciences are located in the Life Sciences Library on the 4th floor of Paterno Library.
Soil Surveys for Pennsylvania and the fifty states are located in the Reference Area. Another set of Soil Surveys for Pennsylvania counties are located at the Reference Desk.
General call numbers and subject areas are:
Books Elsewhere: WorldCat
Libraries Borrowing Policies
Once you have the books, check them out at the nearest lending desk or self check-out station. Loan periods are usually four weeks but books can be recalled for another user, so respond promptly to library notices. For more information see the University Libraries Lending Code.
For technical terms consult printed dictionaries of agricultural science, such as and The Agriculture Dictionary, Dictionary of Soil Science, or the Handbook of Soil Science. Or online the Glossary of Soil Science Terms from the Soil Science Society of America or the Glossary of Crop Science Terms from the Crop Science Society of America. Also the Life Sciences Dictionary from BioTech
Encyclopedia of Pest Management.
Encyclopedia of Plant & Crop Science
Access Science provides encyclopedia articles for scientific subjects.
Gale Virtual Reference Library provides encyclopedias in many subject areas.
There are many Internet sites that provide useful information to students in Crops and Soil Sciences. You can start by using one of the sites listed below, or by using an Internet Search Engine like Google. Or if you are looking for scholarly journal articles use Google Scholar or CAB, Biological Abstracts or AGRICOLA.
The USDA provides many sites on crops, soils and agricultural statistics. These sites are labeled USDA.
Start at Crop Production which provides links to resources on all types of crops. (USDA)
Harvesting Information provides planting and harvesting dates for major field crops by state. (USDA)
Crop Biosecurity provides information on several strategic science-based regulatory programs designed to protect crops and natural resources. (USDA)
Field Crop Reports links to numerous reports related to crop production information such as acreage, areas harvested, and yield. (USDA)
Agricultural Outlook Reports are comprehensive forecast reports for U.S. agricultural commodities. (USDA)
Crop Weather Reports provides information such as crop bulletins, historical data, planting and harvesting dates, and plant hardiness zone maps to assist producers in planning and managing the production of their crops. (USDA)
Crop Progress and Conditions Report is a weekly report during the growing season listing planting, fruiting, and harvesting progress and overall conditions in the major planting states. (USDA)
PLANTS Database is a single source of standardized information about plants. It focuses on vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories. The PLANTS Database includes names, checklists, automated tools, identification information, species abstracts, distributional data, crop information, plant symbols, plant growth data, plant materials information, plant links, references, and other plant information. From USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
MaizeGDB Maize Genetics and Genomics Database is a comprehensive source of information on the genetics and molecular biology of maize. From USDA/ARS.
NewCROP provides detailed information on new and specialty crop profiles. CropINDEX A-B is a list of scientific and common names of crops for information access with links to much of the information. CropMAP is a site-specific retrieval system to identify current and alternative crops. From Center for New Crops and Plant Products, Purdue University.
KingCorn.Org, also known as the Corn Growers' Guidebook, is a World Wide Web site devoted to more profitable corn management systems. From the Department of Agronomy, Purdue University.
PlantFacts provides links to over 20,000 pages of Extension Fact Sheets and bulletins which provide a concentrated source of plant-related information. From Ohio State University.
Plant Management Network is a unique cooperative resource for the applied plant sciences. The Plant Management Network offers an extensive searchable database comprised of thousands of web-based resource pages from the network's partner universities, companies, and associations. In addition, the network has four peer-reviewed citable journals, Applied Turfgrass Science, Crop Management, Forage and Grazinglands, and Plant Health Progress.
StratSoy provides information and searches the Internet to link to information and resources on production, utilization, supply and demand, market outlook, strategies, and other topics relevant to the soybean industry. From the University of Illinois.
The Wheat Page contains information on organizations, research, varieties, production systems, economics, storage and handling, and links to other internet sites related to wheat. From Kansas State University.
