tpf-5(105) library site visits

Maggie Sacco Transportation Library Connectivity Pooled Fund Study [email protected] http://www.Libraryconnectivity.org

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Date: 4 April 2010 Site: Arizona Department of Transportation – Arizona Transportation Research

Center Library

Staff: Dale Steele, Librarian

Anne Ellis, Arizona Transportation Research Center Director

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview

The Arizona Department of Transportation-Arizona Transportation Research Center Library was established in the 1980s and dismantled later that same decade. It was reestablished in the

1990s at which time it was brought under ADOT administration and placed within the Research

department. Previously the ATRC was more closely associated with Arizona State University and the library was located on campus. During this organization reorganization, the library was

moved to its present location within the Research department offices. Like many state DOT libraries, the ADOT-ATRC Library does not have a dedicated operational budget and research

funds from FHWA are the primary source of funding for the library. ADOT is an OCLC library.

They are not participating in TLCat at this time. Dale is actively involved in the WTKN.

Staff

Dale Steele has been the ADOT-ATRC Librarian since 2000. Anne Ellis came on board as Research Manager about a year ago. Sandra Quijada is the department’s administrative assistant,

a recently created position. She works with Dale to maintain the physical collection by shelving,

processing materials and checking in serials. Dale is working on developing a training manual for this new position.

Physical Space

The ADOT-ATRC Research department presently occupies 5,500 square feet in a building leased from the city of Phoenix. The library reference desk and collection is about 900 square feet within

the Research offices. The department is planning a move to a 3,200 square foot space at ADOT headquarters. Being remotely located from the ADOT headquarters; most requests for library and

research services come by email and phone. This is expected to change dramatically when they

move to the new space and the staff at the headquarters has convenient physical access to the library and research offices. The new space is being planned with the iCommons concept in mind

with collaborative spaces, comfortable seating and PCs for online research. It will be a multi-use space for library services and research and project management staff to work collaboratively, as

well as a welcoming space designed for ADOT staff to meet and do independent research with access to the library’s resources.

Collection & Services

ADOT’s library collection consists approximately 35% TRB, 35% FHWA and the remaining 30% being state reports, commercial publications and AASHTO reports. Like most state DOTs, the

subject concentration is Highways. There is a high degree of duplication within the DOT library

collections, as there are no cooperative collection development efforts at this time. Dale feels that a national duplicate materials clearinghouse would be a useful resource to help librarians fill in

the gaps in their own collections.


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Monographs 34,950

Active Serial titles 75 Audiovisual resources 700

The library offers services such as literature searches, reference, interlibrary loan and document

delivery. Technical report preparation has become a large part of Dale’s position to the extent

that he has been authorized for overtime to be able to deliver library services during business hours and meet his report preparation responsibilities. This is likely to change when move occurs

and library’s visibility is raised and library services will occupy an even greater proportion of Dale’s time.

ADOT is an OCLC library and cataloging is done in-house. They are not participating in TLCat at

this time. They are using the InMagic dbTextworks integrated system. Dale plans to upload the

library’s holdings into OCLC at in the near future. He tries to get as much ADOT and Arizona information sent to the state library so they can catalog the materials in OCLC. Their mission is to

be a comprehensive collection of state agency-produced material. Sending the ADOT reports to the state library helps them fulfill their mission facilitates Dale’s goal to provide access to the

ADOT and OCLC communities with access to Arizona materials. The collection is cataloged using

the Library of Congress and Superintendent of Documents classification schemes.

ADOT-ATRC’s Department’s Goals for the Pooled Fund Study

ADOT’s priorities for the current and future pooled fund study are: • ADOT plans to participate in the next pooled fund upon the completion of TPF-5(105).

Both Dale and Anne feel that excellent progress has been made and the momentum

needs to continue.

• Dale is interested in more library peer exchanges. Face to face meetings provide a

dynamic that fosters a greater interaction and peer contact in addition to the variety of interactive information sharing forums (LIBCON-L, tranlib, SLA GTRIC, TLRs, pooled fund

teleconferences). • Continue networking efforts, particularly for the new librarians getting acclimated to

transportation

• Continue development of the Transportation Librarian’s Toolkit. • Dale would like to see progress in the area of gray literature, specifically coordinated

efforts to identifying, locating and harvesting it in a systematic way. This would increase

access to valuable information and allow states to focus on collecting their own materials without duplicating what other libraries are doing. It would also and makes Arizona

information more available to the rest of the world.


