Last revised: May 2011

Agricultural Economics

Scope: This guide lists sources of information for researching topics related to Agricultural and Resource Economics. University of Maryland at College Park faculty, staff, and students may email the librarian subject area specialists Zaida Diaz and Lily Griner for more information.Users may also wish to consult the Economics Research Guide and/or the Virtual Business Information Center (VBIC) for additional sources of information.

NOTE: Because of licensing agreements, some of these resources can only be used by current faculty, staff, and students of the University of Maryland, College Park. These are marked UM only.

Books

To locate books, you can search the UMCP Libraries Catalog.

Some important notes when searching the catalog:

• The catalog identifies what the Libraries own, where the journals, books, videos, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, government publications, etc. are located, and their availability.
• The catalog DOES NOT list journal articles. See the Indexes and Abstracts section of this guide to identify databases that list or provide full text journal articles.
• Keyword searches will locate words and terms when they appear in the title, subject headings or notes of a record.
• You can limit your search by adding additional terms or otherwise narrowing the scope of your search.

Some common Agricultural and Resource Economics subject headings and keywords that can be used in the box below to search the UM Catalog include:

The search box below will open the Catalog and launch your search in a new window.

These terms can also be used to locate materials in other online resources such as indexes and abstracts. Please note: These terms represent only a small sample of all searchable concepts. For more specific searching instructions, please contact the Agricultural and Resource Economics subject librarian.

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Encyclopedias and Handbooks

• Handbooks in Economics: UM only
  Full text of the Handbooks in Economics series, which primarily include survey articles by leading economics scholars. Arranged into 28 different titles by broad topic. NOTE: To access items in the series, click on the "Full text via ScienceDirect" link below the title, NOT on the volume number.
• New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics: UM only
  One of the most extensive and authoritative economics reference resources available. It contains over 1,850 articles by more than 1,500 of the world's leading economists.
• Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History: UM only
  Fully searchable text of the encyclopedia, including over 900 articles from leading scholars with extensive bibliographies.

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Indexes and Abstracts

Arranged in order of preference, the databases listed below can be used to locate articles or other resources on Agricultural and Resource Economics-related topics.

• EconLit: UM only
  A first stop for Economics research, this database is the source of citations and abstracts to economic research in over 400 books, journals, dissertations, and working papers.
• Agricola: UM only
  This database of over 3.6 million records covers every major agricultural subject, including agricultural marketing, farm management, and water resources.
• Business Source Complete: UM only
  Full-text business resource database.
• AgEcon Search
  Free archive of full text articles in agricultural and applied economics includes archived copies of many important journals in the field (often with archival, not current, coverage). Most of these journals are also indexed in EconLit.
• RePEc/EconPapers
  Worldwide cooperative database of economics articles is similar to EconLit, but with less authoritative coverage of the core journals and more coverage of (and links to) working papers and other unpublished scholarship.
• JSTOR: Economics: UM only
  Archival collection of journals.
• USDA Economic Research Service: Full text of papers from the USDA's research service.
• NBER Working Papers Online (NBER)
  Full text of working papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
• Berkeley Electronic Press: UM only
  Full-text, peer reviewed, quality-rated electronic journals from the BE Press.
• Social Science Citation Index: UM only
  One of three "ISI Web of Science" databases. Under the heading "Citation Databases", select Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Indexes over 1700 journals from 1956-present.
• Digital Dissertations: UM only
  A source for information about doctoral dissertations and master's theses. Full text is available from 1997 to the present.

