The Borlaug Digital Archive provides scholars and the general public with access to the papers of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug in an effort to build on his lifetime of research, and inspire the next generation of scholars as they confront the agricultural challenges of the twenty–first century. The digital repository contains records covering his entire career from the 1940s until his death in 2009. The initial release of documents will be followed by additional releases as records are scanned and reviewed for access restrictions.
About the Search Tool | Release History | Sponsors
About the Search Tool

About Laserfiche
Laserfiche is a widely used off-the-shelf document management program employment by many nonprofit and government organizations. The Norman Borlaug Digital Archive is housed in a Laserfiche repository that is accessed through a web interface. Users can browse documents by selecting folders from the file tree on the left side of the page or search for information using terms or phrases.
Documents in the Norman Borlaug Digital Archive are scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) technology allowing users to search using key words or strings of text. OCR is the electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into a searchable digital format.
Users can pinpoint information of interest by using Boolean search string to search for information. To construct a Boolean search in Laserfiche, please read the ‘HELP’ information found at the upper right hand corner of the Laserfiche repository.
Boolean Searching
Use the capitalized words below to construct search strings.
- AND—Searches for a word or phrase AND a second word or phrase within the same document
- OR—Searches for a word or phrase OR a second word or phrase within the same document
- NOT—Searches for a word or phrase in a document where a second word or phrase does NOT exist
- WITHIN—Searches for a word or phrase WITHIN a designated number of characters, sentences, or paragraphs of another word or phrase. Selecting WITHIN opens a sub-window of parameters of the search
- FUZZY SEARCH—Searches for words or phrases substantially similar to the entered word or phrase. You may set the criteria to indicate either how many letters or what percentage of the word can be different from the sought-after word or phrase. This feature compensates for spelling errors, OCR text errors, or if you are not sure of a correct name spelling.
Search Techniques
Quick Search—Quick Search does a simple search of the phrase typed in the search box. Quick Search searches OCR text, entry names, fields and annotations without having to open the search pane.
To search the entire repository, enter the search criteria in the search box with entire repository selected from the drop down then select search.
To search within a folder, enter the search criteria in the search box with current folder selected from the drop down, highlight the folder to be searched then select search.
Release History

Below, please find the release history for the Norman Borlaug Digital Archives. Future releases will be at the series level after scanning and review are completed. The latest release is listed at the top of the page.
Released: May 22, 2011
Approximately 8,000 pages
Dallas Home Collection
- Alphabetical Files—Individuals Answered
- Population Control
- Country Files
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Collection
- CIMMYT Speeches
- Rockefeller Foundation Oral History
Sponsors

The Norman E. Borlaug Digital Archive is made possible through the generosity of the Borlaug family, and the support of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences—Texas A&M University, and Texas A&M AgriLife Research.