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Pictures

ADOT-ATRC

ADOT-ATRC Library


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More about ADOT-ATRC:

ADOT Library http://www.azdot.gov/TPD/ATRC/library/index.asp

About ADOT-ATRC http://www.azdot.gov/TPD/ATRC/about.asp

ATRC Publications http://www.azdot.gov/TPD/ATRC/publications/index.asp

About ADOT http://www.azdot.gov/Index_docs/About_ADOT.asp

ADOT Organizational Chart

http://www.azdot.gov/Org_Charts/ADOT/ADOT_OrgChart.asp

For more information about the ADOT-ATRC Library, please contact:

Dale Steele

Librarian

Arizona Transportation Research Center Office: 602-712-3138

Fax: 602.712.3400 [email protected]

Mailing Address: 206 S. 17th Ave. MD 075R

Phoenix, AZ 85007

Street Address:

2739 E. Washington Phoenix, AZ 85034

Maggie Sacco Transportation Library Connectivity Pooled Fund Study [email protected] http://www.libraryconnectivity.org

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Date: 5 May 2008 Site: Caltrans Transportation Library & History Center

Staff: Susan Haake, Supervising Librarian

Shubhangi Kelekar, Technical Reference Librarian Deborah Cismowski, History Librarian

Lyn Roefs, Cataloging Librarian

Patti Ehret, Assistant Caltrans Administrator

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview The California Department of Transportation was established in 1895. The Transportation Library

and History Center was started in the 1940’s in the Traffic division, which became the

Department of Planning & Library. In the 1970s, the Library’s mission was expanded to serve the entire department and was moved in the organizational structure under the Administration. The

first Supervising Librarian was hired in 1971. Interestingly, the Library predates the Bridges and Structures division, which was added in the 1980s. The Library is still part of the Administration

and is funded by Special Projects & Research and matching funds. The collection has been

developed over the years from several separate collections brought together and expanded. The History program became part of the Library in 1984. The first Library intranet site, which featured

the Online Public Access Catalog, was launched in 1998.

Staff

The Caltrans Transportation Library and History Center is staffed by four librarians and an

administrator.

Susan Haake is the Supervising Librarian. Shubhangi Kelekar provides technical reference services, quarterly newsletters, literature searches, and online research. Deborah Cismowski runs

the History Center, manages a large collection of documents and is the SydneyPlus MSQL ILS

administrator. Lyn Roefs is the Cataloging Librarian and manages two classifications systems, the shelf list, and several indexes. Patti Ehret is the administrative assistant who manages circulation

and interlibrary loans.

Physical Space The Caltrans Transportation Library and History Center is located in downtown Sacramento at

Caltrans headquarters. Like most libraries, they feel that space is a concern and are quickly running out of available shelf space. Improving the physical library is a priority for Susan.


The Caltrans Library collection is cataloged and classified in two schemes – Library of Congress and the Yale classification schedule for transportation (developed at Yale in 1958 and never used

by the university). The collection contains approximately 70,000 books and reports, 350 periodicals and newsletters and access to 150 online journals through the state library. The

general collection covers a variety of transportation-related subjects including engineering, policy,

planning and environmental science. The history collection includes maps, documents, plans and over 100,000 photographs on the history of Caltrans and the development of the California

highway system.


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Library services include reference and literature searches, research assistance, interlibrary loan/document delivery, an online catalog, intranet site with access to online information

resources, journal routing, Departmental information and current awareness services and library publications including a new materials list and a quarterly newsletter.

The Caltrans library staff is dedicated to providing Caltrans staff with accurate, thorough and timely information. They serve Caltrans staff throughout the state with research and reference

assistance in all subject areas of interest to the Department. They are very customer-focused and strive to be responsive to their customer’s needs while taking a proactive approach to information

delivery.

The Caltrans History Program In the 1950s, and engineer involved in the Department’s mapping activities took an interest in

the history of the Department and began collecting records others were discarding. The materials were organized and used to answer reference questions. Some 30 years later when he retired

(1984), a librarian was hired to figure out how to handle the collection, and the History program

was established and valuable Department and California highway system historical information was saved and continues to be used to answer questions about the history of transportation in

the state of California. The collection is rich in primary source history files that include photographs, original documents, and newspaper articles. There is a History reference collection,

maps and the discontinued card catalog. The History program serves Department Historians, Archaeologists, Legal staff, Public Information, consultants and the public.

Caltrans’ Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study

Caltrans’ priorities for the pooled fund study going forward are: • Increased networking among state DOT libraries, UTCs and private industry information

professionals,

• Support for WTKN and related efforts,

• Increased access to electronic resources, e.g., in the catalog and on Web site.

More about Caltrans:

About Caltrans

http://www.caltrans.ca.gov/aboutcaltrans.htm

Caltrans Mission & Goals

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/about/mission.htm

Caltrans Organizational Chart http://www.caltrans.ca.gov/orgchart/departmentalorgchart.pdf

Caltrans Publications http://caltrans-opac.ca.gov/publicat.htm

Events in Caltrans History

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/about/cthist.htm

Note: Supervising Librarian Susan Haake retired as of July 2008.


