Turfgrass Information File (TGIF) Database
The Turfgrass Information File (TGIF) database has several different searching options for users, varying in complexity and intended use. Below are brief descriptions of each:
Basic Search
Basic Search is the easiest and most popular TGIF search, consisting of a single query bar and basic limiting options for results, including the ability to change the display format and record sort of results, as well as "Dig Deeper" - a feature that searches the full-text of the item.
Guided Search
This search is designed to walk users through more refined searches, including the use of Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), as well as limiting search results by publication type, year, industry sector, and item type. It also allows users to search for exclusively USGA materials, and/or exclusively full-text content.
Power Search
Power Search is an advanced search intended for experienced TGIF users, which allows the use of Boolean and proximity operators, wild cards, nesting, and field limiters. Power Search allows the user to build complex queries by line, which can be strung together, or alternatively excluding lines of search.
Rapid Results
Rapid Results are ready-to-use search selections from the TGIF database. Rapid Results can be used to browse TGIF in four different ways: by specific turf-related topics in "Turf Topics", by the periodical, by the type of material, and by a RSS feed to articles from sources that TIC classifies as "Refereed".
Browse Full-Text Resources
A listing of full-text turfgrass publications, including publicly-available journals such as the USGA Green Section Record dating back to 1921, and restricted-access journals, such as International Turfgrass Bulletin dating back to 1951 and Journal of Turfgrass and Sports Surface Science dating back to 1929. View the complete list of full-text resources!
The Turfgrass Thesaurus
The Turfgrass Thesaurus is a database which contains a controlled vocabulary of thousands of terms related to turfgrass science and culture. These descriptors are connected in hierarchical relationships though broader, narrower, and related terms, and are also linked to common synonyms and variants to capture historical, regional, or linguistic differences in terminology. TGIF records may contain hotlinked keywords which can be individually clicked on, and receive a table of results where all the records contain that assigned keyword.
Fastlinks
Fastlinks can be described as a form of "deep linking." Essentially, this is the ability to search and retrieve either a single record by TGIF record number, or a custom set of records tagged with a unique identifier and recalled using a tagged search.