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[December][January] [February] [March]Friday, June 19, 2009 (LMB)
The 'Dig Deeper' check box is now within Golf Course Management Archive
"Dig Deeper (Search full text)” is now available within Golf Course Management (restricted access -- enter via TGIF) archives. What is 'Dig Deeper'? It is a search feature within several of the TIC-hosted digital archive sites that allows for searching the complete text of the articles; not just the TGIF record's citation, abstract, and assigned keywords. For example, a search for "golf shoe spikes" (without the quotes), not clicking the 'Dig Deeper' box, will produce a search result of 12 records. By clicking the 'Dig Deeper' box, the result increases to 66 articles. The additional 54 records are from articles where the terms appear within the article, but not in the TGIF record for it.
Thursday, June 11, 2009 (LMB)
We will need your help!
TIC has begun a systematic process to attempt to ‘complete’ the holdings of both the O.J. Noer and James B Beard Collections. In the past we have identified some materials that we needed to acquire for the Noer Collection, and have made some of those needs known via our website, at: http://tic.msu.edu/needs.html -- but now we will be expanding & updating those listings. So if we think you might have some specific items which we’re looking for, we may approach you to help us out! Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.Thursday, May 21, 2009 (LMB)
More Display Formats of TGIF Search Results in Basic Search
The results display in Brief Table - Default format unless you change it. So how is it changed?
Still in Basic Search, there is a down arrow next to the window with Default format showing. Clicking the down arrow will provide a drop down menu with the following choices:
- Brief Table -- New to Old
- Brief Table -- Old to New
- Brief Table -- 1st Author A to Z
- Brief Table -- 1st Author Z to A
Again, the first entry(ies) might be from Beard’s Turfgrass Encyclopedia for Golf Courses – Grounds – Lawns – Sports Fields. However you can select to sort by the oldest, the newest, or by first author in ascending or descending order. Results from full-text resources will not appear at the beginning of the list of results followed by non full-text but in the order selected for sorting.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 (LMB)
Display of TGIF Search Results
Did you know there are six different ways to display your results when searching TGIF?
The results display in Brief Table - Default format unless you change it. What does that mean in terms of what is shown?
In Basic Search, the first entry(ies) might be from Beard’s Turfgrass Encyclopedia for Golf Courses – Grounds – Lawns – Sports Fields. In fact, about 12% of searches in Basic Search will have a Beard record.
In all default display formats results from full-text sources will appear chronologically from most recent to oldest. After that there will be the non full-text sources, arranged from most recent to oldest.
Next blog entry will discuss another way to display your results.
Friday, April 17, 2009 (MJS)
New Digital Archive Site - On Course/The Bull Sheet
On Course, created in 1948 and originally named The Bull Sheet, is the official publication of the Midwest Association of Golf Course Superintendents (MAGCS).
MAGCS was founded in 1926 by a small group of Chicago area "Greenkeepers" and has progressed over time to include a membership of 800 individuals, representing close to 300 golf courses in the greater Chicago metropolitan area.
The organization’s award winning monthly magazine, On Course, is mailed to over 950 paid and controlled subscribers and features current golf course management topics and association activities. On Course is dedicated to disseminating scientific and practical knowledge pertaining to golf turf maintenance, documenting the activities of the association, and enhancing the professional stature of the association’s members.
Furthermore, the magazine features articles penned by golf course superintendents for superintendents. Readers receive the latest information about integrated pest and plant management, problem solving techniques, safety regulations, equipment maintenance, new products, innovative practices, employee relations, and environmental stewardship projects.
On Course also features a section on equipment for the growing equipment technician class, not to mention contributions by many other industry professionals. Each issue provides the reader the opportunity to learn about MAGCS, current events, individual members, and the golf course profession.
This archive, an ongoing cooperative project of MAGCS and the Michigan State University Libraries, features On Course / The Bull Sheet content from 1948 to the present. The current and prior calendar year publications are publicly-accessible however, all previous years are available to only MAGCS members and TGIF users .
