Implementing Transportation Knowledge Networks (2009)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

56 Initial Web Survey Results— Open-Ended Response Open-ended responses to the web survey are listed below. See Appendix B for the full survey instrument. Similar responses were grouped into single line items with a number in parentheses following the response to indicate how many respondents provided this answer. Responses for questions 8, 10, and 11 were grouped into categories to facil- itate analysis of the results. Question 3. (for Librarians) – What are the primary infor- mation sources that you use to help your customers keep up with the latest developments in their area(s) of expertise, or want to know how others have approached a problem or topic area? <List up to four sources> • DOT and TRB Search Tools (TRIS/TRIS Integrated Search, RIP, NTL (8) • DOT or FHWA websites (2) • TRB publications/TRR (3) • TRB Transportation Research E-Newsletter (2) • library catalog (3) • WorldCat • University Consortium of lib catalogs, databases and elec- tronic journals • AASHTO updates and journal • Web of Science • Acqweb • Hard copy or electronic journals or conference proceed- ings (5) • Federal Register • Proprietary databases – Factiva, DIALOG (6) • Planning project, and construction documents (2) • Technical, research reports, annual reports (3) • National and local news articles • Google Transportation Meta Search • Publication announcements from DOTs, etc. • Expertise & knowledge of individual agency staff member (2) • Web search. Online resources (2) • Listservs, blogs (3) • E-newsletters from professional organizations & vendors (for standards & specifications) • Web-based news, alert services, press releases • PUSH generated library links—to RSS Feed, Library Tips (biweekly) New Book Link • Blurbs and e-mails from established vendors Question 4. (For Librarians) - When your customers are looking for transportation-related data sets (national, state, or local), what sources do you most frequently use? <List up to four sources> • Union catalogs, local or library catalog/OCLC/Worldcat (6) • TRIS/TLCat (4) • NTL online/NTL Catalog (3) • BTS/Transtats (7) • FHWA, USDOT, FAA (2) • FHWA Highway Statistics (3) • National Transportation Statistics (2) • FedStats • National Transit Database • US Census • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis publications • Engineering Index • TRANSPORT, DIALOG, Other transportation databases (3) • Other Transportation Library resources—bibliographies or webliographies • TRB/TRR online (2) • TRB/Research in Progress • Internet/web search/websites (4) • Content databases on Internet • Listservs (2) • Federal Resources online A P P E N D I X C Initial Web Survey Results— Open-Ended Responses

• Local Crash Facts • ASTM pubs • ASCE journals • USA.gov • State demographic center • Internal agency resources (databases, reports, raw data) ( 4) • GIS applications • Personal contacts, expertise & knowledge of a staff member (2) Question 5. (For Librarians) What kinds of transportation- related information do your customers seek that you find most difficult or time consuming to provide? • Gray literature, unpublished information, foreign publica- tions. Obtaining materials referenced in publications that can’t be verified or have no holdings in OCLC. Historical information to explain the reasoning behind why a test method (for example) was changed at a given time. • A specific historical question, often environmental, that involves construction plans and maps. • Freight data - specific costs to move a specific commodity from origin to destination. Cost of pollution from passen- ger vehicles, trucks, public transit. Information regarding specific details of construction of given highway or seg- ment of highway, and costs associated with freeway con- struction in general. • Current statistics because most are 1-2 years old, if not older. • It isn’t the information that they seek, but the time con- straints that causes difficulty. • Any kind of search where the patron doesn’t really know how to use information sources or what she is looking for and doesn’t know how to comb through a result list; this addresses a lack of training in staying current in a field. There is a minor education department at this DOT but it doesn’t offer credit and is used only for upgrade in super- visory levels. Although there is acknowledgment of the importance of training, it usually concerns new software being introduced to the DOT. I see a very large need for crit- ical thinking and problem solving courses or workshops. I know I need to be part of training of this type in new information sources available to transportation, but we are understaffed to do this in a solo library. I think that there would be a huge benefit to employee exchange among transportation organizations to learn best practices. Benefits for long-term employment here encourage mediocrity and risk-averse thinking; there is a very little risk-taking and most DOTs move slowly and carefully. I would like to see acknowledgment of true life-long learning in critical thinking, not just new software. • State-specific Commodity-specific • Public marine transportation info. It is almost always faster to contact a similar agency than look for papers/research • Standards and statistics from other countries • Both the most current and historical research on trans- portation related topics including engineering, planning, design, construction, and current research in progress • Statistical information • Standards that cost a lot of money, and books from private companies like ASTM, AISC, NEC, and so on. . . . • Detailed airline statistics, personal travel data, comprehen- sive source of state regulations/laws • Commodity flow point to point data • Particular views of data sets • Legislative/funding information, at state and local level • Legislative requests • Research that is multidisciplinary and not specifically related to transportation engineering, for example, trans- portation economics, or recently . . . looking for food miles and transportation costs, • 1) As a state DOT, I get many requests to acquire internal data from other DOTs on various topics. This can be very difficult to do. 2) Historical statistical data, especially in the motor vehicle arena (such as registrations, etc.) to try and answer specific questions about patterns of vehicle ownership (for example, was there an increase in young female drivers for the time period of 1955-1965, etc.) 3) Internal information from other state and federal govern- ment agencies, such as budget data. 4) Transportation his- tory questions can be time-consuming, especially when they involve something like what kind of pavement was used on a certain segment of road in 1945, etc.? Related to this are questions about traffic accidents in years past (i.e., who investigated, what were the outcomes, etc.). Basically, these are archival and institutional memory-type questions, and our coverage of such information is spotty, at best (which includes both our state DOT and state historical society) • Searches for known, but ill-described publications from USDOT and state DOTs, especially those without library services (i.e., “a couple years back FHWA or somebody did a study on maintenance vehicle visibility”). Searches for what other state DOTs are currently doing on any given topic (i.e., electronic signatures, utility permit manage- ment, innovative finance, etc.) • Evolving and emerging “best practices” information, typi- cally, what are other state DOTs doing in one technical area or another. Often defies utility of typical transportation info sources because the literature has not yet been pub- lished, and when it is, it is grey lit and not well dissemi- nated, collected and cataloged. • Statistics—data on other transit agency staffing and operations—older EISs and planning documents, especially when the name of the project changes over time 57

