Summary:

The United States National Dairy Database is "...a large collection of the best and most up-to-date dairy production publications available across the US. All publications were authored by top dairy experts and reviewed by a panel of top experts in that area."

Upon accessing the site, the user will find three major methods of searching the database: (1) search; (2) browse; and (3) find latest USDA research information. Users who choose the first method must enter information within a keyword field; a link is provided for search hints for this WAIS database. Resulting matches are not displayed in alphabetical order, but offer a list of applicable publications. Each publication is noted with its title and document size (number of bytes). Selecting a title then links to the user to that document's WWW site within the database. The third major link offers users the latest USDA research links, allowing for searching and browsing of new information.

To browse the database, users should select the second link; a display of National Dairy Databse (NDD) categories is shown, featuring a description of holdings within each category: (1) dairy cow publications; (2) dairy goat publications; (3) 4-H and youth publications; (4) forage and crop publications; (5) water quality and dairy waste management; (6) conferences and general dairy publications; and (7) information and credits for the database. Selecting a category then displays a menu of publications; each title is the direct WWW link to information on the publication.

The bottom of the site features links to the University Of Maryland -- the inforM homepage, search engine, university phone numbers, and the UMCP homepage. Additional links are provided to the National Agricultural Library (USDA) and the National Agriculture Database Laboratory. The site is sponsored by the University of Maryland; College Park, Maryland.

To Search:

Select search method (search or browse) from site's main page; follow onscreen links to view desired records.