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Appraisal of Soil Survey Reports for Extension Clientele (JNRLSE)

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Appraisal of Soil Survey Reports for Extension Clientele (JNRLSE) Appraisal1 of soil surveyreports for extensionclientele William2 R. Oschwald ABSTRACT Soil surveyreports recordsoil facts of an areaand inform readersof the facts. This paperis an analysis of modernsoil survey reports as a communication MessageI~ Sen~derI~ Channelll), Rece’ver I~, Effect channel for transmitting soil facts to extension Fig. 1-Elementsof the communicationprocess (43, 45). audiences. Modernsoil surveyreports are moretechnical than earlier reports andare aimedat audienceswith varied soil survey reports (28, 52). The reports contain interests and needsfor soil facts. A comparisonof soil facts to guide soil use decisions. People who soil reports publishedin 1913and 1972 for the same use soil survey reports are potential target audiences countyillustrate the differences betweenpresent and for extension program efforts. early modelsof soil survey reports. A modernsoil The purposes of this paper are (a) to analyze soil report for an urban county (Lake County, Illinois) survey reports as a means for communicating soil was essentially the samein format, content, and survey facts to extension audiences and (b) to pro- audienceorientation to a modernone from a rural area (Edwardsand RichlandCounties, Illinois). Tech- vide a focal point for discussion of reports and nical languageand complextables posetranslation other methods of communicating soil survey facts. problemsfor nonsoil scientist audiences. Hopefully, the analysis and resulting discussion will Soil surveyreports can be improvedso soil survey lead to improvements in the communication of soil facts are effectively communicatedto decision makers survey facts to extension clientele. and other report users. Audienceidentification and preparationof reports for specific rather than general Communication is the process by which messages audiencesare importantfirst steps. Useof less tech- are sent from a source to a receiver. A communica- nical languageand clear definitions of necessarytech- tion channel, such as a soil survey report, is a means nical terms will help removelanguage barriers. for transmitting the message. The purpose of com- Changesin format maybe necessaryto effectively munication from the source viewpoint is to change reach target audiences. A suggested format is presented. the behavior of the receiver (43, 45). The receiver Soil survey extension programsprovide a means may send a return message, or feedback, regarding of improvingcommunication of soil survey facts. Ex- the effectiveness of the communication process. tension specialists can plan and implementeducation- Figure 1 illustrates the elements of the process. al activities to enhancecommunication efforts. The effectiveness of communication is a function Researchis neededto determinethe effectiveness of source, message, channel, and the interactions of of various communicationmethods with different audiences.Soil survey methodsto provide soil facts these factors with the audience or receiver (43). quicker andat a lower cost are needed. The source of soil survey reports is the agency (or agencies) responsible for the survey; the channel is Additional index words: Communicationof soil the soil survey report, the message is the contents surveyfacts, Detailedsoil reports, Interimsoil reports, of the report; and the audience is the intended user Generalsoil survey reports, Extensionsoil survey of the soil survey report. In this paper, message program. and audience characteristics are emphasized while source and channel are fixed. S OIL SURVEYSare conducted to obtain facts about the soils of an area. Soil characteristics are studied, defined, and used as a basis for placing 1 Contribution from the Departmentof Agronomy,Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.Paper presented Nov. 14, soils into taxonomic units and soil maps are pre- 197"3, in Las Vegas, Nev. at the annual meetingsof ASAand pared to show the spatial distribution of different SSSAas part of Divisions $5 and A-4 Symposium,"Stand- soil units. The soil map and other soil facts ob- ard Soil Surveys." 