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Privacy Statement and User Responsibilities

I. Privacy Statement
This statement applies to all information collected from or submitted to the Turfgrass Information Center (TIC) public web site and the Turfgrass Information File (TGIF). This web site features links to outside, third-party web sites and our privacy statement does not apply to such sites.

Collected Information
Our web site is not configured to collect personally identifiable information, such as names, mailing addresses and phone numbers, or email addresses. We are able to identify:

(1). Specific Internet Service Providers (ISP)
(2). The specific web pages viewed within the site
(3). The date, time, and frequency of access

No personally identifiable information is accessible. The only information we collect is broad demographics used for internal statistical purposes to help improve services to our users.

The Turfgrass Information Center collects data regarding the types of TGIF searches performed (for example, searches in "Basic Search", "Guided Search", or via browsing "Turf Topics"), the duration of online sessions, and the frequency of repeat users. We are able to identify key search terms, but this information is only used for internal purposes. These statistics are collected and analyzed annually in order to provide users with an optimal experience when searching the Turfgrass Information File.

Voluntary Information
There may be instances when users voluntarily provide personal information, for example, when sending an email message through our web site or providing record-specific feedback within TGIF. This information is used only to respond to the message. We do keep an email list for electronic newsletters.

When initiating a new subscription or making an contribution to the Endowment Campaign, we do ask for first and last names, mailing addresses, contact email address, electronic newsletter email address, phone and fax numbers, as well as information for means of payment (credit card information, institutional purchase order numbers, or checks). This information is confidential and used only for billing and for customer and technical support issues. We do not make this informational available to third parties for any purposes.

If you have any questions about our privacy statement, please feel free to call us at
(517) 353-7209 or send an email to tgif@msu.edu.


II. Subscriber Responsibilities
A. Subscriber is solely responsible for obtaining and maintaining all equipment necessary to access TGIF.

B. Subscriber is responsible for the payment of all charges incurred against Subscriber's online and offline Account, including all use under his/her assigned password.

C. Subscriber agrees to abide by all laws (including, without limitation, all applicable copyright laws), rules and regulations applicable to the use and/or re-use of database contents.

D. Subscriber shall be billed monthly for charges incurred (if any) and Subscriber shall pay charges within 30 days of the date of invoice. A late fee of $10.00 will be posted monthly to all accounts with an unpaid balance after 90 days. Billings still outstanding after 90 days from the date of service will be considered delinquent. No further service will be extended to any party whose account has become delinquent, and University policy requires that such an account be turned over for collection.

E. Subscriber acknowledges that the Turfgrass Information Center has the right to suspend or cancel access to its computer immediately and without notice to Subscriber in the event that charges incurred to the Subscriber's Account become delinquent. Reinstatement is solely at the discretion of the Turfgrass Information Center and may result in additional service initiation charges.

III. Services
A. Upon notice to Subscriber, the Turfgrass Information Center may add, withdraw, and modify any and/or all service features, rates, fees, documentation, terms and conditions of this Agreement.

B. The Turfgrass Information Center will provide services on a best effort "as is, as available" basis. The Turfgrass Information Center shall not be liable or deemed to be in default for any delays or failures in performance or interruption of service resulting directly or indirectly from any cause or circumstance beyond its reasonable control.

C. All information provided within the Turfgrass Information Center (TIC) online system, including the Turfgrass Information File (TGIF), is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products or trade names do not constitute endorsement by Michigan State University nor bias against those not mentioned. TIC information resources are intended for use by an audience capable of information evaluation, recognizing that a wide range of opinion is represented in the data sets including contradictions, controversial, and/or outdated references. Such is the nature of professional and research literature!