Question 7. (Non-Librarians) – When you are looking for transportation-related data sets (national, state, or local), what sources do you most frequently use? <List up to four sources> • US DOT • FHWA/FHWA website (15) • FHWA HMPS (2) • FHWA NBI • FHWA Truck Weight Study • FHWA Highway Statistics (3) • FHWA Resource Center • FHWA Safety webpage • FHWA Traffic Volume Trends • FHWA (State Division Office) • FHWA staff • FTA National Transit Database, Reporting Summaries (5) • BTS (11) • JPO’s Lessons Learned Database • Volpe Center Library • NPTS/NHTS (2) • LTPP (2) • NHTSA/Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) (3) • US Census – CTPP, PUMS, American Community Survey (6) • Transearch, CFS, VIUS [freight data] • Federal agency web pages • TRB/TRR/NCHRP (22) • RIP Database (5) • TRIS Online (26) • National Transportation Library (4) • State DOT Search Engine (2) • AASHTO • WorldCat (2) • Agency Library/Library Staff (20) • UC Davis Pavement Research Center • California TASAS • Lit search • Eurostat • LTAP Clearinghouse/LTAP Center websites (2) • AASHTO, Committee Surveys (7) • APWA • APTA (2) • NACTO • IMSA • NCSL • IHS • ATSI • PTI • Publications/magazines/journals (9) • Textbooks • Agency internal data—e.g., truck counts, traffic counts, collision, inventory, transit, GIS library, data marts (17) • State DOT research (3) • MPO • Traconet • Port-generated info • Economic Development sites • WestStart • University-generated info • Engineering Drawings • Crash Records Database/Crash Reports (3) • Reports by local agencies • Pooled fund studies • On-line community of practice (ex. FHWA Highway Community Exchange) • State DOTs/State DOT web pages (4) • University website (2) • MadCat (university catalog) • General web research/Internet (33) • Internet-specific sites (14) • Google alerts • Several key state and Federal data archives • E-Mail Newsletters/Discussion Lists • E-mail (2) • Meetings and Conferences (2) • Discussions with colleagues, contacts, peers(23) • Other ferry organizations • Contact Local University/Professors, UTC Faculty (3) • University of Missouri Extension Question 8. (Non-Librarians) If you had a full time per- sonal assistant whose job was to provide you with the infor- mation you need to be effective, name three tasks you would have given them in the last month. [Responses have been organized by type of task and topic area] Filter, Synthesize and Disseminate Information • Collect reading / developments in general trans. Issues and use this information to identify projects/issues of concern to our DOT • Provide News About Transportation Decisions/Trends • Prepare a weekly e-mail with abstracts of 3-5 key reports/ articles, with links to full reports/further information, for circulation to an internal distribution list • Search for national info - scan and sort for utility • Evaluate regional info for utility • Review and summarize articles of interest from journals/ newsletters (print, online, e-mail) • Summarize recent reports • Review Community of Practice website at FHWA for inter- esting items • Gather/provide executive summaries of new research reports/analyses from reliable sources, on topics relevant to 58

our agency’s operations and planning (both transit and highway) • Review incoming e-mail newsletters, etc. for distribution to DOT employees • Condense latest information • Read germane journals/reports articles and summarize for me • Research and prepare fact sheets/summaries for upcoming meetings and events. • Monitor print publications • Newly published relevant literature • Update or monitor communities of practice • Prepare short synthesis reports on specific topics • Browse latest research and write brief report • New Product Scan • Stay abreast of all new technologies in the field of trans- portation and research Research and Analysis, Literature Reviews (General) • Find Reference Information • Research specific topics and options and collate results • Market trends • Strategic plan research and development • Proposal research and development • Research data needs • Contact respective research organizations for input on their results • Literature searches (10) • Literature search to ensure research proposed is not duplicated • Literature searches for inquiry requests • Review/Search TRIS (2) • Internet searches (4) • Prepare summary of search • Scan web for related info • Verify TRIS search with Google • Search for latest research in areas I have projects • Most current information on a subject • Search for projects/research in progress • Research best practices (2) • Identify Performance Benchmarks in certain areas • Case studies Research and Analysis, Literature Review (Specific Topics) • Research modal trends in U.S. - China trade • Research Info - future transportation funding • Research recent land sales • Search for latest developments in Automated Speed Enforce- ment • Safety (3) • Work zone safety • Ramps design • Cable anchoring systems • Synthesis on orthotropic bridge deck overlays • Types of accelerated construction methods that work • Maintenance management • DOT Maintenance Contracting • Coordination of Transportation Services • Develop a matrix of performance measures • Derivation of travel time from speed detectors • Earthquake Incident Preparedness • Intelligent Transportation • Quality of Transit Initiatives • Find the latest Research on fish passage • Find the latest Research on creating wetlands habitat • Recent articles on congestion pricing • Search for latest developments in converting HOV to HOT lanes • National investments in ITS • Number of traffic signals in the US • Effective Road Safety Enforcement • Researching best practices for snow AVL operations • Compile latest traveler information resources • Compile latest congestion related resources • Pull all relevant research related to multimodal transporta- tion issues • Recent articles on land use-infrastructure “concurrency” • I needed to know a lot of background information on billboards • Literature review for forward deflection structural condi- tion index • Driver Behavior • Find body of research on Bioengineering • Research dynamic cone penetrometer applications and ac- tual state specifications • Find me information about TSP2 Research and Analysis, Literature Reviews - Information Technology/Applications • Researching IT Asset Management Systems • IT system research for software server configuration for particular application • Research digital signature in our state • Researching Online Work Order management systems • Compare and contrast various document mgmt systems in use • Gather info. on creation of web-based databases • Finding and implementing a search system for the com- pany’s reports • Provide information about technology • Identify elements of a prototype project office for docu- ment management 59

