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Thursday, December 28, 2006

New Finding Aid Area in TGIF Records

TGIF records now have a Finding Aids area that is a collection of different fields. It appears at the bottom of the record when the more button is clicked or when full display format is chosen. The information found in this area shows the web link if one exists, a link to finding a copy in a WorldCat-member library near you called “Find in a Library” (this works for books and book-like items only), and a link to request the item.

If TIC does not have a copy, a Wanted statement will appear. The link for sending feedback if there is a problem with the record is located above the Finding Aids area.

For ease-of-use the Web URL appears at the very top of the full record display; no need to scroll to the end of the record.

Friday, December 8, 2006

New Limiting Option in TGIF's Guided Search

A new feature in Guided Search is the ability to search by type of items such as blueprints, interview, obituary or Q & A, etc. It is a drop-down list at the end of the "In:" row: publication type, years, and sectors. This will provide one more means of limiting your searches in TGIF.

Currently, the various types of items include editorials, fact sheets, fiction, humor, interviews, letters, obituaries, poetry, Q & As, registration statements, blueprints, book-like items, profiles (including personal profiles, pest profiles, disease profiles, pesticide profiles, cultivar profiles, etc.), videos, and theses/dissertations.

Friday, December 1, 2006

TERO Article Links to Theses and Dissertations

A recent issue of Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online (TERO) discusses the buffalograss breeding and genetics program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  Through this work, graduate students have received degrees and training.  Links to these students’ theses and dissertations TGIF records have been made on Table 2 of the issue.  As an added benefit, several of the TGIF records contain links to a digitized version of the work!  The link to the TERO issue is http://usgatero.msu.edu/v05/n21.pdf.

Digitization of turfgrass-related theses and dissertations has been an ongoing project of the Turfgrass Information Center since mid-2005, with over 80 currently linked in TGIF!  To give TIC permission to digitize your turfgrass-related theses/dissertation, please fill out and send in this form:  http://tic.msu.edu/copyrightpermissions.html

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Grounds Maintenance - R.I.P. - 1966-2006

Long a mainstay of the turf industry trade press, the monthly Grounds Maintenance has apparently ceased publication. The final issue is October of 2006.

It was a great run and we will miss GM at TIC. But who knows, just as Golfdom and Golf Course News have reappeared as new periodicals after their demise, so perhaps will Grounds Maintenance return also at some future date......

To see only Grounds Maintenance records within TGIF, use 'Power Search' to search, "SCODE=GMAIN" and cross that by whatever authors or keywords you wish to. While we have not completed indexing Grounds Maintenance back to 1966, there are over 1,800 GM articles indexed in TGIF -- the majority of which are between 1985-2006.

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

TIC welcomes newest academic subscribers

TGIF access is now available on a perpetual basis to students, faculty, and staff at several new academic institutional subscribers. They include the University of Connecticut, the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cobleskill, the University of Minnesota - Crookston, and Red River College in Manitoba. We welcome these new subscribers; see: http://tic.msu.edu/starserv/foundstu.html for a complete list of institutions with this arrangement in place.

Friday, November 3, 2006

New Staff Person at TIC

TIC would like to welcome Leslie Behm as the newest member of the staff. She comes to TIC from the Main Reference unit at the MSU Libraries. She has been at MSU Libraries for 28 years serving in the Science Library, managing two branch libraries, and most recently in the Main Library Reference unit where she managed the unit's intranet and the virtual reference service. Leslie has a B.S. in biology with minors in chemistry and Latin from Heidelberg College in Tiffin, OH. Her library degree is from Case Western Reserve University. Ms. Behm also has an MPH from the University of Michigan. She is currently working on her dissertation through Capella University in Education with an emphasis on Instructional Design in Online Learning.

