The Agricultural Statistics CD-ROM is produced by the National Agricultural Statistics Service and contains information on agricultural production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns. The CD-ROM uses Adobe Acrobat software. Information on how to search, view, and print using Acrobat is available in this user guide. The CD-ROM version, 1994-2004, is available from the RIS Information Desk, (REF-CD) HD 1751 .A432x; the most recent paper version of Agricultural Statistics (2004) is available in the Research and Instructional Support Area, (REF) HD 1751 .A43.

The Internet version,1994-date, is available at: http://www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/agstats.htm.

Getting Started

Click once on the Agricultural Statistics volume desired for viewing. The table of contents will list chapters covering various crops, livestock, and poultry. The chapter listings are links; click on any one of them to connect to that particular chapter. Once a chapter is open, bookmarks appear in the window to the left which describe the tables contained in that specific chapter. Click on any one of the bookmarks to connect to those particular tables within that chapter. To go back to one of the chapters already viewed, click on the GO BACK icon on the toolbar.

To Search the Agricultural Statistics CD-ROM

Besides the table of contents and bookmarks described above, there are more precise methods of searching for terms. Click on the SEARCH icon on the toolbar. Enter a single term or multiple terms to be searched. This method searches for terms in the entire database. If combining two or more terms, make sure the proximity option is checked. Click on the INDEX bar in order to select the yearly index to search. Because the publications are cumulative, most users will want to search the latest index.

The Find function can also be used to search a document. Click on the FIND icon on the toolbar. This function is very slow, and only allows single word or single concept searching. Rather than searching the entire database, Find searches only the chapter for those words.

Printing

To print a document, choose the Print command under the FILE menu. To print an entire file, click "ok." To print a selected page or pages, click on "Pages," then indicate the page range desired for printing.

Note: Many of the documents are quite lengthy. It is strongly encouraged to print only the pages needed.

Downloading from Acrobat is only available as allowed by the database.

The Acrobat Reader window

The Acrobat window includes three elements: the overview area, the document area, and the toolbar. The overview area is the left frame of the window, and includes links to the document, which appears to the right, in the document area. The following description of the tools and buttons on the toolbar will assist in using Acrobat to read, search, and print documents.

Click the Page Only icon to view the document in a single window.

Click the Bookmarks and Page icon to open the overview window (left side of the screen) and display bookmarks created for the document. Click once on a bookmark to go to the corresponding location in the text, viewable in the window on the right. Scroll bars on each of these windows permit scrolling up and down through the document.

Click the Thumbnails and Page icon to display thumbnail images of each document page in the overview window. Click once on a thumbnail to go to the marked location in the text.

Use the Zoom tools to magnify or reduce the page display. First, click on the proper icon on the toolbar to choose magnification or reduction. When the mouse is moved back to the text, the pointer changes shape. Now click on the document text to magnify or reduce.

Use the First Page or Last Page icon to display the first or last page of a document.

Use the Previous Page or Next Page icon to move the document backward or forward, one page at a time.

Use the Go Back and Go Forward icons to retrace steps within a document, moving to each page within the document in the order visited. Go Back returns to the original document after clicking on a link to another document.

Exiting

To exit the Agricultural Statistics CD-ROM, click on the FILE menu, then choose Exit.