Monday, April 6, 2009 (LMB)
Another Means of Narrowing a Search in Basic Search
It is possible to select an industry sector to narrow a search to a more manageable set of records, provided a sector has been assigned to any given article during TGIF processing. On the Basic Search page, click the drop down box next to:
Limit by Industry Sector (if Available):
and highlight the one of interest. The default is All sectors. Other sectors to select from are: Breeding and Genetics, Golf courses, Landscape, Lawn care, Parks and grounds, Roadside, Seed, Sod, Sports turf, Utility turf, or Independent or Unassigned.At present about 50% of TGIF items have Sector tagging, and some items have more than one relevant sector assigned. While it is currently not possible to limit a search to more than one sector at a time in Basic Search -- it is possible to do this in TGIF's Power Search option.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 (LMB)
The second Annual Report of the Turfgrass Information Center is now available. The report is called TIC Annual Report 2008 and is linked from the TIC Public Website
Monday, March 16, 2009 (POC)
Noer Foundation Celebrates 50th Anniversary!
TIC extends congratulations to the O.J. Noer Research Foundation upon the 50th Anniversary of its establishment. During that time the Foundation has supported turfgrass research and graduate education at academic institutions throughout the USA. Created in 1958 by O.J. Noer's colleagues and friends, the Foundation is dedicated to financial support of scientific research in turfgrass. One early project of the Foundation was the establishment of the O. J. Noer Memorial Turfgrass Collection at Michigan State University, a project which continues to grow forty years later! We salute this all-volunteer organization that continues to work in support of better turf management, and thank them for their foresight in dedicating the Noer Collection to the public good.
For further information about the Noer Foundation, see: http://www.ojnoerfoundation.org/; for further information about the O. J. Noer Collection see: http://tic.msu.edu/noer.html.
Monday, March 2, 2009 (POC)
TGIF Now Available at USGA Museum
TGIF is now available to scholars and other users from within the USGA Museum Research Center, located in the Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History, in Far Hills, New Jersey, the home to the world's most comprehensive golf library and research collections. The Research Center is open to visitors Monday through Friday, and by appointment.
For more information about the Research Center,click here.
For additional information, or to schedule an appointment, please contact Nancy Stulack, Librarian, at 908-234-2300, ext. 1107; or by email at NStulack@usga.orgMonday, February 22, 2009 (MJS)
TIC Separates TGIF Sessions
A "TGIF session" is the set of screens a user sees when logged in to the TGIF database. TIC has now implemented a separation of TGIF sessions: “group” users (including people at academic institutions and organizations) versus individuals logging in with their own user name and password. This enables customization of features for these two types of TGIF users. For instance, group users will now see information directing them to utilize their local Interlibrary Loan Service to request items instead of TIC’s Document Delivery service. TGIF sessions by individual users and designated sub-accounts at academic institutions and corporate subscribers will continue to have a link to utilize extra-cost services via TIC.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 (LMB)
More instruction on using Basic Search
The last blog entry discussed how to search for topics such that they all appear in the search results. What if you want to get information on for instance two different diseases in your turf or two or more different turfgrasses. How can you do that?
The use of the " ;" between phrases or words will OR them together and find all records containing one or the other word/phrase. For example: brown patch; dollar spot will find all the records on both diseases. Searching Cynodon dactylon; Paspalum notatum; Zoysia japonica will find all records on all three grasses.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 (LMB)
Using Basic Search
Once logged into TGIF, you will be at the Basic Search Screen. There is one box to type what you are looking for, then press Search.
There are a few things to remember when typing in words:
Do not use quotations marks
Do not use natural language phrases
Do not use +/-
Words are not case sensitive
Try to avoid common 'stop' words such as turfgrass, turf, grassThese types of formats are used in web search engines such as Google.
Type in the important words you are looking for such as dollar spot control
The results you will get will be the number of records that have all of the words some where in the record, be it in the title, in the journal title, author, in the abstract, or in the keywords.
Thursday, January 29, 2009 (POC)
The 'Dig Deeper' check box
"Dig Deeper (Search full text)” is now available within both the The National Greenkeeper and Proceedings of the GCSAA Conference (restricted access -- enter via TGIF) archives. What is 'Dig Deeper'? It is a search feature within several of the TIC-hosted digital archive sites that allows for searching the complete text of the articles; not just the TGIF record's citation, abstract, and assigned keywords. For example, a search in The National Greenkeeper archive for "compost topdressing" (without the quotes), not clicking the 'Dig Deeper' box, will produce a search result of 23 records. By clicking the 'Dig Deeper' box, the result increases to 69 articles. The additional 46 records are from articles where the terms appear within the article, but not in the TGIF record for it.
