Agriculture & Natural Resources Librarian
2407 River Drive, A113D5
Knoxville, TN 37996
Contact Pendergrass Library
- Email: agvetlib@utk.edu
- Text: 865-320-9885
County & State Soil Surveys
For assistance using the Web Soil Survey, read the USDA's Getting Started with Web Soil Survey instructions or contact Pendergrass Library.
For the print collection of State Soil surveys at Pendergrass Library, they are cataloged and shelved in three main classes that depend on the year the survey was published. These classes are:
- Report year
- No.-year
- County-State
Use this chart to see how different soil survey years are shelved in Pendergrass Library and cataloged in One Search:
|
Years |
Call Number |
Shelved by |
Title Search |
System Number |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1800-1922 |
S591.A2 |
Report-year |
Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils |
470238 |
|
|
1923-1937 |
S591.A22 |
No.-year |
Soil Survey Washington D.C. |
1617335 |
|
|
1938-1966 |
S591.A22 |
County-state |
Soil Survey Washington D.C. |
1617335 |
All States and counties on one record |
|
1967-date |
S599.01.T37 |
County -state |
Soil Survey Tennessee *or the state you are looking for. |
Various system numbers for each state |
Each county/state has individual records. |
|
Islands-all dates |
S599.8------- |
|
|
|
|
Search tip: Because of the variations in titles, publishers and the changes over time, please use multiple search terms, like "soil survey report" or "soil survey reports" or "soil survey of...(fill in county, state)" or "soil survey of...(fill in the state)."
Soil Surveys Search Tips
Surveys are published and bound in multiple ways. There is no easy way to look at them all in the catalog or in the stacks. Please use multiple searches and always contact Pendergrass Library if you can't find what you are looking for.
Where bound separately (usually years 1938-), the soil surveys are not shelved according to their call number cutter (which includes a year designation). Instead, they are shelved within the call number in alphabetic order by State, and within state by County. In searching for bound volumes, remember that the date the soil survey was issued is not always the same as the date that is used on the spine of the bound volume.
Survey Access Updates
Soil survey information is regularly updated and posted to the Web Soil Survey, which is the official source for current information. The Web Soil Survey provides both tabular and spatial data and allows you to create a custom soil resource report for your specific area of interest. In addition, digital geographic data for Knox County, TN, can be found at KGIS.org.
Links and Additional Information
Helpful NRCS/USDA Resources:
- How to Access Historical Soil Surveys on the New NRCS Website
- Soil Survey Status Maps
- USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
An article for novice searchers, librarians, or experts to review
Tips from the Experts: Soil Surveys -- They're Not Just for Farmers Lorraine J. Pellack
Obtain a published TN soil survey by mail by writing to:
State Soil Scientist
USDA-NRCS
675 US Courthouse
801 Broadway
Nashville, TN 37203
615.277.2550 voice
615.390.1507 mobile
855.591.1284 fax