This library guide here is directed towards what we feel will be the most immediate needs for students in this program. I want to point out that if there is not enough information on this guide here, that there is another, much larger and more general agriculture library guide that might be of interest to you as well. There will be some overlap of information between these two guides, but there will be additional information found on the other, which can be found here: https://instr.iastate.libguides.com/agriculture
Photo Gallery
http://soils.usda.gov/gallery/
This presents photos of examples of types of soil, soil profiles, and soil landscapes.
Soil Surveys
http://soils.usda.gov/survey/online_surveys/
This site is also useful in documenting the existence of historical
soil surveys by state and links to the full text when available.
Soil Taxonomy
http://soils.usda.gov/technical/classification/taxonomy/
This provides a PDF version of the government document, Soil Taxonomy, A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Surveys, 2nd ed.
Soil Texture Calculator
http://soils.usda.gov/technical/aids/investigations/texture/
By entering the percentage of sand and clay in a soil sample, this calculator will figure out the soil texture for the user.
World Soil Resources
http://soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/
This links to global and regional soil maps, technical papers, professional organizations and other resources.