The 'Dig Deeper' box now appears in four 'limiting interfaces' within TIC-hosted digital archive sites; besides the two new ones those include The Golf Course, and USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online (USGA TERO). It will continue to debut in additional limiting interfaces as we load the text of such publications into the TGIF search engine (with publisher permission, of course). As you might imagine, this is also a substantial amount of additional work in the TGIF workflows -- but it certainly does increase the power and reach of the search engine substantially.
It is also worth noting that there is currently no 'Dig Deeper' box within TGIF itself. Because the four periodicals with such content so far, and others with such content 'under construction' (such as the USGA Green Section Record) represent a small part of the total records within TGIF, we don't want to introduce it until we are past some point of 'critical mass', where the differences across a very wide range of searches are visible and significant. We do, however, very much look forward to that day..........
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 (LMB)
More Turfgrass Science Students Working in TIC
This semester the Turfgrass Information Center has the good fortune of 4 turfgrass science majors working in the Center. In addition, another student, majoring in systems management, had been doing research for a turfgrass professor here at MSU. It is great to have so many students with a background in turfgrass helping with TGIF.
Monday, December 29, 2008 (POC)
TGIF sessions at GIS in February
GCSAA members and other attendees to the Golf Industry Show in New Orleans in February can take advantage of several TGIF sessions during the Conference, including both informal and more structured venues. Six 30 minute classes are slotted on Friday and Saturday; while more informal drop-in discussion opportunities in The Answer Zone are blocked on Thursday and Friday for one hour periods. See the complete schedule at: http://www.gcsaa.org/conference/ed/tgif.asp.
We hope to see many of you there -- and look forward to hearing your ideas and feedback regarding TGIF as well!
Friday, December 12, 2008 (POC)
Turfgrass Extension and Research Bulletins in TGIF
As a part of continuing efforts to extend the reach and coverage of TGIF back into the past, older turfgrass bulletins issued throughout the USA at the state level are increasingly showing up in TGIF. The effort, funded by the Toro Foundation on an ongoing, multi-year project basis, will ultimately mean that TGIF indexes both current and past turfgrass publications as exhaustively as we can.
These bulletins, issued either by the Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) or the Cooperative Extension Service (CES) within each state, cooperatively with the federal United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), covered the range of both popular and professional turf culture. Most CES materials recommended best management practices for lawn and sports turf care on a localized basis, while the AES bulletins generally reported original research results or reviewed the current state of knowledge on a pest, weed, disease, species, or cultural practice. They were issued over a 100+ year period, generally within series of various titles, including 'circulars', 'bulletins', 'special publications', 'leaflets', "fact sheets', etc., etc.
Here is a sample list of such items within TGIF, published between 1903-1960. They are sorted by year of publication, with the oldest items at the end of the list.
Widely distributed at the time of their release; these items are small and easily lost over time. Few have been digitized, but a number of states have programs underway to make these historic materials available online, and we will link to those when and as we become aware of those efforts.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 (MJS)
New Publicly-Available Archive (digital): The Golf Course
The Golf Course was launched with great intentions as a monthly technical service bulletin aimed at "the Green Committees of America". It was issued beginning in January, 1916, by Peterson, Sinclaire & Miller, Inc., of New York, "in conjunction with Carter's Tested Seeds, Inc.", the UK firm which dominated much of the turf-service industry of Britain through the first half of the 20th century.
The Golf Course hoped to fill a growing technical information need, launched as it was just prior to Piper & Oakley's groundbreaking 1917 book Turf for Golf Courses, and as well in advance of the USGA Green Section's eventual launch in February of 1921 of the Bulletin of the Green Section of the US Golf Association.
The Golf Course attracted writers and topics well beyond the perhaps-expected domain of a typical commercial house organ. Architect A. W. Tillinghast contributed regularly to the early issues, as did builder/greenkeeper (and writer) Peter Lees. Several other firms placed advertisements. All supported Peterson, Sinclare & Miller's golf course construction business in one way or another.