Research and Analysis, Literature Reviews – Financial Info • State-by-state comparison of highway construction $ • Identify best practice for revenue projections • Prepare spending projections based on spending history for our unit • Track all financial expenditures by BTS Research and Analysis, Literature Reviews - Equipment Information • Find online manuals for our test equipment • Price equipment • Contact equipment suppliers Research and Analysis, Literature Reviews - Workforce Issues • Comparison of Pay Scales for Engineers for surrounding states • Succession planning data • Ways to recruit engineers from schools • Research position classification comparisons between agencies/states • Training opportunities for staff in range of topics in trans- portation planning Data Collection & Analysis - General • Analyze & Report on Internal Data (2) • Exploratory data analysis • Merge many data points into simple presentation • Collect data from wherever needed • Compile data into a database • Collate survey results • Extract Data from Datamart and provide me a spreadsheet of current data • Data for research efforts Data Collection & Analysis – Specific Topics • Collect traffic data from work zones • Research border crossing trends • Search through construction records for information on specific state projects • Truck traffic on selected highways • Crash data • Climate data for selected sites • Keep current on all economic data stats • Cost data • Gather transportation emissions data • Develop national and international ferry-related data base • Use NTD to examine trends in several specific factors affect- ing transit productivity • Hot Mix Asphalt density in relation to performance • Build asset inventories - locate specific features • Request and assemble detailed daily ridership data from vanpool operators • Write VB code necessary to analyze traffic temporal data from class counts and TMC • What is the history of pavement distress on test projects before and after construction • Use PUMS data of the Consumer Expenditure Survey to examine relationships between household transportation expenditures and vehicle ownership and other households • Develop our travel trends report for my review • Prepare reports that compare 3 previous forecast series from the same vendor Collect, Catalog and Archive Information Resources • Inventory Data Sources • Find descriptive information on transportation datasets • Research internal data files and resources • Download new reports to CD/DVD to add to library col- lection • Catalog info Specifications and Practices from Peer Agencies • Query other DOT specifications • Call other states on specific issues for past practice • Review of best practices used in information/report dis- semination • Call state agency staff • Call 5 state DOTs and ask them how they update their high- way inventory • Find me information on how frequently each state DOT collects pavement condition data Legislative/Regulatory/Legal • Track legislative requirements • Track legislative proposals that impact transportation funding, particularly BTS • Translation of Federal Regulations • Outline SAFETEA-LU statewide planning requirements • Legal questions Identify Expertise • Develop and maintain a list of key organizations and indi- viduals conducting transportation (transit and highway) research/analysis, including contact information and links to websites 60

• Identify researchers on certain topics • Develop/maintain contacts of peers for our technical area in other DOTs Compile and Organize Information • Organize paper/e-mails into subject files • Organize existing files • Clean and file my office stacks that are unfiled from meetings • Organizing shelves with reports and other reference material • Create desktop shortcuts for all reports • Compile data into a report • Compile results of survey into information sheets for Upper Management • Create a contracts and agreements database • Create databases for information that is internal to the organization so that it can be better utilized • Document and summarize processes • Database input of reports/newsletters/tech briefs rec’d • Download financial data from the agency’s accounting system Funding Opportunities • Collect information on research funding sources from other than transportation agencies • Funding Opportunities • Review and search for other grant opportunities • Search for possible request for proposals and reports that relate to interested research of our organization • Upcoming requests for proposals Project Tracking and Evaluation • Status of all SPR Research Projects • Current Research projects underway • Determine the BCR of our recently completed research projects. Summarize and Communicate • Manage dissemination of publication from my center • Provide synopses of our organization’s research reports • Prepare summary report • Disseminate information to users • Provide information to others • News for specific website such as fuel cell • Collate department websites and information resources into an information portal Question 10. What improvements in transportation infor- mation access would be of greatest value to you? One-Stop Shopping/Web Site/Search Tools • Establishing a comprehensive Internet site that houses all the information with good search tools. • A national transportation website that indexes sources of transportation information by categories and sub categories. • A national, web-based clearinghouse of reports, data, and other information from reliable sources (official, refereed, etc.), supplemented by a listserv function broken down by topic areas (not geography). This would help ensure that useful research and information reach a wide audience of interested practitioners and researchers, and also facilitate proactive research efforts by organizations with limited staff. • National clearinghouse for data/information • More single-stop shopping like BTS provides via National Transportation Library • That narrative, tabular and geospatial data, photographs are all retrievable through one portal. • Combining all the information access into one website. There are so many researchers doing research on the same topics. With having one main website, it would be easier to keep track. • An