Ms. Behm will be working with the selection and indexing of web sites related to turfgrass, the publication of the Sward as well as overseeing the blog. She will also contribute to selection in the print and electronic resources for the TGIF database.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Entries from Beard Encyclopedia available through TGIF's Basic Search

Entries from Beard's Turfgrass Encyclopedia for Golf Courses, Grounds, Lawns, Sports Fields are now available online!  Entries for all terms from the encyclopedia are accessible, in full, through the TGIF Basic Search. If you type a turf-related term in the search field, the encyclopedia entries related to that term will appear at the top of your search results.  By clicking on the “Title,” you will be linked to the full-text version of the entry as it appears in the Encyclopedia.  We hope that this new feature will help direct and ease all of your searches!  The complete version of Beard's Turfgrass Encyclopedia for Golf Courses, Grounds, Lawns, Sports Fields can also be ordered here.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

USGA TERO article features 'active data' presentation

A recent issue of USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online features imbedded time-lapse animations of water content within soil profiles of several golf green types. The work is reported by researchers from The Ohio State University. Click on "Animate" for the USGA, California, and Push-up profiles, appearing on pages 7, 10, and 11 of the document itself (corresponding to pages 10, 13, & 14 of the .pdf files), respectively.

Start at: http://usgatero.msu.edu/v05/n17.pdf

Friday, August 25 , 2006

"By or About" Fastlinks

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.

Note that not all records about a person may be found with a single search.  For example, searches for people who write under nicknames with different first initials than their given names will not retrieve all of the available records.  Searching for Smith, Melissa will miss relevant records if the person also writes under Smith, Liss.  In cases like these, creating fastlinks for both names would ensure that all of the records in TGIF related to the person are found.  A simple last name search would, however, collect all of the records for a person with a very unique last name.

People can also make fastlinks for works by or about themselves through the Fastlink Generator!

Monday, August 21 , 2006

USGA Green Section Record (and Predecessors) Rescanned!

The Turfgrass Information Center (and MSU Libraries' Digital & Multimedia Center) has recently rescanned and reloaded the USGA Green Section Record (and predecessors) at the archive site http://turf.lib.msu.edu/gsr.  Originally scanned in the mid-1990s, these new PDFs are better representative of the printed version, especially photographic content in older material including great cover photos!  Also, as old PDFs were basically replaced with new PDFs, this transition from the previous scans to the recent scans is seamless, too!

Monday, August 21 , 2006

Request Document Deliveries Online!

You can now request a Document Delivery for many of the items in TGIF from within the TGIF record for the item.  While looking at a full TGIF record, simply scroll to the bottom of the screen where it reads, “To request the item for this record (some restrictions apply) or if there are problems with this record, send us feedback.”  Click on “feedback” and a screen will appear in which you can write out your request for the record in the “Request/Comment/Feedback response” box.  If you reside outside North America, you can also specify whether you would like the document delivered via fax or through Airmail.  Select “Submit Feedback” and you’re done.

It’s important to note that not all items in TGIF are available for delivery due to certain restrictions, such as when the record is for an entire book.  Copyright restrictions may also prohibit a Document Delivery; more information about copyright and fair use can be found at http://fairuse.stanford.edu/.  For subscribers, the $5 charge per item covers up to 20 pages (which covers most TGIF records).  Detailed information on charges can be located on the “TIC Services” webpage under Document Delivery.

If you have any questions about online Document Delivery requests, please contact us!

Friday, August 18 , 2006

Summer 2006 Issue of The Sward Now Available

The Summer issue of The Sward, TIC's newsletter, is now available. For an electronic version (with additional online hyperlinks), please see: http://tic.msu.edu/e-sward/swardv7n1.pdf

Thursday, August 3 , 2006

New Sort Options Now Available

In early June, we asked for suggestions for how users wanted search results to be sorted.  Recently, we’ve added and tested several different sorts:

• New to Old
• Old to New
• Author A to Z
• Author Z to A

These sort options are now available in the “Brief Table” and “Full” display formats.  The Default sort of:

Available Full-Text Online (Newest to Oldest) then Not Available Full-Text Online (Newest to Oldest).

To change how search results are sorted, just choose whatever display/sort combination is desired from the drop-down list labeled “Display Format – Sort”.

We’re interested in what users think of these new sort options.  Are any more useful than the Default?  Is there a useful sort option that is not included? Are there any problems users see? Let us know!

View a Flash demonstration of new sort options.

Wednesday, August 2 , 2006

Persian rug in the Turfgrass Information Center

!?!? A Persian rug in the Turfgrass Information Center?

Prior to the dedication of the James B Beard Turfgrass Library Collection in July 2003, the Turfgrass Information Center’s public area received a special item – a 100+ year old Persian rug!