The Golf Course was completely 'about the timing'; launched just prior to the entry by the USA into the First World War, its initial predictable publication became spotty in mid-1917. We know of one subsequent issue in 1918, and an attempt to re-launch it in 1921, but it then appears to have disappeared, once again, and perhaps, forever.
This historic content has now been made available through the cooperative efforts of TIC, the Center for Research Libraries and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. We thank those organizations for making originals of this material available for digitization purposes.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 (MJS)
Millions of People have Access to TGIF?
The TGIF database, the most comprehensive database of turfgrass and its maintenance, is available to literally millions of people worldwide! All residents of the state of Michigan have access via the Michigan eLibrary; patrons at over 50 colleges and universities across the world; members of ASGCA, CGSA, GCSAA Class A or SM, MAGCS, STA, STMA, and TPI; the staff of several corporations, and many individual subscribers.
Not only does access to TGIF give access to searching the over 140,000 citation-based records, it also provides access to an ever-increasing number of electronic resources. Several of these electronic resources are even publicly-available, requiring no subscription to TGIF to use.
Interested in becoming an individual subscriber or getting your membership/staff/patronage access to TGIF? Check out the subscription options available at http://tic.msu.edu/subscribe.html. Interested in finding out how to work with the Turfgrass Information Center in creating a new electronic resource? Take a look at the digitization prospectus at http://tic.msu.edu/digitization-prospectus.doc.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 (MJS)
TGIF Breaks the 140,000 Record Mark!
The Turfgrass Information File database surpassed 140,000 records recently. So far almost 10,000 records have been created this year, and with over two months to go TIC is on track to meet or exceed last year’s 12,000+ new records! These 10,000 records represent over 6,500 articles from periodicals, 1,100 monographic (book or book-like) pieces, and almost 1,800 articles from websites.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 (MJS)
New URL Structure for TIC-Hosted Materials
The Turfgrass Information Center has implemented a streamlined URL structure for much of the archive material hosted by TIC. This involves changing almost 20,000 links within the TGIF database as well as the hundreds of HTML pages that support the archive sites’ browsing structures. During the change-over, there may be times when certain content is unavailable. All content is scheduled to be fully-functioning by Monday, October 13. We offer our apologies for any inconveniences this may cause.Wednesday, October 1, 2008 (LMB)
Friends of MSU Libraries’ Fall Gathering 2008
This year the annual fall gathering is being held at the Main Library building on Sunday, October 5. Three key areas are being highlighted: the Africana collection, the Turfgrass Information Center and the Maps Library. This will be the first official function held in the renovated Turfgrass Information Center.
Friday, September 19, 2008 (LMB)
Turf Topics
"Turf Topics" emphasize current and more widely-available publications on a specific issue in turf culture or turf facility management. Subscribers can use the "Turf Topics" browse alternative in TGIF to easily print or download each topic.
- A S G C A Architect Videos
- Artificial Vs. Natural Turf Surfaces
- Bermudagrasses - New Ultradwarf Cultivars
- Biostimulants
- Breeding For Drought
- Buffer Zones
- Bunker Renovation
- Classic Reads In Turf
- Crumb Rubber As A Soil Amendment
- Disasters - Floods
- Disasters - Storms
- Dissertations & Theses -- Full-text
- Effluent Water Use
- Fairy Rings
- Fine Fescue Fairways
- Foliar Feeding & Uptake
- Golf Cart Damage
- Golf Course Design Books (Recent)
- Golf Course Turf & Maintenance Books (Recent)
- Golf Green Speed
- Golfer Expectation Management
- Hydraulic Spills!
- Land Area In Turf
- Lawn Care Books (Recent)
- M S M A
- Mole Control
- Moss Control
- Noer/MMSD Image Collection Test Images
- P C N B - Quintozene
- P G Rs 1997-2006
- Pull-carts Vs. Golf Carts
- Salinity Management For Cool Season Grasses
- Seashore Paspalum - Since 2000
- Sod Shelf Life
- Soil Salinity
- Sports Turf Construction & Maintenance Books (Recent)
- Summertime Blues
- Turf Books Online
- Turf Science & Management Books (Recent)
- Turfgrass Industry Economics
- U S G A Animations & Video Clips
- Wetting Agents
- Wildlife Society Bulletin Golf Course Research - Summer 2005
Remember that any subject not listed as a Turf Topic can be searched in TGIF itself.