excellent national transportation information portal that would point to all types of information, not just web- sites or electronic documents. • A quick “google-like” search tool for transportation-related searches • Make searching the TRB and AASHTO websites user friendly. To find something on TRB I go to Google; it’s much faster and much more accurate. • Having a centralized resource center to search for and retrieve information (one stop shopping). • Transportation-specific search tools. • Comprehensive search engine • Better on-line search tools relating to transportation. • Expanded keyword search capability • Improved search engines • Central resource for international, national, state and local information. • On-line transportation-related search engines that are con- nected nationally. • Search engine that provides decent summaries • To be able to electronically search and access all trans- portation-related documents produced by public agencies at the local, state, and federal government levels • Easy to use, standard, Search Strategy with simple How to Use instructions. State Content Clearly, Description & Management upfront. Marketing format choices help • Easier searching - data gathered and organized in sets or topics - newest info first - links to related topics or articles in browser • OPAC access to grey lit Centralized web portals for regional or topical access to sources (well designed and maintained) 61

• Some national website that would simply have links to a multitude of research links. This website would simply be a site that those interested could go to to find a link. The rea- son for this is now I save a website on my “favorites” list that now I have so many favorites that it can be difficult to search. • Better coordination. A one-stop-shop of information would be best. • Consolidating all transportation information into a one-stop shopping resource, a la OCLC WorldCat. Currently there are lots of overlapping resources whose missions and purposes seem similar, resulting in confusion for the researcher. • Publicize the availability of TRIS and insist that it be used by all transportation research organizations or do away with TRIS in favor of one, single comprehensive repository for all transportation research done or in progress. Access should be provided to a title/topic, a synopsis and a total, searchable document with an automatic link to the document at the original research source/organization. Value-Added Services to Filter, Organize and Integrate Information • Prioritizing available information. Outdated and unsub- stantiated information is of little value yet is listed on most search sites along side the latest available research and indus- try best practices. • The biggest problem we face is information assessment. Available information varies dramatically in quality. In addition, the transportation literature is enormous, and rel- atively easy to access, but the sheer volume makes effective assimilation of information impractical. We need more and better peer review and assessment of transportation infor- mation, especially for information available on the Internet. • Scanning and sorting and evaluating information so I receive useful information, not reams of it • Develop more targeted information for each sector. There is so much information, it’s an overload. • Develop specific topic area clearinghouses • Expand and centralize access to blurbs and short syntheses of information about transportation topics. Currently, TRB, WI, AZ and VA are creating this type of content but it would be very useful to have more with access to all and with key- word searching from one website. • A comprehensive listing of citations for programs that are known by certain brief names, i.e., Section IX, 401(f). • The e-mail subscription services such as the TRB Trans- portation Research E-Newsletter have been very useful in trying to keep up with information as it comes in. • Listing of sources, web page links • Comprehensive directories and glossaries • The ability to access a common group of functionalities across public rail transportation Transportation Data Dissemination • Development of a tool at the federal level that all states would use for collecting, reporting and analyzing data. • More tailored data sets that can be linked. I do not want or need to wade through everything within transportation but would like to share some central information from a more localized set of information • Identification of data needed to make decisions and avail- able data - to identify the gaps in data needed and system- atic approach/plan to fill gaps. • A data search engine similar to Google that reviews all trans- portation data sources, including international, Federal, state, and university data bases. • Data clearhouse concepts for: - safety, traffic operations, maintenance, etc. • Make local, state, and national time series data accessible with query tools. • More data accessible on-line, more coordination of data between jurisdictions. More GIS data • Central information source with staffing to assist in locat- ing info • Better and more current data on highway crashes, causa- tion, purpose of trip, etc. • A well-designed database with good data-mining tools. • Improved data on transportation costs and benefits • Access to archived traffic data from prior research activities • When data is available, make it software independent, i.e. comma delimited with appropriate documentation. Best Practice and Support for Peer to Peer Knowledge Sharing • Topic-specific searches of best practices and people to con- tact with experience in a particular subject. • The social networking sites (especially for DOT contacts in specific technical areas) would be most useful. • Collaboration and sharing of knowledge. • An active social networking site where my questions would be answered in a timely fashion; where I could go to keep my finger on the pulse of what is happening in state DOTs. • Building national site to include knowledge sharing among transit’s front line staff/blue collar workers • Building a collaboration or social networking web site for transportation practitioners- as posted in question above. But, in considering the above there are already a number of similar networks that I don’t use now. Unsure of what is needed. Information Capture, Cataloging and Archiving • Funding to support a 5-10 year collaborative effort in acqui- sitions, cataloging, access and digital preservation. TRISNet 62

