• Mon. Nov 11th, 2024

MSU Turfgrass Information Center opens library

The library of the Turfgrass Information Center of Michigan State University is now publicly available. The database is a cooperative project of the United States Golf Association and the Turfgrass Information Center.

The opening of the digital library coincides with the 40-year anniversary of the partnership between the USGA and the MSU Libraries. The database currently holds over 300,000 records and was established with the goal of providing those in the turfgrass sciences expedient access to contemporary literature and ultimately expanding to published and unpublished materials reporting on all aspects of turfgrass and its management, regardless of sector, context, geography, language, or age.

It is funded by the USGA.

MSU Turfgrass Research Professor John N. “Trey” Rogers III expressed enthusiasm about the database and its move to open access.

“The TGIF database has been a tremendous resource for anyone in the turf industry, and certainly a source of pride for me and my colleagues during my 35 plus years on the MSU Turf faculty,” he said. “To watch this vision of Peter Cookingham and others take shape and become the quintessential source for all turf information has been both amazing and gratifying. Open access will only enhance the reputation of the TIC at MSU, and we could not be happier.”

The TGIF database indexes material from a wide variety of sources including governments, higher learning institutions, professional organisations and private publishers. Materials include articles from peer-reviewed publications, technical reports and conference proceedings, trade and professional publications, local professional newsletters, popular magazines, monographs, theses and dissertations, fact sheets and brochures, images, software, and web documents. The majority of the database uses English-language materials, but it does include non-English resources. As of August 2023, the database comprised 323,469 records, 67% of which link to the full text of the item. According to Elisabeth Mabie, Head of the Turfgrass Information Center, the number of full-text resources in the database is significant.

 

The database can be accessed here

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