Representing the University Libraries, left to right, are Amy Paster, Helen Smith, Sherry Lonsdale, and Wayne Ellenberger. Not pictured: from the University Libraries is Linda Klimczyk and from the College of Agricultural Sciences are Jan Scholl, David Abler, and Bruce Grinder. Photo by Wilson Hutton

A Penn State team has won the 2013 AgNIC Partner of the Year Award that recognizes outstanding contribution to the vision and goals of the Agriculture Network Information Collaborative (AgNIC).

Since becoming a member in 1999, Penn State has demonstrated leadership and innovation as an AgNIC partner. Penn State supports AgNIC subject websites in the areas of Home Gardening and Turfgrass and of particular note are two additional sites: Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and Youth Development. These resources are the products of a highly successful collaboration between the Penn State Life Sciences Library and the College of Agricultural Sciences, with support from the USDA and the National Agricultural Library through a specific cooperative agreement.

EFNEP, which has been in existence for forty years, educates low income families in the areas of nutrition, food preparation, and food management. The AgNIC site provides a database of professional and graduate research studies conducted about the program.

The Youth Development site is an effort to document the entire research base for 4-H from 1911 to 2011 and beyond. Two databases, one for 4-H graduate studies and another for 4-H state experiment station and national projects, may be searched by keyword, author, title, year or institution.

As an AgNIC partner, Penn State embodies the qualities valued by the AgNIC collaborative: providing access to reliable, quality information and creating useful services to internet users. In both projects, the team has gone to extraordinary lengths to identify and make accessible research publications related to EFNEP and to 4-H and youth development. Through searchable databases, these resources are made available to customers in need of this research. Their great success is due in no small measure to an effective and innovative partnership between faculty of the library and the college, which has been cultivated and sustained over many years.

For additional information, contact Amy Paster, head of the Life Sciences Library at alp5@psu.edu or 814-865-3708.