National Agricultural Library

What National Agricultural Library does

The National Agricultural Library (NAL) is one of five national libraries of the United States and operates as a public-service component of the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Headquartered in Beltsville, Maryland, NAL maintains a collection of more than 3.5 million items covering agriculture and related sciences, many of which are unavailable elsewhere. The library is a congressionally designated Federal Depository under Title 44 U.S.C. and functions as a permanent element of the U.S. federal scientific information infrastructure.

NAL operates a unified digital platform composed of several specialized systems: AGRICOLA (indexed journal articles and catalog records), PubAg (peer-reviewed full-text articles), Ag Data Commons (a FAIR-compliant open data repository issuing DOIs via DataCite), FoodData Central (nutrient profile data), the NALT Concept Space (a multi-scheme thesaurus), and additional research tools including i5k Workspace@NAL, Federal LCA Commons, Geodata @ NAL, and Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. NAL SEARCH provides a unified discovery layer across catalog, article, and digital collection holdings. The underlying architecture combines traditional library cataloging, a modern digital repository layer, and DOI/persistent-identifier services for USDA-funded research data.

NAL generates no commercial revenue. All services — digital databases, special collections, reference assistance, and physical access — are provided at no cost and funded entirely through federal appropriations routed via USDA/ARS. The library serves agricultural and biomedical researchers, USDA scientific staff, data managers requiring FAIR-compliance and repository-selection support, and the general public seeking information on agriculture, nutrition, and food safety. Primary institutional relationships include the USDA Agricultural Research Service as organizational parent and the Smithsonian Institution as IWGSC co-chair; secondary integrations span DataCite, FAIRsharing, Re3data, and GBIF.

Name

National Agricultural Library

Legal name

National Agricultural Library

Website

https://nal.usda.gov

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The National Agricultural Library is a U.S. federal library under USDA that provides free public access to 3.5M+ agricultural research items via AGRICOLA, PubAg, Ag Data Commons, and FoodData Central, serving scientists, USDA staff, data managers, and the general public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Beltsville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Library Services: The National Agricultural Library is a U.S. government-funded institution that provides free public access to its collections, databases, and services. It operates as part of the USDA Agricultural Research Service with no commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The National Agricultural Library is one of five U.S. national libraries, providing free public access to over 3.5 million items covering agriculture and related sciences. It operates a portfolio of digital research databases (AGRICOLA, PubAg, Ag Data Commons, FoodData Central, NALT Concept Space, Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases, i5k Workspace@NAL, Geodata @ NAL, Federal LCA Commons) and delivers reference, data management planning, and repository services to researchers, USDA agencies, and the general public.

Product overview

The National Agricultural Library operates as a unified platform of research tools and information services rather than a single software product. Its core offerings include NAL SEARCH (which unifies AGRICOLA, PubAg, and Digital Collections), specialized databases like FoodData Central, Ag Data Commons, and Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases, along with research tools such as i5k Workspace@NAL, Federal LCA Commons, and Geodata @ NAL. The library also provides data management planning services, digital collections, special collections, and government documents access. These products collectively support agricultural research, food safety, nutrition, and open data sharing for the USDA research community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ag Data Commons: A FAIR-compliant repository providing access to open agricultural research data funded by USDA.
• AGRICOLA
• PubAg
• FoodData Central
• Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
• i5k Workspace@NAL
• Federal LCA Commons
• Geodata @ NAL

Products and services

• NAL SEARCH

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Global Biological Information Facility (GBIF)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2016IWGSC works with GBIF to provide global access to information about US Federal scientific collections via the Global Registry of Scientific Collections (GRSciColl), raising the profile of the registry started by IWGSC and its partners.
• Smithsonian InstitutioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2006The Smithsonian Institution co-chairs the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections (IWGSC) with the USDA. IWGSC was established by the White House National Science and Technology Council in 2006 to assess and improve management of federal scientific collections.
• USDA Agricultural Research ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAL operates under the USDA Agricultural Research Service as one of five national libraries of the United States. This is the primary organizational relationship defining NAL's mandate and operations.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture AgenciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple USDA agencies participate in IWGSC including ARS, APHIS, NIFA, NRCS, and USFS, each maintaining collections policies and contributing to federal scientific collections management efforts.
• Federal Departments and AgenciesflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerIWGSC includes representatives from Department of Agriculture, Commerce (NOAA), Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services (FDA, NIH, CDC), Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation, NASA, NSF, Smithsonian, USAID, and EPA, working collaboratively on scientific collections policy.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/National_Ag_Lib
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/NationalAgLibrary
• Facebookfacebook.com/USDA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-agricultural-library

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Agricultural Library