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) provides timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. (USDA)
The USDA Economics and Statistics System contains nearly 300 reports and datasets from the economics agencies of the USDA. These materials cover U.S. and international agriculture and related topics. (USDA)
Agricultural Charts and Maps produces charts and maps displaying crop yields, crop weather, micromaps, crops by county and crop acreage animations. (USDA)
Agriculture Statistics Book is published each year with tables on agricultural production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and return. (USDA)
Census of Agriculture, taken every five years, is the most comprehensive source of statistics portraying U.S. agriculture. The most recent is 2002. The 2007 census is being conducted and analyzed right now. (USDA)
Quick Stats Database provides access to significant U.S. and state information with ability to request statistics by commodity, state, and year. (USDA)
Crop Production Reports contains crop production data for the U.S., including acreage, area harvested, yields, etc.. (USDA)
The NRCS Soils Website of the NRCS (National Resources Conservation Service) provides excellent information on all types of soils topics. (USDA)
List of Online Soil Surveys provides links to soil surveys accessible online. As of February 2008, there are few Pennsylvania surveys online. (USDA)
List of Published Soil Surveys provides a list of the published county soil surveys. (USDA)
NSSC Soil Survey Laboratory Research Database. Allows users to generate, print and download reports containing soil characterization data stored and maintained by the NSSC Soil Survey Laboratory. (USDA)
Official Soil Series Descriptions and Soil Taxonomy, a Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Surveys, Second Edition (PDF) provide classification. (USDA)
Soil Moisture Monitoring. A series of maps showing most recent day, monthly and 12 months calculated soil moisture, anomalies and percentiles; 25-year average soil moisture & soil wetness that are used in the soil moisture outlook. This site is provided by the Climate Prediction Center, National Weather Service. (USDA)
Soil Quality Information. Improving how your soil works. (USDA)
ProSoil Problem Soils Database contains information on different types of agricultural problem soils such as acid soils, calcareous soils, histosols, salt-affected soils, sandy soils, steeplands, and vertisols. From FAO.
Noxious Weed Program provides links to APHIS information for potentially invasive weeds such as what form of the plant is most likely to enter the United States, likely pathways of entry into the United States, general notes, photographs or line drawings, distribution maps, etc. From APHIS.
International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds. This survey monitors the evolution of herbicide-resistant weeds and assesses their impact throughout the world.
New Jersey Agricultural Weed Gallery is a collection of photos and descriptions of agricultural weeds found in New Jersey. From Cooperative Extension Service, Rutgers University.
Weed Identification provides an easy to use Web key for identifying and classifying weeds. Images of the weeds are also provided. From the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research.
Compendium of Pesticide Common Names. This electronic compendium is intended to provide details of the status of all pesticide common names, together with their systematic chemical names, molecular formula and Chemical Abstracts Registry Numbers.
NAWQA Pesticide National Synthesis Project. National assessment of pesticides in the streams, rivers, and ground water of the United States.
Pesticides is the starting point to the web pages of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs.
The PAN Pesticides Database brings together a diverse array of information on pesticides from many different sources, providing human toxicity (chronic and acute), ecotoxicity and regulatory information for about 5,400 pesticide active ingredients and their transformation products, as well as adjuvants and solvents used in pesticide products.
Pesticide Information Profiles (EXTOXNET) provides summaries of basic pesticide information such as trade names, regulatory status, toxicological effects, ecological effects, environmental fate, physical properties, etc.
Crop Protection Reference is a compilation of product labels for agricultural chemicals. It includes brand name, company, common name, product category, site use, and pest use indexes.
American Society of Agronomy (ASA) is dedicated to the development of agriculture enabled by science, in harmony with environmental and human values and supports scientific, educational, and professional activities that enhance communication and technology transfer among agronomists and those in related disciplines on topics of local, regional, national, and international significance.
Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) is dedicated to the advancement of crop science by acquiring and disseminating information about crops in relation to seed genetics and plant breeding; crop physiology; crop production; quality and ecology; crop germplasm resources; and environmental quality.
The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is dedicated to the advancement of soil science. by acquiring and disseminating information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management and recycling, and wise land use.
Weed Science Society of America promotes the development of knowledge concerning weeds and fosters awareness of weeds and their impacts on managed and natural ecosystems.
North Central Weed Science Society.
Northeastern Weed Science Society.
Southern Weed Science Society.
Western Society of Weed Science.
AGRIS and CARIS Homepage provides access to several databases focusing on international information for the agricultural sciences and technology. It was created by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
CRIS provides short reports of ongoing and recently completed research and education projects in agriculture, food and nutrition, and forestry. Projects are conducted or sponsored by USDA research agencies, state agricultural experiment stations, land-grant universities, other cooperating state institutions, and participants in CSREES-administered grant programs. (USDA)
The Literature of Crop Science and The Literature of Soil Science are bibliographies that highlight the major publications in the subject of crop and soil sciences.
Trends in Agriculture provides articles about important events in U.S. agriculture over the past century. (USDA)
When using information from another source you must give credit to the original author or you are plagiarizing. You give credit by citing the source. Make sure your citation contains everything you would need to backtrack and find the information again. No particular style guide is exclusively used by the plant pathology journals. You might consult Council of Science Editors style.
Plagiarism, whether you copy a paragraph from a book or cut and paste someone else's words from an e-mail, is a violation of Penn State's academic integrity policy. See this Statement on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty.
