A Fugitive Discipline & Literature:

Finding Turfgrass Science

Pete Cookingham

Michigan State University Libraries

NRIC 2007 -- Las Vegas – 4 August 2007

I hope to introduce:

• Who cares & why – ie. Does it matter?

• What turf is

• Who’s involved

• Why me

• Why you

So What?• Land coverage -- sheer amount of turf

Extent of Turfgrass Cover USA (Milesi, 2005)

So What?• Land coverage -- sheer amount of turf

• Participation -- sheer number of ‘doers’

• Water use -- turf in Las Vegas?

• CO emissions -- mowers, etc.

• Pesticide use – what/where/when/who

• Fertilizer use – what/where/when/who

• Public policy -- who decides?

Turf Benefits (further to Beard and Green, 1994)

• Erosion control, dust stabilization, & soil building capacity, including remediation

• Groundwater recharge & runoff buffering• Heat dissipation, noise abatement, glare reduction,

fire-resistance, road and airfield safety• Habitat & green space • Recreational use: Soccer, golf, cricket, softball,

bocci, football, baseball, hurling, etc.• Aesthetic: Visual comfort

Industry Sectors & Maintenance Intensity • Utility turf• Roadsides/Airfields• Cemeteries• Landscapes/home lawns/parks &

grounds• Golf course fairways/Sports turf/Sod

production/Seed production• Golf course greens

Hopefully of interest……….

• Cooperative/consortium project: sector & geographic independence

• Technology-based delivery to end-users since day one

• A very grey literature, and poorly collected

• We seek ‘Exhaustive Bibliographic Control’: an archaic concept?

This one gets personal………

• Your yard

• Your condo

• Your campus

• Your school district

• Your local park facilities

• The Super Bowl, The World Cup, The World Series, and the White House

Mission of the Turfgrass Information Center (TIC)

• Collect, digitize, & preserve turfgrass materials, both print & online

• Provide precise access to turf information resources, including the above

• Assist users of the materials & access• Provide physical and online infrastructure

supporting turfgrass scholarship• Build a stable long-term structure to continue this

work

TIC Online Presence• Public website & public resources

Digitized serial runsDigitized monographsDigitized graphic & visual content

• Turfgrass Information File (TGIF) database– All formats, all languages, all turf, “all content”,

Turfgrass Thesaurus indexing: moving towards a disciplinary ‘info base’

• Limited access resources– Digitized serial runs– Beard’s Turfgrass Encyclopedia – full text

Turf trends…..

• Turf has always been local– it will be even more so in the future:

• local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes

Turf trends…..

• Turf has always been local– it will be even more so in the future:

• local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes

• Water use

Turf trends…..

• Turf has always been local– it will be even more so in the future:

• local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes

• Water use

• GMOs & NIMBY

Turf trends…..

• Turf has always been local– it will be even more so in the future:

• local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes

• Water use

• GMOs & NIMBY

• Did I say water?

Turf trends…..

• Turf has always been local– it will be even more so in the future:

• local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes

• Water use

• GMOs & NIMBY

• Did I say water?

• Breeding & genetics; because…

Can you breed this grass?

• Low, slow, aggressive growth habit

• Drought and salt tolerant

• Stays green(ish)

• Pest & disease resistant

• High seed producer

• Fineleaf

• Great name

Why was I here?

• Turf is important to you as a NR information professional – even if you really aren’t interested!

• Your institutions/organizations need to be involved, and we need you, too!

• And, if nothing else, please be sure to add our full-text hosted, public resources to your electronic serials lists – they’re free!

thank you!email if you have any questions about TIC or

TGIF!Pete Cookingham

cooking1@msu.edu

tic.msu.edu