Thursday, September 11, 2008 (MJS)
Dr. Hawes Volunteers for a Week in TIC
This summer TIC was fortunate enough to again have Dr. Douglas Hawes, consultant and former USGA agronomist, volunteer a week of his time. During this year’s stay, he created several new Turf Topics, including “Soil Salinity” and the closely-related “Salinity Management for Cool Season Grasses”. Additionally, “Effluent Water Use” was updated.
To access Turf Topics, subscribers would log in to TGIF and choose “Browse Turf Topics” from the left-hand menu. This will display the list of available Topics. Simply click on the desired one and the results will be displayed!
Monday, September 8, 2008 (LMB)
Did you Know You can Find Humor in TGIF?
As of Sept 8, 2008, there are 325 records in TGIF that have some type of humor or cartoon in them. To find these records, login to TGIF and select Guided Search. In the three fields, type in cartoon, humor, and cartoons. Be sure to change the AND to OR. Click on the Search button to see the results.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 (LMB)
Summer 2008 Issue of The Sward
The summer issue of The Sward is now available from the TIC home page.
http://tic.msu.edu/e-sward/swardv8n3.pdfMonday, August 18, 2008 (MJS)
ITS Journal/Proceedings Archive Site - Continuous Construction Update
In May 2007, the Turfgrass Information Center (TIC) announced the availability of an archive site for the International Turfgrass Society Journal and Proceedings, a publication occurring every four years following the International Turfgrass Society Research Conferences since 1969. Because of copyright clearance challenges, TIC was unable to load all articles for entire issues. Instead, individual author permissions have to be secured for all authors on each article before that article can be loaded. Considering the international scope of the conferences and the time period that they cover, it’s easy to see the size of this challenge!
Here is an update on the completeness of this project and the site:
-of a total 1,736 authors, 731 have granted permission, leaving 1,005 remaining
-of a total 1,268 articles with TGIF records, 385 are linked, leaving 883 remainingThese numbers are for the period 1969-2005 (there is a “moving wall” of two years from publication where articles, regardless of copyright permission, are not permitted to be linked).
YOU can help with this project! If you are a named author on any articles published in the International Turfgrass Society Journal or Proceedings and haven’t signed the copyright permission form, please see http://tic.msu.edu/itspermission.html to do so! Please note that this copyright permission form does not transfer any copyright ownership.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 (MJS)
“Hot” Columns and Sections
TIC has implemented another new feature in the TGIF database that users should find of interest: “hot” columns and sections. These are links within TGIF records that perform another search for the same column or section name from the same source. For instance, TGIF Record # 131791 from the USGA Green Section Record has the column name “On course with nature”. After the column name in the record there is a link which says “Records with this column”. By clicking on this link, all 41 records in this instance are displayed. This also works for sections; check out TGIF Record #133536, which has a link to all articles from The National Greenkeeper with from the section “Around the office desk”. Sometimes these links will only bring up one record – the record from which the hot column/section was clicked; this occurs when that record is the only one with the same source and column/section name.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 (MJS)
MAGCS signs TGIF access agreement
Members of the Midwest Association of Golf Course Superintendents (MAGCS) join an ever-growing list of groups, organizations, academic institutions, corporations, and individuals who have access to the TGIF database produced by the Turfgrass Information Center (TIC). Through this latest agreement, over eight hundred individuals from nearly three hundred golf courses in greater Chicago are able to access the sizeable TGIF database and through it any of the restricted-access electronic resources.
Speaking of electronic resources, MAGCS’s publication On Course is in the process of being digitized and made available full-text by TIC. This publication spans back to 1948!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 (MJS)
TIC-produced content being added to Wikipedia
In addition to creating the TGIF database, the Turfgrass Information Center co-produces a number of electronic resources. For example, TIC produces with ASGCA the ASGCA Architect’s Gallery. Full Gallery entries for architects can include philosophies of design, biographical sketches, newly-constructed and revised courses, as well as digitized master plans.