for the 21st century - an effective means for every state DOT, FHWA, research centers, etc. to disseminate copies of their research reports to interested parties. National transporta- tion archive for long-term access and preservation for print and digital documents • Having an improved ability to search transportation refer- ences would have the greatest value. However, I don’t think the issue is as much that search tools need improve- ment as it is that there is a lack of resources to digitize doc- uments, tag their metadata, and encourage agencies to share their library resources. • If every organization would catalog their own publications into a library catalog (OCLC preferred). Standard language would be used to organize all types of information resources (complete with synonyms for a user friendly face). Federal transportation libraries would stabilize and actually collect USDOT publications so that they are findable within the transportation community long term. Topical access tools are improved (made more robust, more easily findable) • Knowing that state and federal (and university, where affil- iated) digital documents will be permanently archived and retrievable at no cost. Many of us have limited physical space. I’d like to see regional coordination on collections for certain categories of documents - not everyone needs to keep superseded AASHTO administrative manuals (for example) - perhaps certain libraries could agree to hold specific collections of infrequently used titles. More partic- ipants in OCLC group LSTR for no-cost resource sharing. Getting local holdings into TRIS. In our state, we have state DOT reports that aren’t in TRIS. If a searcher uses TRIS and not TLCat, they may miss a number of older reports. • Improved uploading of research results • Improving the information pipeline doesn’t mean a lot if there is nothing useful being produced to put in it. Those with the time and motivation to produce informational documents are rarely those who are actually developing innovations or doing the work. Those who are doing the work seldom have the time to document their knowledge or hard-earned learnings. Internships ought to be devel- oped whereby students could work with practitioners and have the time to document their knowledge. Then the pipeline could be filled with useful product. • Creating the transportation equivalent system to the NLM Medline database. Currently, TRIS does not cover the breadth and depth of the transportation field that Medline covers in medicine. Also the quality of records in the Med- line is far superior to TRIS. Medline has very few duplicate or incomplete data records whereas TRIS has so many that it’s almost funny. TRIS should be expanded to include not only gov’t supported research, but transportation related articles and materials from a broad range of commercial publishers as well. • Establishing a national transportation information archive to preserve and provide stable access to both print and electronic documents • An easy system for agencies to provide their information. The value of TKN is limited to the information provided. • Electronic access to documents - at no charge. Information changes rapidly so digitizing all old documents would not be a very effective use of funds. • Transportation Archive Access to that data • Better bibliographic description and control of transporta- tion literature • Long term preservation of digital and print resources. Seed money to improve networking and cooperative planning. • Knowing where to search for information and having information cataloged for easy search Digitizing & Links to Electronic Documents • Our patrons want more on-line access to reference mat- erials, so digitizing projects would be the greatest value. • Digitized/web documents • Greater digitization of documents • It has to exist digitally for you to access it • Requiring state and federal transportation agencies to dig- itize all current and historic collections, archiving them and making them available in Google for posterity. • I am seeing more and more full online documents that can be downloaded free of charge. This is really helpful and saves a great deal of time. Improved search capability of state info would be helpful too. Many are in TRIS with links. Don’t know if it is possible to have a separate search robot check all state sites in a search. • Simply put, having access to information easily and quickly. Electronic documents are a must. • 1) I believe there is a great amount of grey literature that would be valuable to the transportation community. A campaign to convince them that the reports in their files are valuable might help make this information more read- ily available. 2) I believe that the community needs more in- depth indexing of its literature: something more detailed than item level description (for books and reports) and that would bring material on the same subject together more effectively than Google. • Access to existing research that doesn’t exist in sharable, electronic format. Coordination & Standards for Information Sharing • An information sharing technical and human infrastruc- ture. • National coordination with a working method to ensure timely input of information. 63

• Sharing of electronic documents policies, procedures, business plans, manuals, guidance documents, etc. • Each state DOT should have up-to-date websites. AASHTO or TRB should provide service to state DOT’s for sharing information. • Greater integration among state DOTs and USDOT • I strongly believe information exists but needs to be stan- dardized. • Standardization • Getting agreement on standards for transportation infor- mation sharing Building Awareness of Existing Information Sources (Including Librarians) • Improved awareness of currently available tools & resources. • As a solo librarian, everything I do must be geared toward enabling my patrons to find or know how to use informa- tion themselves. This would include tutorials on using databases or the OPAC using new technology like screen- casting; or continually updated powerpoints that are pub- licly available describing new library resources. We are dependent on networks and the assistance of other libraries who have already created bibliographies. DOT patrons are independent and don’t want to attend classes; anything that we can give them that helps them help themselves is what they want, although they are no different in this regard than college students or users of other digital libraries. I would like to offer a type of electronic reserves for the management classes but the education department here is not aware of e-reserves. • Convince people that professionals (i.e., librarians) can find more than I can on my own Funding and Support for Library Services and Networks • A national transportation library that is funded commen- surate with the transportation industry’s contribution to the nation’s economy • Providing better in-house services to practitioners (with financial support.) • Helping other transportation libraries help themselves and each other. If each was willing to collect, catalog, and pro- vide collective access to nothing more than their own hold- ings (i.e., those originating from their state, mode, or area of expertise), then collectively the whole would be far greater than the sum of its parts. As it stands these libraries, relative to their peers in even the least developed sectors, are in an appalling state of arrested development. This is not about technology or about standards. Those got figured