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<th valign="baseline" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">Subject: </th>
<td>Redesigned NAL Website</td>
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<td>Thu, 1 Dec 2005 11:17:42 -0500</td>
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<th valign="baseline" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">From: </th>
<td>Michael Esman <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:mesman@NAL.USDA.GOV"><mesman@NAL.USDA.GOV></a></td>
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<th valign="baseline" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">Reply-To: </th>
<td>Michael Esman <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:mesman@NAL.USDA.GOV"><mesman@NAL.USDA.GOV></a></td>
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<th valign="baseline" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">To: </th>
<td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:USAIN-L@LSV.UKY.EDU">USAIN-L@LSV.UKY.EDU</a></td>
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Redesigned National Agricultural Library Web site brings fresh look and
swift access
BELTSVILLE, Md., Dec. 1, 2005-- The National Agricultural Library (NAL)
has launched its redesigned web site (<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nal.usda.gov">http://www.nal.usda.gov</a>) as a
gateway connecting users swiftly with the services of NAL and with the
billions of pages of agricultural information within NAL collections and
information resources.
NAL is part of the Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
Designed with customer preferences in mind, the new NAL site brings a
fresh look and faster access to the rich array of agriculture-related
information available through NAL.
Visitors to the front page of the newly designed site can browse
information on popular agricultural topics--from Animals and Livestock
to Rural Community Development--supported by the NAL site's new
navigational taxonomy. Each follow-on web page leads quickly to more
carefully selected information, designed to answer questions frequently
asked by visitors to the site and to NAL.
The site offers several web pages with information focused on the needs
of specific audiences, including kids and teens, librarians and USDA
employees.
Visitors can use other areas of the redesigned site to access NAL's most
popular library services, see where NAL representatives are exhibiting
or appearing, or get information about some of the most current concerns
in agriculture.
NAL's web site currently receives an average of 4.3 million "hits" each
month from people seeking agricultural information. This usage is
expected to increase in response to the site's user-friendly design,
enhanced searching capabilities scheduled for early 2006, and the
redesign of subsidiary sites during the next few months.
Through April 2006, NAL will introduce redesigned web sites on food
safety, water quality, invasive species, human nutrition, alternative
farming systems, animal welfare and technology transfer. New searching
capabilities will mean that NAL databases can be searched at the same
time as NAL web pages.
The redesign of NAL's web sites implements USDA web standards and meets
U.S. Office of Management and Budget guidelines for focusing on customer
needs.
Michael D. Esman
Head, Cataloging Branch, and
Acting Head, Indexing Branch
National Agricultural Library
10301 Baltimore Ave.
Beltsville, MD 20705
301-504-7565 (ph.)
301-504-5471 (fax)
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:mesman@nal.usda.gov">mesman@nal.usda.gov</a>
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