This 17 foot 4 inch by 29 foot (528 cm by 886 cm) rug was woven by experienced weavers somewhere in Iran, probably by a group commissioned to weave it. It is known to be at least 100 years old, and was acquired for Dr. John H. Kellogg by a commissioned agent sent to Europe and the Near East to purchase furnishings for his sanitarium and offices in Battle Creek, Michigan, around 1900.

When the United States military took over the sanitarium during World War I, they stored or disposed of the furniture and rugs; Mr. J. H. Alexanian came into possession of the rug in the late 1920s. He later gave the rug to MSU for use by Dean S. E. Crowe in the Lecture Concert programs. It was used to cover the stage when celebrities came to perform on the campus. Thus, for some years it was used infrequently.

When the current West wing of the MSU Main Library was erected, then-Library Director Dr. Richard Chapin and Mr. Jackson Towne consulted with Mr. Alexanian about a rug or carpeting for the Patriarch Room (now the Reading Room of MSU Libraries Special Collections. Mr. Alexanian, through MSU President Hannah, persuaded Dean Crowe to present the rug to the Library for use in the Patriarch Room, with the Libraries furnishing Dean Crowe a less expensive rug in the exchange.

Since that time, the carpet has resided in several locations in the Main Library, as well as in Cowles House, the MSU President’s on-campus home, for a while.

The rug bears a block of text which has not yet been translated. Any translations (even partial) would be greatly appreciated!

Photo of the rug in the Turfgrass Information Center

Photo of an inner-corner of the rug

Photo of an inner section of the rug

Photo of text block (untranslated – help!) in center edge of the rug

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Thanks to you!

We're pleased that numbers of TGIF users are taking advantage of the 'feedback' link which has been present within every specific TGIF record (from within TGIF itself) since January. These comments, suggestions, and corrections are very much appreciated! Because many have been submitted anonymously (which is fine), we don't know who to thank in many cases -- so thank you!

Taking the time to point out these kinds of things, as TGIF records are being used, is not only very helpful to us, but also to the collective user audience of TGIF -- as the resource becomes stronger for all.
We do appreciate it!

Friday, June 16, 2006

Five new "Turf Topics" just about Books (and only books!)

Check out five newly available "Turf Topics" relating to book and book-like items. All emphasize more recently published, and generally still in-print, items.

1. Golf Course Design Books (Recent)
2. Turf Science & Management Books (Recent)
3. Golf Course Turf & Maintenance Books (Recent)
4. Sports Turf Construction & Maintenance Books (Recent)
5. Lawn Care Books (Recent)

For any of these lists, please let us know if we've missed any you think should be on a list!

Two other already-available but related 'bookish' Topics are:

1. Dissertations & Theses - Full-text
   which lists known scanned (off-copyright or permission-granted) loads of digitized turf-related Masters and Ph.D. theses & dissertations.
2. Turf Books Online
   which lists scanned (off-copyright -- and thus older) or full-text book and book-like items which are available to all on the web.

To view any of these lists, log onto TGIF (via "Search Now!"), select "Browse Turf Topics" on any left-side sidebar, and then select from the complete list of Topics. And if you have a suggestion for some other 'topic', please let us know!

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Two new Architect's Gallery features!

TIC is pleased to note that two new capabilities have been added to the home page of the ASGCA Architect's Gallery. Both provide for summary data about content featured within the Gallery:

1. Table of Architect Videos

2. Table of Architect Blueprints

(Both use data drawn from entries for these items in the Turfgrass Information File database)

Thursday, June 8, 2006

TGIF currently includes records for over 1,500 theses and dissertations.  We are seeking to expand our resources by making these accessible online as full-text documents.  In order to do this, we need the permission of the author of each work to allow a digital copy to be made available within TGIF.  The database record for each item will include an acknowledgement of the author’s permission, and a stable, public URL for the item(s) will be provided to the author.  To grant copyright permission for your thesis and/or dissertation, please complete the form at: http://tic.msu.edu/copyrightpermissions.html

We are also actively in search of any publications resulting from theses/dissertations.  The TGIF records for the resulting publications will be linked to the TGIF records for the thesis/dissertation.   If you have any such publications, please complete the form at: http://tic.msu.edu/resultingpubsform.html

Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Currently, TGIF search results are default sorted as follows:
Available Full-Text Online -> Not Available Full-Text Online
and subsorted by Year of Publication Newest -> Oldest. Tell us what other sorts would be beneficial to users!