out decades ago. It is also not about “marketing the value” or building a better bookmark. It is about doing the job the way our peers do it . . . There is a vast amount of transportation research information that would be of great value if brought under bibliographic control. It is not hard to do, but due to its specialized nature, if we don’t do it nobody will. Unfor- tunately there are not enough transportation libraries. Of those, not enough have staff with the competencies required to do modern librarianship right. Most barely have a staff at all . . . and typically they are paraprofessionals or people with barely any library background. Most of these libraries barely have a budget, facilities, or resources at all to speak of . . . all the more reason why a non-biased (non-pooled fund) national coordinating body could dramatically advance the state of the practice by getting these small shops to work together to defray costs and expand their collective access to information and research. Other sectors figured this out long ago. The time for platitudes and excuses has come to an end. This is about smart business. What is stop- ping transportation? • Money for cooperation (which will lead to development of standards, cooperative projects to produce better in-house and regional library services, and other improvements)— preserving historic materials—one place to locate books, data, and article research Of course, many of our problems stem directly from lack of funding. Appropriate funding would enable myself (as a solo DOT Library) to secure subscriptions to the expensive, but peer-reviewed trans- portation research (journal articles, etc.) that my customers demand. Related to this is access to statistical data, espe- cially demographic via database subscriptions. Funding would also help digitize documents and ultimately create better access to them for transportation customers. Also, being able to gather information from other state DOTs on a more consistent basis would be very helpful. I get many requests that start with the phrase “What are other DOTs doing in such and such area?” In our own organization, we need a better effort to access our own data that is not nec- essarily in a traditional published (library) format. Speci- fically, archival materials such as correspondence, draft reports, speeches, presentations, photographs, and the knowledge from key, but recently retired employees too often slips through the cracks and is gone forever. We need to do a better job of capturing this nontraditional type of information dissemination. • Establishing national collection development plans that are collaborative, with funding for international materials and journals. Selecting and using standards for preservation of physical and digital collections. Subsidies for services— interlibrary loans, training for library staff information users. Preservation of existing collections, physical and digital. Mechanism and funding for collecting and preserv- ing materials, including realia. Establish a “flagship” library that sets direction and guidance for the US transportation community. 64

• Expanding the identification, cataloging and preservation of transportation information resources at point of pro- duction. Providing within each transportation organization at least one staff member with knowledge of transporta- tion information production, distribution, and description with the resources needed to share information about the resources with a national network and provide access on an as-needed basis. • We currently are fortunate enough to have a very good transportation library in California and excellent resources available through the university catalog MELVYL. If there were more resources available to enhance the services pro- vided by these organizations it would increase their value. Free/Low Cost Access to Information • Free access to journals and other published sources of information • Access to things I cannot afford • Affordable electronic sources and licensing of same to allow direct end-user access Other • Let the UTC National Centers be the catalyst for providing these services for information access. • TRB is on the right track but they need more funding to provide comprehensive services. One central source would be the most economical method but making membership affordable would likely be a problem. • Latest technology information availability • Integrating administrative support organizations with the project management efforts. • I wouldn’t be surprised if a carefully prepared survey revealed that the most helpful information would be a better know- ledge of what’s going on in our own organizations. • Networking with others—and not just via the Internet or e-mail • Our librarian has moved us forward, and as we use her so much, access is less of an issue to me • An assistant to monitor and report on developments • Improving communication between various research groups. • More translations of European research reports. • International Research Documents Translation to English and available from a national service • A more user friendly Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices • Ferry information is currently not included - we need this to learn best practices - we need international and national ferry information on all aspects of ferry transportation. • The focus seems to be on libraries. Transportation includes information beyond libraries, such as data, records, etc. These groups need help as well. While we need a strong and well funded NTL, we also need to expand the thought that information is under the sole purview of libraries. So, 1. Build and strong NTL that is well funded. 2. Expand defi- nitions and make sure the scope of this project, TKNs, etc. extends beyond libraries. • Transportation Information has to be EZ to look-up and EZ to understand even for a 6 year old. I know that is not so EZ to do. • Readily available information via Internet • Improved access via Internet. Question 11. Please use the space below to provide any other comments that you would like to see considered in the business plan for implementing Transportation Knowledge Networks. Comments about TKN Organization, Products and Services • Would like for the NTL to provide leadership in helping establish regional TKNs and perhaps providing some seed money for initial meetings. • Careful consideration needs to be given to the organiza- tional structure of the oversight committees. Ideally one-, two-, or three-tier organizational structure with representa- tives from the primary user communities can be established so everyone works together for the common good without excessive duplication of effort. • A user advisory board(s) should be established to make sure needs continue to be met. • Build on the existing network of transportation libraries and the services that these provide. • Continue efforts in connecting all transported related libraries electronically thru the web. • Have up to date contact information about research in progress • Knowledge Network should go beyond libraries and include other stakeholder of information. • It is easy to give away money to start libraries and websites, but can not be sustained unless there is continued support from respective agency top managers. Involving right per- sons in the plan would be the first and important step. Con- sider having some transportation managers with technical background and an MBA. • Targeting top state government transportation managers to convey how important in-house library services and transportation knowledge networks are to staff in perform- ing their work. Many state DOT libraries have been closed because of the misconception by top management that all information is “easily” accessed through the web. • I would like to see some flexibility in membership rules - there is no one size fits all for transportation libraries. Many 65

