GCSAA members now have access to the entire archive of Golf Course Management Magazine and its predecessor publications dating back to 1933 through an agreement with GCSAA and Michigan State University’s Turfgrass Information Center (TIC). Through this online digitized archive, which can be accessed on the GCSAA Web site at http://www.gcsaa.org/GCM/Archive.aspx, members can browse year-by-year or they can do a search by term to retrieve the PDF files from 1933.
In the past, GCSAA readers could search the GCM archive on the GCSAA Web site, which only went back to 1996, or subscribers to the TIC’s Turfgrass Information File could search for GCM articles from the past, but would only see which issue the article appeared in, and then would have to physically find the article themselves.
Clifford Haka, director of Michigan State University Libraries, said the new archive changes all that, as now after a search GCSAA members can see a PDF of the article they are looking for. "The digitization makes a much more usable tool for any of our subscribers. It takes out the step of having to go and physically find a particular issue of GCM, assuming they even had access to that issue," he said.
The addition of the full content of GCM into the TIC was the result of cooperation and dedication of TIC and MSU staff and students, and involved more than 70,000 pages of material, 700 issues of the magazine, manually splitting nearly 30,000 PDFs, harvesting the citations for more than 10,400 turfgrass-related citations and linking more than 9,700 citations to the PDFs.
"GCM is an outstanding addition to the full-text offerings within TGIF, providing useful and relevant information for superintendents, researchers, students and others in the turfgrass industry," Haka said of the addition of GCM to the TGIF.
As part of the ongoing cooperative project of GCSAA and the Michigan State University Libraries, as new GCMs are produced, materials will be scanned and made available one month following the date of publication.
Golf Course Management — or GCM — is the monthly publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, and is consistently rated as the No. 1 publication in the golf course maintenance industry. The magazine is dedicated to advancing the golf course superintendent profession and helping GCSAA members achieve career success and the success of their golf facility. The magazine provides authoritative "how-to," career-oriented, technical and trend information from industry experts, researchers and golf course superintendents.
GCSAA is a leading golf organization and has as its focus golf course management. Since 1926, GCSAA has been the top professional association for the men and women who manage golf courses in the United States and worldwide. From its headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., the association provides education, information and representation to more than 21,000 members in more than 72 countries. GCSAA’s mission is to serve its members, advance their profession and enhance the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the game of golf. The association’s philanthropic organization, The Environmental Institute for Golf, works to strengthen the compatibility of golf with the natural environment through research grants, support for education programs and outreach efforts. Visit GCSAA at www.gcsaa.org.
Contact:
Jeff Bollig, GCSAA director of communications
800-472-7878, ext. 4430 or jbollig@gcsaa.org