Recently TIC began adding links to some of this great content into relevant Wikipedia entries. For example, since Wikipedia already had entries for several golf course architects with partial lists of newly-constructed and revised courses, the addition of an external link to the full gallery of an architect in ASGCA Architect’s Gallery provides another useful link to gain a more complete understanding of an architect and their work. Examples of Wikipedia entries with Gallery links can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Hills and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rees_Jones.
Thursday, June 26, 2008 (LMB)
Interesting Use of the "By or About" Fastlink Generator
Free fastlinks can now be generated for any material by or about (“bora”) a particular person through the new Fastlink Generator available from the "Conditions and Terms of Use" page when searching TGIF. In the search box, type in as much of the person’s name as desired; beneath the search box there are examples of how to format the name. Click on “Go get it!” and a list of TGIF records by or about the person will display. The fastlink will be the URL that appears at the top of the results page.
An interesting use of the "By or About" Fastlink is to have one on your web page that links to your publications that are included in TGIF. See any of the faculty in the Department of Plant Biology and Pathology at Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey such as Dr. Bruce Clarke or Dr. Joseph Heckman.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 (LMB)
Most Recent Current TGIF Feature: Flooding
With the recent disastrous weather occurring, there has been a great deal of floods and flooding. Some of this has affected golf courses. The TIC has created a current feature of references in TGIF that relate to floods and flooding. Hope you will find it useful if your course or turf is unfortunate to be under water.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008 (LMB)
Lawn Exhibit at the Peggy Notebaert Museum
The Peggy Notebaert Museum at the Chicago Academy of Sciences, Chicago, Illinois has a new exhibit which opened May 23. It is called "Lawn Nation: The Art and Science of the American Lawn" and runs through Sept 7. From the webpage:
- "Learn that lawn is a choice and not an ecological inevitability. Alternatives to lawn can be just as beautiful, sustainable, and can make a difference on our planet.
- Get an idea of what the lawn of tomorrow will look like as well as what positive steps you can take to reduce your impact.
- See how much water is used on American lawns and try your hand at a game of indoor croquet."
In addition, there are many activities that can be done such as Gnome Hunt, Seed and Read, Take Home Lawns, and Grazin' in the Grass
The last museum exhibit TIC is aware of related to turfgrass was at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA)'s exhibit on the North American Lawn which was seen in Montreal and in Cincinnati in 1998.
Friday, June 6, 2008 (LMB)
Testimonials Sought - Let us Know how TGIF has Helped You
Over the years, the TGIF database has been utilized for everything from academic research to finding tips on sprucing up a lawn. At TIC, we would like to hear from you about how TGIF has helped you in your endeavors! User testimonials may be featured on the website, in promotional brochures, and to promote varying ways to use the database. To help us spread the news about the benefits of using TGIF, please email your testimonial to tgif@msu.edu.
Friday, May 23, 2008 (MJS)
New Public Archive (digital) The National Greenkeeper Archive
The National Greenkeeper was launched as the National Association of Greenkeepers of America's (NAGA) official organ, beginning in January of 1927. Publication of The National Greenkeeper continued through the beginnings of the Great Depression, but in October of 1933, The National Greenkeeper apparently folded. The National Association of Greenkeepers of America was the predecessor of the Golf Course Superindendents Assocation of America (GCSAA).
Content within The National Greenkeeper includes wonderful period advertisements, early history of the NAGA, golf course photographs from the 1920s, and even some golf course poetry.
These archived issues are available through the Turfgrass Information Center's " Browse Full-Text Resources" as well as from the Turfgrass Information File's “Browse Full-Text Journals (Logs Out)” option. Use the search feature there to locate items about specific individuals, golf courses, or early turf cultural practices. In addition, all such content can be identified and viewed by searching TGIF itself. Or you can click on The National Greenkeeper in this blog item and go directly to the publication.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 (LMB)
Spring 2008 Issue of The Sward
The Spring issue of The Sward is now available from the TIC home page.
http://tic.msu.edu/e-sward/swardv8n2.pdfTuesday, May 6, 2008 (MJS)
RSS Feed for Refereed Content for Subscribers and Users
Over the years, we have several times heard requests to somehow develop the means to routinely 'push' content out from within TGIF --(unlike the 'pulled' content which requires a user to go to TGIF and do a search or browse to find something).
