Digitize Your Work and Increase Content Within TGIF!

The Challenge of Full-Text Access

Access to the full-text of research reports or other management content is a serious challenge for turf professionals, as most donā€™t live next to a research library. This is changing thanks to the Turfgrass Information File (TGIF) database. TGIF was originally conceived to index and abstract the literature of turfgrass, but over theĀ years has taken dramatic steps to increase users' ability to directly access the full-text of articles and other items of interest. This includes many publications hosted by the Center, as well as links to full-text access provided by other publishers - including universities, organizations and the commercial press.

Still, more needs to be done to provide full-text access to a greater percentage of the 250,000+ entries now searchable within TGIF. In most cases the challenge is that publishers, who hold the copyright to these materials, may not allow TGIF to digitize and make available the back file of their publications. Publishers are encouraged to get in touch with TIC about working cooperatively to make their back file available to a larger audience. A co-branded website provides: browsing access to the digitized periodical run, and a search bar powered by TGIF's engine to allow easy identification of the materials within that publication. The digitized publication and the searchability provided by the TGIF database helps turf professionals access research findings and other management literature that ultimately allows for the improvement of techniques and practices in the world of turf.

From the TIC homepage, dozens of publicly-available sites featuring full-text content are listed under the "Browse Full Text Resources" link, including the USGA Green Section Record. Legacy members can also access a small portion of additional restricted-access full-text materials, in addition to utilizing the entirety of the TGIF database itself.

Ways to Digitize Your Content

The Turfgrass Information Center, with your help and support, stands ready to make the desire for additional access a reality. Please contact us to discuss your organization or firmā€™s publication(s) which you would be willing to make available in this way - everyone gains from such an effort: your members or clientele, your advertisers, and the broader world of turf science in general. The TGIF database relies on the help of the larger turf community to fill gaps in coverage, as well as provide permissions to allow their work to be available to the community at large through the TGIF database.