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

USGA TERO's 100th issue!

Congratulations to the USGA Green Section Research Program, Director Dr. Mike Kenna, and Manager (and Editor) Dr. Jeff Nus on issuing the 100th issue of USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online (TERO)-- see http://usgatero.msu.edu. Since the first issue of TERO in March of 2002, this online technical journal has concisely communicated the results from projects funded by the USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Last April, TIC introduced a new default search results screen called "Brief Table". It was designed for the most efficient screen use, and the feedback we've gotten on it has supported this. It was the first time TGIF provided a URL to an item without showing any of the notes associated with it, such as the last checked date, software required to view it (like Adobe Acrobat), and whether the URL was accessible to everyone or had access restrictions. Users could still get to this information by viewing the "More" or "More Detail" information but only for individual records. To help alleviate frustration associated with clicking on a URL that a person may or may not have access to, records with access restrictions have been tagged with "* - Access Restrictions" after the title. For an example of this, here's a fastlink to "Golf's best customers" from the January 2006 issue of Golf Course Management.

Monday, May 15, 2006

We've listened to your suggestions and concerns about displaying in Brief Table "Item is a...Journal Article" for any articles from periodicals, peer-reviewed journals, magazines, etc! Now, these items will display with their corresponding category level and then "article". This will help users better understand at what audience the article is aimed. Additionally, it will alleviate the question of what constitutes a "Journal". Tell us what you think about this change!

Monday, May 15, 2006

A new "Limit by Industry Sector" choice has bee added: "Independent or Unassigned". Although TGIF construction has continued for over 20 years, assigning Industry Sectors to sector-specific articles is relatively new (~6 years). In order to help users not miss out on some great older materials, and also to help those not searching for industry-specific materials (independent of sector), this option has been added.

Friday, May 12, 2006

A recent upgrade to a new database server has dramatically increased retrieval speed for records. Due to this improved efficiency, the "Max Records to be Retrieved" option in searches has been changed to a default of "All" records. Users will still be able to if desired limit the records retrieved by changing this in the drop-down list.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Beginning shortly, the TGIF database will be backed up every morning. The backup process is set to begin at 2:00 am EDT (+4 GMT) and should take roughly a half hour. This change in the backup schedule is being done to help safeguard against the loss of any data. During the backup process, subscribers will be unable to search TGIF, including using fastlinks. Users trying to log in to TGIF or using a fastlink will receive an error message during the backup process. If you have comments, questions, or concerns about this change, please send us your feedback!

Monday, April 17, 2006 (from POC)

Graphic now available to attach to "Automatic logon" URL for academic institution use

We now have a graphic file (gif) available which you can freely use to ‘front’ the deep-link logon which will directly logon TGIF users at academic institutions who have IP-mediated access arrangements in place with us.

Here’s the graphic file:  http://tic.msu.edu/images/tgifsearch.gif

Here’s the ‘auto-logon’ URL to put behind it:
http://turf.lib.msu.edu/cgi-bin/starfinder/0

Please feel free to include both in your class resource lists or syllabi, online catalog, webpages, etc. – recognizing that it will only “work’ if the computer it is executed from is within the IP range you specified for your institution.  Call or email if you have any questions about any of this!

Friday, March 31, 2006 (from POC)

SEGL -- A new window into the USGA Library

Somewhat quietly, the USGA Museum and Archives has begun to make available access to a massive amount of digitized golf-related material from the collection of the USGA Library. The importance and usefulness of this wealth of content to the golf course industry cannot be overestimated. Included are off-copyright PDF scans of books and periodicals up through the depression years, including many very rare items, which have pretty much been inaccessible to users unless you went to Golf House yourself. In particular, early golf course design and history scholars will be delighted by this new initiative.

Search access is via the USGA’s SEGL (Search Digitized Library Materials Online) engine, which includes a fill-in-the-blank interface, with checkbox limiting to either/or Archival papers, Books, or Periodicals. There is also an ‘Advanced Search’ alternative with additional limiters.