We are thus pleased to announce a new RSS feed which, once a user registers to receive it, will automatically deliver soon after the first of the month a listing of all (recently published) refereed turf materials added to TGIF in the previous month. What is delivered is a table listing all recent TGIF records added for turf-related articles from all the journals we monitor, and which we classify as peer-reviewed. This link is available to all TGIF subscribers and users – i.e. from inside TGIF; logon to TGIF as you regularly do, and note the new RSS feed labeled "Recent Refereed Added" on the left navigation bar of the "Conditions and Terms of Use" page.Special thanks to Dr. Aaron Patton of the University of Arkansas for his considered ideation regarding this concept.
Let us know if you find this kind of delivery useful, and suggestions for other kinds/types/audiences for RSS feeds from TGIFare welcomed.
Thursday, April 24, 2008 (LMB)
Two newly available digitized items now online
TIC is pleased to announce the availability of the full-text versions of two very different but each influential works in the history of turf science; a book from 1912 and a booklet from 1978. They are:
The Book of the Links: A Symposium on Golf. 1912. Sutton, Martin Hubert Foquett (ed.) . London, England: W.H. Smith & Son. 234 pp. This important early work, which ranges widely over golf and golf course issues, includes not only a pantheon of early, well-known writers on things-golf, such as Bernard Darwin and H. S. Colt, but also includes some extraordinary cartoons about course issues. A certain pre-war innocence characterizes this effort, which sees course management, including turf mangement, as a fully integrated, well appreciated, and important part of the essence of the game. TGIF includes separate records for each of the 11 chapters present.
http://www.lib.msu.edu/cgi-bin/flink.pl?recno=33326Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua L.): Description, Adaptation, Culture and Control. 1978. Beard, J. B, Rieke, P. E., Turgeon, A. L., and Vargas, J. M.. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, Agricultural Experiment Station. 32 pp. The state of knowledge on things-poa is documented, synthesized, and recommended is this benchmark Extension publication by an all-star team of researchers. This is what we knew, then, about the ever-wiley nemesis of so many turf managers throughout wide parts of the world.
http://www.lib.msu.edu/cgi-bin/flink.pl?recno=2214Thursday, April 17, 2008 (LMB)
TIC exhibiting at USAIN (United States Agricultural Information Network) Conference
This year the USAIN conference is being held in Wooster, OH - April 27-30. If you attending the conference, please stop by the TIC booth and visit with us. See what is going on with TGIF if you are a subscriber and if not, find out about TGIF and why it is an important resource for your institution.
Monday, April 7, 2008 (MJS)
Proceedings of the GCSAA Conference (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America) Archive Now Available
The Proceedings of the GCSAA Conference (published by: Golf Course Superintendents Association of America) can now be accessed through the Turfgrass Information File (TGIF), thanks to the agreement between GCSAA and the Turfgrass Information Center! These archived issues can be easily located through the Turfgrass Information File’s “Browse Full-Text Journals (Logs Out)” option. From there, select Proceedings of the GCSAA Conference from the list of available electronic journals. The Proceedings of the GCSAA conference as published from 1927-1998 are available with the exception of the issues TIC does not have.
Please note that there may be additional volumes or documents relating to the Conference over the years, particularly in the earliest years, which can be a made a part of this archive and which we don't yet own or have access to. We need your help to identify any such items, and enable us to digitize them if possible. Thank you for your cooperation to help improve the digital archive!"
Monday, April 7, 2008 (LMB)
RSS Feed for TERO Website
The USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online (TERO) website now features an RSS Feed
. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a popular technology for notifying users of updates to content in a website or a blog. With the RSS feed for the TERO Website, you will be notified when there is an addition or change in the website.
Friday, March 14, 2008 (LMB)
TIC is operational though not unpacked totally
The walls are up, the offices and student workstations are built. We are still unpacking but are back in business.
The old entrance to TIC - sort of plain and humdrum.
The new entrance to TIC, slicker than the old one.Wednesday, February 27, 2008 (LMB)
TIC Renovation and Services until 10/March
The public areas of the Turfgrass Information Center, including the Beard Collection, will be closed to public use until 10/March.