of the membership rules being proposed are not going to work for us. • Recognition that participation by already overwhelmed librarians (many of whom are solo practitioners) requires support at a high level to allow attendance at meetings, time to devote to TKN efforts, etc. Support that is both financial and organizational, at local and higher levels. • Points of access to any national transportation informa- tion resources network need to be distributed to be as close to the practitioner as possible. Availability of these points of access need to be marketed as broadly as possi- ble. Practitioners need to know efforts are being made to provide local access to a nationwide network that can deliver what is needed when it is needed. “Think globally, ask locally?” • Make participants in a national network accountable for results. Drop the regional focus. This country needs to get transportation information figured out . . . and that’s far more important than the egos in the Midwest. Encourage the most proficient transportation libraries to act as “big brothers” and “big sisters” to other libraries, especially in regards to setting policy, best practices, and training. Use OCLC . . . and leverage that investment by using it fully (cat- aloging, training, resource sharing, colab collect dev., digital ref.). Negotiate discounted group rates with OCLC and other vendors. Find a way to provide clear leadership. With the MTKN, the pooled fund, the NTL . . . it’s all just too confusing. Why does transportation make something that is essentially easy and turn it so difficult? We’re making things way more difficult than they need to be . . . • Centralizing rather than regionalizing to produce one stop shopping. We look nationwide for resources. • Strengthen the National Transportation Library’s role as networking leader, collection collaboration leader, data quality leader. • I hope this plan enables libraries to play a more central role in the distribution of transportation information, particu- larly from the federal level. • Personally, I think such all-too-common tasks in efforts like this such as “creating a marketing campaign” or “having a kick-off conference” represent a total waste of money. Most transportation professionals know the places they need to go for information; the problem is, many times the informa- tion is incomplete or otherwise unavailable. Spend your dol- lars on the data itself — not on “fluff”. • I do not like to see funds used on bureaucratic standardiz- ing (pdfs are fine) and training. The web is simple to search and a national level page with lists of other links would be useful if it were easily searchable. • Sponsoring travel opportunities for in-person social net- working—many public agencies find it difficult whether budgetary or politically to travel to some of the best training/learning/sharing opportunities • The option from Question #9 “Developing a marketing cam- paign to build awareness of the need for each organization to commit resources for information sharing” is very impor- tant. Getting organizations to commit resources will ensure long term support and a better payoff from these activities. The options to provide seed funding or grants with a limited time duration run a high risk of leaving users high and dry if no agency picks the service up for the long term. • Training, education and marketing of the tools available and value of TKN is needed. • 1) The plan needs to retain the “origination credit” for the organization that created the research while making that research available as broadly as possible; i.e., a click on the document or pages printed should be automatically credited to the research originating organization to show the use/interest in the subject to guide further research. 2) Inquiries regarding the research should be automati- cally routed to the research originator to answer. 3) The service should be free to avoid any hesitancy by potential users. 4) Numeric trends toward the use of topics solicited by inquirers should be available to all users to assist with research needs assessments. 5) Apparent plagiarism should be tactfully identified to both the offender and offendee. Etc. • Emphasis on the need for trained library and information professionals as key to connecting people with the informa- tion they need. Importance of accurate and complete cata- loging of materials as key to access to collections. Necessity of quality search tools as key to retrieval of information. Again, a consolidated one-stop shopping source for trans- portation info and materials, a la WorldCat. • Basically, as a state DOT librarian, I would like to impress the point that information requests are often atypical of a traditional academic or public library. Our customers are looking for information, and do not really care whether it comes from a published research report, a piece of corre- spondence, from a spreadsheet on someone’s hard drive, on the back of a photograph, or from an expert’s personal notes. Librarians need more support in becoming more than a traditional library. They need to be established as a central information hub, for all types of information requests. The library in a state DOT needs the support to be the first place an information seeker goes to, instead of being the last resort. This support can be through a visible location in the building, ample space for their resources, as well as support to subscribe to key electronic resources. The librarian/library as well needs to make better connec- tions within their own building, to key raw information resources, besides the usual collecting of library materials. In addition, the librarian should make external connections if possible to local historical society where DOT records are kept, as well as academic partnerships that could become mutually beneficial. Thank you. 66