Results are presented as context-sensitive snippets with information on the file (& its size!); sorting is possible by publication year, relevance ranking, or title-alphabetic.

At this point in the process, be prepared for slow download times as you use this material, since items are presently normally loaded at the issue or work level – some books are files of 60 Mb or more, and even periodical issues can run 10-20 Mb!

At TIC, we will start to ‘harvest’ (ie. index within TGIF) the turf science and management, as well as golf course architecture, content within this material. It will take some time to do so, however – but watch for some of these gems – some of which have never been cited in the turf science literature, to my knowledge – to start to show within TGIF.

Kudos to the USGA for this (as yet rather) quiet effort!! It is a tremendous initiative, make no mistake.

And check it out, at:

http://www.usga.org/aboutus/museum/library/segl.html

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

The lecture to be given by golf course architect Ray Hearn this Saturday at the MSU Library has been cancelled.

Monday, March 13, 2006

MSU Libraries present Ray Hearn

A graduate of Michigan State University (Turfgrass Science 1983, Landscape Architecture 1989) and member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, Ray Hearn has been involved in numerous original course designs and remodeling projects since opening his own firm in 1996. Michigan courses recognized by "Golf Digest" include The Grande (Jackson) and Hemlock (Ludington), which was also noted by Golf Magazine as a Top Ten New Course. Additionally, Hearn is an instructor with the acclaimed "Golf Architecture in the British Isles," which is taught on location in Great Britain.

MSU alumnus Ray Hearn will discuss the design process for his award-winning Mistwood Golf Course in Romeoville, Illinois.

Saturday, March 25, 2006, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Presentation and Q & A, Main Library, North Conference Room (4th Floor West Wing) Michigan State University, Reception follows at 4:00 p.m. in the Turfgrass Information Center.

For additional information, contact Birdie Beckwith 432-6123 x 143

Thursday, March 2, 2006

Beginning with the next issue, the Turfgrass Information Center's (TIC) quarterly newsletter, The Sward, will be available electronically. The newsletter provides information regarding new endeavors at TIC, new developments in the Turfgrass Information File (TGIF), features of the website, the newest acquisitions and recent donors. The current issue of The Sward, previously distributed only to TGIF subscribers by mail, will now be available online in .PDF format to anyone who provides an email address. This new system will allow prompt delivery of the newsletter and will allow recipients to easily share it with interested friends and colleagues. Additionally, the electronic version may be more dynamic, including links to find out more information on an article or may contain live fastlinks.

If you wish to receive The Sward electronically, please email us at tgif@msu.edu.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

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.

Monday, February 27, 2006

The Sward, TIC's periodic newsletter dating back to 1989, is now archived! Take a look at how TIC and TGIF have grown through its 20+ year history! In the future, new issues of The Sward will also appear on this webpage.

Thursday, February 17, 2006

Due to a server upgrade, users may find previously-successful fastlinks may cease to function. This can be remedied by converting the old fastlink to the new, acceptable format. To do this, in the URL (web address), between "search1=" and before "&format=" change any "=" sign to be "%3D".

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

A new feedback feature now enables subscribers to submit feedback regarding individual records! The improved feedback function allows users to comment on a particular record without having to indicate the record number, as it is already provided for them on the new form.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Explore the world of golf course architecture with two of Michigan's renowned designers, Jerry Matthews (January 14th) and Ray Hearn (March 26). Click here for brochure and registration form.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

CAST announces a Workshop on Water Quality & Quantity Issues for Turfgrasses in Urban Landscapes, January 23-25, 2006. More information, including registration details, can be found at www.castwaterquality.info.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Welcome to the new Turfgrass Information Center public web site!  We have spent the past several months redesigning and reorganizing our web pages to make information easier to find and easier to use. 

A new feature of the site is the Turfgrass Information Center Blog, a space to explore and discuss new items, common questions, and issues of the Turfgrass Information File and the Turfgrass Information Center.  We will be updating this section on a periodic basis, so check back for new enteries.

We'd also be glad to hear your comments about the new look and organization of our site.  Send us an email to tgif@msu.edu and tell us what you think!