All physical collection holdings within TIC (including location 'Turfgrass', the Beard Collection, and vertical file materials) will be available by contacting us via phone, fax, or email until 10/March. TIC online services, including TGIF, and content will be unaffected and will operate normally.Monday, February 18, 2008 (MJS)
Theses and Dissertations from Purdue University
Special thanks to Ms. Jennifer Biehl and Dr. Cale Bigelow of Purdue University for their donation of Masters Theses and doctoral Dissertations to TIC. These physical materials were, until now, missing from TIC’s collection and now have complete records with in TGIF, click here for list. Additionally, Ms. Biehl and Dr. Bigelow have taken steps to contact the authors to gain copyright permission for TIC. When copyright permission is granted, the theses and dissertations will be digitized and made available online in a full-text format.
We hope that this initiative will be repeated at other academic institutions. We would be pleased to cooperate in this way to insure that your institution's graduate research is fully represented within TGIF. let us know if you are prepared to take this on: tgif@msu.edu. To grant copyright permission for your thesis or dissertation, please complete the form at http://tic.msu.edu/copyrightpermissions.html
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 (LMB)
O. J. Noer Collection acquisitions -- 2007
The O. J. Noer Memorial Collection continues to grow steadily, built by both donations and purchases. Each year we report to the Noer Research Foundation how the Collection has grown. Here are some highlights for 2007:
Purchases of 'historic items' : see a list here:
Purchases of new/recent materials: see a selected list here:The complete report for 2007 to the Noer Foundation is here:
Our continuing thanks to the Noer Foundation for ongoing engagement for over 40 years now, and their continuing commitment to the TIC Endowment Campaign!Thursday, February 7, 2008 (MJS)
Non-English 'About TIC' Webpages
In addition to the already available Spanish, French, and German language webpages which briefly describe TIC and TGIF, we are now pleased to announce the availability of a Chinese language page to do the same, as well as a Chinese 'TGIF Database Description' page linked from there. Special thanks for these to Wu Di, a student from the MSU-China Turfgrass Education Program working in TIC during Fall term, and Wen-ying Lu, a MSU Librarian, for producing these pages.
See: http://tic.msu.edu/about-chinese.html
Monday, February 4, 2008 (LMB)
TIC is on the Move
Well, not quite but we will be getting new walls (real ones - floor-to-ceiling) , some additional space, and a rearrangement of work stations. The project time for the construction is February 28 - March 7, 2008. During that time TIC will have limited functionality. Phone will be answered when possible. Walk-in service will be difficult but accommodated as staff is able. Email will be answered except when staff computers are being moved. All this means for the first time in TIC's history the student workstations area will be designed for database construction effectiveness.
Thursday, January 31, 2008 (LMB)
In Memoriam: Dr. Gene C. Nutter (1923-2008), The TGIF Legacy
In memory of Gene Nutter, Ph.D., (85) former executive director of GCSAA, TIC has posted a link to material in TGIF by or about (“bora”) Dr. Nutter.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 (LMB)
The first formal annual report of the Turfgrass Information Center is now available. The report is called TIC Annual Report 2007 and is linked from the TIC Public Website
Friday, January 25, 2008 (LMB)
Getting Started with TGIF Guide
This guide is the first in a new series of guides and tutorials that will be created over the next year on how to use TGIF. This Getting Started with TGIF is a two page handout that provides a quick overview of the basic search, guided search, where to find more information on power searching, and the ways you can connect to TGIF depending on your institution's access or your own personal access. Please feel free to copy and use in classes or in any other way you would find it helpful.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 (MJS)
Library of Congress Subject Heading Added to TGIF Display
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are the subject terms used by most academic libraries to classify the books and other materials in their collections. In terms of turfgrass materials, they are much more general than the TGIF subject terms. Hence, they are good for looking for related tangential materials. At the present time, about 28% of the monographic TGIF records have the LC headings added to them.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008 (LMB)
Winter 2008 Issue of The Sward
The winter issue of The Sward is now available from the TIC home page.
http://tic.msu.edu/e-sward/swardv8n1.pdf
