Chronology of the subject: emphasis/restrictions
The emphasis is on current research in agricultural plant science; horticulture; floriculture; and pest, weed and disease management.
Languages of resources collected: exclusions/emphases/translations
English is the primary language in the collection. Other languages are collected when an English translation is unavailable. The African languages are represented in small part due to the rise in the Africana collection.
Geography of the subject: emphases/restrictions
The bulk of the collection covers the USA and Canada. The lesser-developed countries are being collected more often, especially in the areas of sustainable agriculture and niche farming. Sub-Saharan Africa is emphasized due to the assistance of the Africana collection.
Format of the resources collected: restrictions if any
Internet-accessible format is the preferred format for new periodicals, with extreme caution paid to the quality of graphics in periodicals digitized after paper publication. Monographs are predominantly in print, although with the advent of ebooks and with the library signing package deals with vendors within and outside of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), more ebooks are being purchased to accommodate MSU Extension, Agricultural Experiment Station, and Kellogg Biological Station personnel.
Research data - particularly data which is not already openly available or that cannot/will not be placed in existing research data repositories is not normally collected but may be collected if it otherwise meets collection development guidelines for research data. For additional about the guidelines, please see MSU's Digital Research Data Collection Development Policy.
Date of publication of resources collected: emphases if any
Current materials are acquired. Gaps in serial runs, monographic sets, maps and documents sets regardless of age will be actively pursued, especially for high priority areas such as Michigan, the Great Lakes, the Northeast region, specific Michigan crops, and areas of faculty interest.
