MSU Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics  Info/Facilities > Library

Library and Information Resources

Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Department

The Elton R. Smith Conference Room located in 219 Agriculture Hall contains bound copies of most MSU Ph.D. dissertations and Plan A master's theses in agricultural economics since about 1975, and most Plan B papers starting from 2003. The reading room is managed by Ann Robinson in the department main office, 202 Agriculture Hall. Note that bound copies of all Ph.D. dissertations and Plan A master's theses are shelved in the Main Library, but with a few exceptions Plan B papers are not.

The Cook Hall Reading Room in Room 100 contains reference books, current periodicals, back issues of major agricultural economics journals, and some theses.  The journals and theses are duplicate copies of ones available in the Main Library. The Cook Hall Reading Room is maintained by the Agricultural Economics Graduate Student Organization, primarily for student use.

The Department's Publications web page has: links to online copies of publications such as staff papers, Ag. Econ. Reports and International Development Papers; annual publications lists; and a complete online list of dissertations, theses and Plan B papers.

MSU Libraries

General Resources

The Resources Overview of the MSU Libraries, prepared by Kate Corby, is an introduction to the MSU Libraries web site as well as several important Library services. Other helpful resources for researchers include:

Agricultural Economics Resources

The subject matter specialist for the agricultural economics field at the MSU Libraries is Hui Hua Chua, located in Room 100 of the Main Library. Valuable guides include:

Contact her if you wish to recommend titles that should be added to the collection, or if you have questions about agricultural economics resources.

Other Electronic Information Resources

Electronic Resources, including reference databases (such as EconLit, CAB Abstracts, Agricola, and JSTOR) and many journals, are accessible online through the MSU Library.

AgEcon Search at University of Minnesota contains MSU Ag. Econ. Staff Papers, most Plan B M.S. papers, and recent Ag. Econ. Reports, as well as working papers and reports from other Ag. Econ. Departments and a number of other national and international organizations. Searchable by organization, "department" (document type), and key word.

Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (CHLA)--Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Among other things, the CHLA site provides online access to the Journal of Farm Economics (1919-1967) and to the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (1968-1995). This is currently the only online source for AJAE issues prior to 2000.

GlobalEDGE, created by the Center for International Business Education and Research at Michigan State University (MSU-CIBER), is a Web portal that connects international business professionals worldwide to a wealth of information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities.

MSU Global Access is a portal that contains a database of Web sites and other resources selected by experts at Michigan State University. It also features some newly created resources. This database is unique because it is searchable by a combination of categories as well as by a single category.

Research Quality Web Searching: Key Sites for Learning to Better Search the Internet (part of a portal site that is under development) provides tips on using the Web for research.

See also other sites useful for agricultural economists.