2Formerly Professor of Soil Classification Extension, tained in field and laboratory studies are assembled, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana. NowAssistant Dean, University analyzed, and interpreted with results published in Extension, Iowa State Univ., Ames. 68 OSCHWALD: SOIL SURVEY REPORTS 69 Table1--Comparison of 1913 and 1972 soil surveyreports for LaSalleCounty, Illinois I1, 21) Soil survey report characteristic 1913 report 1972 repot t Dimensions 17.1 cm X 25.4 cm 21.6 cm × 27.9 cm Pages of text 45 140 Number of tables 9 7 Number of figures 5 21 Type of soil map Multicolor lithograph Controlled photo mosaic Position of mapsheets Center of report End of report Number of map sheets 3 96 Mapscale 1 : 126,720 (0.8 cm/km) 1:20,000 (5.2 cm]km) Soil mappingunits Soil types Phases of soil types Number of soil mapping units 27 239 Soil associations 5 13 Kind of soil descriptions Popular Popular and technical Laboratory and field experiment data a. total chemical analysis Chemicaland particle size analysis b. crop yields and value from field experiments Type of interpretations Soil fertility management a. agricultural land use b. crop yields by soil mapunits c. woodland use d. wildlife land use e. engineering properties f. nonagricultural land use Three questions guided the analysis. First, what Two soil surveys have been conducted in LaSalle are soil survey reports? Soil survey reports are County, Illinois. The report for the first survey was analyzed on the basis of purpose, format, and type published in 1913 (21) and that for the second of report. Second, who are the users of soil survey 1972 (1). Table 1 compares the format and con- reports? Audience characteristics such as level of tent of these soil survey reports. The 1913 report knowledge and motivation for wanting soil facts is typical of early published soil survey reports in are discussed in relation to knowledge flow systems. mapping detail and soil descriptions. The emphasis Third, how can the communication of soil survey of the report was on soil fertility experiments on facts be improved? Modifications in format and the soils of LaSalle County. The 1972 report, an language are discussed. Soil survey extension ac- example of a modern soil survey report, emphasized tivities are related to the communication of soil technical soil descriptions and soil interpretations facts. Research needs to improve communication to guide soil use decisions. Most modern soil survey of soil facts are suggested. reports have format and contents similar to the 1972 report. WHAT ARE SOIL SURVEYREPORTS? A soil survey report serves two functions. First, Detailed Soil Survey Report a report records soil facts for future reference. The printed report becomes a part of the literature re- A standard format is used for detailed soil survey lated to soil surveys and has a permanence that is reports published by the Soil Conservation Service, missing in spoken communication. Second, a re- U. S. Department of Agriculture. The page size for port informs audiences of the facts obtained in the the report text is 22.86 cm by 27.84 cm. Soil map survey and the significance of these facts (42, p. sheets and soil legend, attached inside the back 161-165). cover, are larger and folded to fit the text page The soil survey report includes a soil map and dimensions. Tables 2 and 3 show the amount of legend, soil descriptions, interpretations, and gener- space devoted to different topics in two recent al information about the survey area. The form and Illinois soil survey reports is essentially the same detail of the soil map and text has changed and although the Edwards-Richland report is for a rural varies with the type of report. Soil survey reports area (20) and the Lake County report is for for the same geographic area, but published in dif- urban area (37). These reports are typical of stand- ferent time periods, illustrate the changes that have ard detailed soil reports. The individual sections taken place in the evolution of the modern soil of the standard report are discussed in the follow- survey report. ing paragraphs. 70 JOURNAL OF AGRONOMIC EDUCATION, VOL. 4, AUGUST 1975 Table2-Comparison of contents of soil surveyreports for phases, and soil mapping units are discussed. The Edwards-RichlandCounties and LakeCounty, scope of soil survey activities is mentioned. About Illinois (20, 37) 1%of the report is devoted to this section. Space devoted to topic E. General soil map. A description of the soil Edwards-Richland Lake Counties County associations of the survey area are given with brief Topic (rural area) (urban area) descriptions of the dominant soil series included. pages % pages % The general soil map is usually attached in the back Generalnature of area 3.4 4.05 3.4 4.15 How this survey was made 0.9 1.07 0.8 0.98 of the report. The section would be more appro- Generalsoil maI~ 4.2 5.00 5.8 7.07 priately called "General Soil Areas". In the reports Descriptions of the soils 29.5 35.12 28.9 35.24 Use and managementof the soil 41.0 48.81 37.5 45.73 analyzed inTable 2, 5 to 7% of the report discussed Formationand classification of soils 2.5 2.98 3.0 3.66 Laboratory data references 0.1 0.12 0.0 0.00 the general soil areas. Literature cited 0.5 0.60 0.4 0.49 F. Descriptions of the soils. Technical and pop- Glossary 1.9 2.26 2.2 2.68 Total 84.0 100.00 82.0 100.00 ular soil descriptions are given, including popular descriptions of soil series and soil mapping units Table3--Comparison of amountof spacedevoted to soil and technical
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