GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS LIBRARY FAO MICROFICHE COLLECTION: A QUICK GUIDE TO FINDING MATERIALS

A FEW WORDS ABOUT AGRIS:

Access to AGRIS citations from 1975 to the present is through the MSU Libraries' Electronic Resources Page. Please note that use of the ERL is limited to MSU users.

THE FAO MICROFICHE COLLECTION:

The FAO issues many classes of materials: sales publications, main documents, working papers, field documents, and information material. FAO Documentation: Current Bibliography (Gov. Docs. Index Reference, FAO D637c) is the bimonthly list of materials produced by or for the FAO. It is the comprehensive index to all classes of FAO publications and, therefore, to the fiche collection.

From 1976 to 1983, the FAO used the FAO Documentation: Current Bibliography entry number as the accession number for a given title on microfiche. In 1984, however, the system became more complex. From 1984 to 1989, the entry number is not the same as the microfiche accession number. Locating the appropriate fiche for those years requires examining the entry in the Bibliography for the microfiche number. From 1990 on, the FAO accession number is the same as the microfiche sheet number.

The fiche collection includes most, but not all, of the material indexed in FAO Documentation: Current Bibliography. The main documents, working papers and field documents are in the fiche collection. The Government Documents Library also owns the main documents and a small number of the working papers in paper. The sales publications are also owned in paper.

FINDING MATERIAL IN THE FICHE COLLECTION USING AN AGRIS-GENERATED CITATION:

In addition to an accession number, each fiche header also contains a language code. FAO materials are issued primarily in English, Spanish and French, but also appear in Italian, Arabic, Chinese, German, Portuguese, and other languages.

The FAO microfiche collection is housed in the Government Documents microfiche cabinets. Due to the changes in the format of the microfiche accession numbers, filing of the collection is not always very straightforward.

Sample Accession numbers:

From 1976 to 1983, accession numbers looked like: 8003927 (Efs)

The first 2 digits represent a year, the remaining digits fill out the accession number. This document was issued in English, French and Spanish. The fact that the "E" is capitalized means that the sheet of fiche in hand is in English; if the F had been capitalized, it would mean that the French edition is in hand, etc. For this period of time, the FAO accession number is the same as the fiche sheet number.

From 1984 to 1989, accession numbers looked like: XF8550173.

The first 2 digits represent a year, the remaining digits fill out the accession number. For this period of time, the FAO accession number is not the same as the fiche sheet number. Therefore, you must look up the accession number in FAO Documentation: Current Bibliography to find the microfiche sheet number. The fiche numbers look like: 85X00001, where the 85 is a year, the X represents the class of publication, and the remaining digits fill out the accession number. In mid- 1988, the FAO decided that, as a general rule, the language designation on a fiche would only reflect the language of the piece in hand and not all the languages in which the title was issued.

From 1990 on, accession numbers continue to look like the number given above. In mid-1990 a colon was added between the 2nd and 3rd digits to help distinguish the year from the rest of the accession number.

Remember, for this period of time, the accession number should take you directly to the desired sheet of microfiche. Keep in mind, however, that the fiche header will not bear the year, only the trailing digits. So, for example, the header for the fiche corresponding to the AGRIS citation with an FAO accession number of 90:288943 (Weed management in Ethiopia . . .) will simply say 288943 and the title.

It is not unusual for the FAO to film related documents together. Each document will have its own accession number, but the fiche header will contain a range of numbers. (For example: the Joint Meeting of the FAO Panels of Experts . . . generated over a dozen reports. Each report is given its own accession number. The fiche, however, bear a group number: 290067-089.)

MICROFICHE FILING

There is a subset of assorted serial titles that do not bear unique accession numbers. These are filed alphabetically by title in the drawer marked "FAO Fiche filed by title."

Many of the titles in the fiche collection are on several sheets of fiche. As each sheet is in a separate envelope, be sure to check that you pulled all the necessary sheets.

LIFE AFTER THE MICROFICHE COLLECTION:

The FAO is currently posting the full text of its reports on its WWW site. These may be accessed by searching the WWW site. In addition, the following strategy (suggested by the Chief of the Reference unit at the David Lubin Memorial Library) may be useful:

The FAO documents that are received by WAICENT and the Library are indexed into the FAO Library Catalogue. This catalogue is the primary index for all FAO documents including those available on microfiche.

To get access to the documents themselves users should view Catalogue search results in the EXPAND format where there is a link to an individual document request form. The David Lubin Memorial Library staff retrieves these requests daily and either forwards them on to Publications and Sales if they are still in print or makes a paper or microfiche copy (for documents prior to 1998) and has the user invoiced for the cost.