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Statistics Sources

• Agricultural Statistics Annual
  Publication of the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. Annual publication providing summary statistics for all areas of agriculture.
• Balance of Payments Statistics: UM only
  From the International Monetary Fund (IMF), summarizes, for a specific period, the economic transactions of an economy with the rest of the world. Reports total goods, services, factor income, and current transfers an economy receives from or provides to the rest of the world as well as capital transfers and changes in each economy's external financial claims and liabilities.
• BigCharts
  Provides access to interactive charts, quotes, industry analysis and intraday stock screeners, market news and commentary. Charts can be e-mailed. The Interactive Charting option allows users to select from seven different charting styles, modify visual effects, and use various technical analysis indicators on the same graph.
• Census of Agriculture
  Results of the most recent (2007) census, as well as links to data from earlier census reports.
• Economagic
  Offers a comprehensive list of free, easily available economic time series data useful for economic research, in particular economic forecasting.
• Economic Census
  Profiles of American businesses, from the U.S. Census.
• Economics, Statistics and Market Information System (ESMIS)
  A collaborative project from Cornell University and the USDA. Includes over 2,500 reports and datasets for U.S. and international agriculture and related topics.
• FedStats
  Links to statistics and reports from federal government statistical agencies.
• Finding Federal Statistics
  A guide to statistics produced by the U.S. federal government.
• Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS)
  From the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. Includes "international agricultural, fish, forest and textile products trade statistics dating from the inception of the Harmonized coding system in 1989 to present".
• Global Development Finance: UM only
  From the World Bank; provides information for 129 developing economies worldwide. Data begins in 1970.
• Historical Statistics of the United States
  "The standard source for the quantitative facts of American history."
• International Financial Statistics: UM only
  From the International Monetary Fund, includes full-text statistical data from 1996-present.
• Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
  A clearinghouse for social science data sets. For information regarding ICPSR access at the University of Maryland, see the College of Behavioral and Social Science's OACS/ICPSR page.
• LexisNexis Statistical Insight: UM only
  Provides access to statistics produced by the U.S. government, major international and intergovernmental organizations, professional and trade organizations, state government agencies, and universities.
• Maryland Agricultural Statistics
  Links to statistics and reports from the US Department of Agriculture.
• Maryland Statistics
  A guide for locating statistical sources on Maryland, from the UM Libraries.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States
  Published since 1878, "the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States."
• USDA Economics, Statistics and Market Information System
  Reports and datasets produced by the US Department of Agriculture.
• World Development Indicators Online (WDI): UM only
  Provides direct access to more than 550 development indicators, with time series for 200 countries and 18 country groups from 1960, where data are available. Data export options in Excel or ASCII.

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General Web Resources for Agricultural and Resource Economics

• Agricultural Network Information Center (AgNIC)
  Clearinghouse of resources for current news on issues related to all aspects of agriculture. RSS feeds available.
• Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
  From the Cornell University Library, "a core electronic collection of agricultural texts published between the early nineteenth century and the middle to late twentieth century. Full-text materials cover agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, animal science, crops and their protection, food science,forestry, human nutrition, rural sociology, and soil science."
• Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN)
  From the USDA; provides "timely information on the agricultural economy, products and issues in foreign countries since 1995 that are likely to have an impact on United States agricultural production and trade".
• Maryland Department of Agriculture
  Links to information regarding all aspects of Maryland agriculture, including county agricultural and land use information and hot topics.
• Social Science Research Network - Economics Research Network
  Digital repository of economics-related research. Requires free registration.
• Socio-Economics and the Environment in Discussion (SEED) Working Papers
  A series of working papers from the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO, Australia).
• SourceOECD: UM only
  The online library of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Comprises 20 book collections by theme, containing all OECD monographs and reports, most OECD periodicals, and the OECD statistical databases.
• Southern Agricultural Economics Association Links
  A listing of Agricultural Economics resources and organizations from SAEA.
• UMD Cooperative Extension
  Home page for UMD Cooperative Extension, with links to all extension offices, programs and publications.
• UMD Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Publications
  Links to departmental working papers, theses and dissertations, from the AREC Library.
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
  Links to reports, publications and tools from the NRCS, including Economics and Maps, Imagery, Data and Analysis.

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Other Research Guides

• Economics Research
  Guide to economics research resources, created by the UM Libraries.
• Resources For Economists (RFE)
  Contains links to more than 2,000 economics-related Internet resources organized in 97 sections and sub-sections. Includes the Economics Search Engine, allowing users to search over 23,000 economics-related websites. Sponsored by the American Economic Association.
• Virtual Business Information Center (VBIC)
  Contains a collection of electronic and print business resources intended to provide research assistance to the Robert H. Smith School of Business and general users seeking authoritative business information.

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Bibliographic Citation Managers and Citing Your Sources

• Bibliographic Citation Managers
  Instructions for using several common citation management programs, such as EndNote^Web and Zotero.
• Citing Sources Using APA
  A guide to the American Psychological Association (APA) citation system.
• Citation Systems and Style Guides
  Provides a basic introduction to the citation process, including why citing is important and what needs to be cited. Includes an overview of the two types of citation systems commonly encountered (parenthetical references tied to a list of sources vs. foot or endnotes).

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