About the Study
Work Plan 2008
Quarterly Reports of Progress
During its first two years of operation (2006 and 2007), the Transportation Library Connectivity Pooled Fund Study was instrumental in improving access to transportation information and building awareness of the importance of library services and Transportation Knowledge Networks.
Through the work of the pooled fund members, both individually and collectively, and the work of the pooled fund consultants, there has been much progress:
- Increased cooperation among member libraries in the collection, cataloguing and sharing of transportation resources.
- Widening participation by state DOT libraries in the Online Computer Library Center and the Transportation Libraries Catalog.
- A growing awareness among state DOT managers of the value of transportation libraries and information services to safety, planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance functions as well as to research.
- Momentum toward the formation of additional regional Transportation Knowledge Networks.
- Increased awareness of and participation in the activities of the National Transportation Library, regional Transportation Knowledge Networks and NCHRP project 20-75 on implementing TKNs.
- Creation of a task group on TKNs within the AASHTO Research Advisory Committee, which will provide a forum for ongoing dialogue between the transportation library/information community and state DOT research managers.
- Creation of the Transportation Librarian’s Toolkit, a vital education and training tool that will be of immediate value to transportation librarians and other information professionals and managers.
These accomplishments and many others are captured in the Interim Report, of the Transportation Library Connectivity Pooled Fund Study. While pooled fund members have many of the same needs as they did two years ago, the landscape has changed somewhat, calling for fine-tuning of study objectives. In view of pooled fund accomplishments and a changing landscape of library and information services for transportation, we will turn our attention to new challenges while continuing to build on what has been done.
Work Plan for 2008
TAC members worked closely with the pooled fund consultant to arrive at the following objectives for 2008. They are aimed at helping members raise the level of service they provide to their DOT customers and at communicating more effectively to top management how valuable these services are.
- Technical guidance and support to members, focused on the smaller libraries that are served by only one librarian. Support activities will include such things as site visits, advice on cataloguing, inter-library loan procedures, on-line catalogues and library Web site presence (Internet and Intranet).
- Teleconferences of pooled fund members to enable sharing of best practices and new ideas.
- Promotion of the value and importance of transportation library and information services to top-level transportation administrators throughout the country through targeted activities, such as:
• Feature articles that vividly tell the stories of library and information professionals helping agencies save time, money and lives.
• Presentations to gatherings of top-level DOT administrators, such as meetings of AASHTO committees (Highways, Planning, Environment, Highway Traffic Safety).
• A session for the TRB 2009 Annual Meeting that features top-level transportation administrators pointing to the value of their libraries in critical endeavors at the heart of their agencies' missions.
- Workshops for librarians on the value of the Transportation Librarian's Toolkit, emphasizing how it can be used with top-level administrators to demonstrate the range and value of library and information services.
- Annual meeting and workshop on strategic planning to help member states identify and communicate the value of library and information services to their internal customers and top management.
- A project Web site as a one-stop shop for pooled fund resources and business, including the tracking and reporting of relevant state, regional and national efforts.
- Support of members in their efforts to form and grow regional Transportation Knowledge Networks.
- Collaboration with the National Transportation Library, the new AASHTO RAC Task Group on TKNs and others, including retired transportation librarians, to enhance communication between transportation librarians and the transportation research community and to build broader support for and funding of a national network of transportation libraries among top-level transportation administrators at the state and federal level.
- Facilitation of payment of OCLC and TLCat subscriptions for eligible pooled fund members.
- Implementation of focused research and technology projects, as proposed by members, on specific topics, such as: promotion of the value and importance of transportation library and information services to top-level transportation administrators, collection analysis tools, collaborative approaches to developing strong specialized collections, digital collection development efforts among member libraries and collaboration with university and industry initiatives.
Quarterly Reports of Progress
Interim Report November 2007
June 2008
March 2008
December 2007
September 2007
June 2007
March 2007
December 2006
September 2006
June 2006
March 2006
December 2005