• To document results may wish to establish contest show- ing value derived form Networks. • Reasonable fees to OCLC, and support to encourage my DOT to buy us into OCLC. • It needs to be flexible allowing multiple small depositories that are close to customers and communication across depositories. • Internet forums can be a great way to query one’s col- leagues quickly. To work, such forums need to be special- ized enough but not too much and supported with features such as reference reports. • On your website, the initial paragraph talks about “access and share” and although I have not read all the documents, there is no mention of acquisition, housing and preservation of information . . . not everything is digital nor will it be for a while . . . so we still need to think about these issues. Comments about Barriers to be Overcome • It seems like some states have great ideas that work but other states either do not know about them or seem hesi- tant to use other ideas. We keep re-inventing the wheel which hinders the progress in the transportation field, therefore our infrastructures is decades behind. Look at bridge maintenance on the interstate system as a good example. We inspect them all the time but for some reason they do not get the maintenance attention they need and it is an aging system. • The largest impediment that I see is the lack of awareness of how to learn throughout life. I would like to see require- ments for continual learning, like the kind that teachers must go through in order to stay certified to teach, or that health care workers must take in order to stay licensed. The problem is twofold; there is already a lot of information on transportation, it’s just that it’s not harvested in an effi- cient way yet, like the NIH does for medical libraries, and two, there is no mechanism developed yet that enables or forces state DOT workers to take advantage of this knowl- edge in a systematic way. • The problem has been framed as primarily a lack of access to data. I’m not sure that is the right way to look at the situa- tion. You might ask why it is that transportation agencies so often prefer to re-invent the wheel rather than looking around to see what is available first. I think you will discover that lack of access to data usually isn’t the obstacle to good decisions and workable plans. Agencies often have more dif- ficulty defining the problems they are trying to solve, estab- lishing objectives, and being open to a wide range of alternatives. And because public agencies very often go into a project or planning process with a “solution” already firmly in mind they have much less incentive to look around at how others have tackled similar problems. Even when public agencies approach a problem with an open mind they often don’t know what questions to ask. If you don’t know what you are looking for it doesn’t matter how much infor- mation is (or isn’t) already available. It is fine to talk about “data driven” decisions, but at many public agencies deci- sions are driven as much by policies and politics as they are by data. As the old saying goes, you can lead a donkey to water but you can’t make him drink. So it goes with public sector transportation decision making. Greater access to information could be helpful, but I wouldn’t expect that to dramatically change either the decision making process or the outcome. • Stable funding source would be the key to success. Not too many of these available. • There are more important issues that need to be addressed than libraries. When the legislature won’t provide suffi- cient positions to do needed design, etc. enhancing library services is the least of my worries. Comments about Information Access Needs • As much focus needs to be paid to the capturing of the lat- est best practices that are developing and not yet docu- mented in research as the latest NCHRP reports. • (1) It would be more useful to organize information by topic area (e.g., mode, technology type, key issue) rather than by geographic area. (2) It would also be helpful to include sources from outside the U.S. • Dedicated resources to address data/information collection/ availability. The current approach is to rely on existing resources to do this work whenever it can be squeezed in. Those resources usually have higher priority issues to deal with. • Find a way to link international, Federal, state, and univer- sity databases to allow searches of all sources from one search engine. • One critical element of such networks is that they need all electronic search and access. Electronic search and access for published materials are well established through university libraries across the nation. However, electronic search and access for un-published documents, particularly those from various government agencies at all levels, is not well estab- lished. The key is to have a system in which all such docu- ments would be provided electronically through the Internet or a particular database. • Develop a search engine like Google which can comb the world’s transportation libraries, and which will let us know research in progress as well as completed studies. • The key here is to make the information easily accessible from anywhere. Practitioners want information instantly. If not available, they will simply move on with the work and assume no information is available. 67

68 • Need to consider how data is used in relation to format it is provided. GIS data is essential Comments about Specific Information Needs to be Addressed • I would like to see more information for Landscape Archi- tects. Bio engineering, mitigation creation, fish passage, etc. • Best practices for information management, GIS, SOA, Open Source. • Better use of web training or other methods to disseminate research results. • Free documents from TRB and AASHTO, more electronic access to more things, more links to outsiders views of what transportation is and does Other • As transportation seems to be a follower in this area com- pared to other disciplines, it would make sense to emulate what other areas that are leaders in information sharing have done (e.g., biotech?), and in the plan address how their experience can be leveraged for the transportation community. • Enterprise Content/Document Management; structures to support improvements in technical advances; scalability • Need to think differently than the past. What new technol- ogy will come into use. I would like information to put on my I-Pod or e-reader. What “toys” will we have in the future? • Define the problem . . . identifies the information need. . . . identifies the data to be collected. . . .does this exist and then where does this exist or does it need to be purchased. . . . information and knowledge are problem driven . . . people want to know where do I get it, how do I interpret it and can I use if for what i want . . . • Evaluation of how other industries around the world are dealing with the same problem. • Ability to map transportation research products to the national roadmaps for pavement, bridge, safety, etc. There is a lot of research going on that the Feds don’t know about and a lot of national vision not being communicated to researchers. • Promote a culture of measurement wherever possible. • This is a much needed effort!