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Caltrans Library


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Caltrans Library


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Caltrans History Center


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Date: 26 October 2009 Site: Connecticut Department of Transportation Department Library

Staff: Betty Ambler, Librarian James M. Sime, Manager of Research

Dionysia Oliviera, Transportation Engineer 3, Research

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview

Although the history is not documented, it is known that the Connecticut Department of Transportation had a library approximately 50 years ago. At some point it was dismantled and

the collection was disbursed as department employees took the resources they needed for

personal use. Only a small percentage of the original collection has been recovered. In 1985 the library was reestablished and librarian Betty Ambler rebuilt it from scratch. Over the years, Betty

has recovered resources by asking that retiring employees return materials to the library.

Staff

The ConnDOT Library is under the direction of the librarian, Betty Ambler. Betty is a solo librarian and manages the daily operations of the ConnDOT Library without any support staff.

Physical Space

The Library’s physical space has increased steadily since it was reestablished in 1985, beginning

with a 200 ft2 space in the building where the Division of Research is still located. When the current building was constructed, the Library was moved into a highly visible 2100 ft2 space

located on the ground level, also known as the Activity Level of the ConnDOT headquarters, where the cafeteria, fitness center and a retail space are located.

Library entrance, on the Activity Level of the ConnDOT headquarters


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ConnDOT Library patron work area

Betty Ambler, M.L.S.


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Collection & Services The collection is mainly comprised of ConnDOT reports, AASHTO, TRB, and NCHRP reports.

There is a large section of exam materials that has grown in popularity since the state started administering exams for advancement for all Connecticut employees and engineers. There is a

significant personal development collection that supported wellness and other programs no longer funded by ConnDOT. Betty provides the department’s employees with examination

information from the National Council of Examiners (http://www.ncees.org) for guidance on

study materials and examination requirements. The site provides some fee downloads to assist with test preparation. The computer training manuals in the collection are also very popular.

The ConnDOT Library collection consists of approximately:

10,150 total cataloged items

2000 monographs 150 journal titles, which have recently been cut due to a spending freeze

7500 technical reports, plans, manuals and standards 500 audiovisual resources (CDs and video)

There are nearly 1800 items in circulation at this time, most of which are training and exam

books.

Betty has developed a local classification scheme by observing the information seeking habits of

her patrons. For example, there is a section for Connecticut highways that is arranged by highway or route number. For example the second report on Interstate 84 from 1987 is filed

located in its own section, thus:

I-84

1987-2

c.1

The rest of the collection is by agency, series title or topic and accession number. For example, this 1971 Transportation Research Report would be filed this way:

TRR

1971

c.1

The ConnDOT Library does not have an integrated library system. As OCLC members, they have elected to use the new WorldCat Local “quick start” discovery layer that integrates WorldCat.org,

WorldCat Local, WorldCat, FirstSearch databases, NetLibrary and other OCLC services through a single URL for member libraries. Access is through IP recognition and is included in existing OCLC

subscriptions. This discovery layer is new as of August 2009. Betty is cataloging directly into

OCLC and using OCLC TechPro to save time on cataloging new items.

Connecticut Transportation Department’s Goals for the Pooled Fund Study Betty sees the travel and networking opportunities as greatest benefit of the pooled fund for her.

Attending the annual meeting, Webinars and workshops all provide valuable and rare opportunities for DOT librarians to exchange best practices and network with colleagues. She


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would like to see the pooled fund continue on past FFY 2010 either through extension or a new study, as she feels there are great benefits for patrons and management patrons when librarians

work together to innovate and improve library and information services. Betty feels the quarterly topic-oriented technical advisory committee teleconferences have been very good, and the

LIBCON-L listserv has increased communication among the TAC. She especially appreciates the monthly updates that follow the regional transportation knowledge network teleconferences that

we began posting to the listserv this past fall. Betty feels more connected to other professionals

and enjoys the sharing of information and expertise with her colleagues. She would also like to see regional TKN support with next pooled fund and fully supports the idea of mini peer

exchanges for on the ground workflow issues.

ConnDOT Research Director Jim Sime would like a better understanding of 508 Compliance for

digital documents, both born digital and scanned older reports. ConnDOT is retrospectively digitizing everything they have access to but don’t feel they really know if they are doing it

thoroughly and adequately. Jim would like to see this issue addressed with pooled fund assistance, if there is support among the other study partners.

More about ConnDOT:

About ConnDOT http://ConnDOT.Connecticut.gov/AboutCONNDOT/About.htm

ConnDOT Leadership, Mission & Goals

http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=1380&q=259880

ConnDOT Bureaus

http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/browse.asp?a=1399&C=19260&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&PM=1&dotNav=|&dotPNavCtr=|#43197

ConnDOT Publications http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=3609&q=305506

ConnDOT Major Project Updates


ConnDOT Division of Research


For more information about the ConnDOT Library, please contact:

Betty S. Ambler, M.L.S.

ConnDOT Library

2800 Berlin Turnpike Newington, CT 06111

(860) 594-3035 [email protected]


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Date: 30 September 2009 Site: Idaho Transportation Department Library

Staff: Inez Adele Hopkins, Senior Research Analyst, Research/Roadway Data,

Planning Division

Ned Parrish, Research Program Manager

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview The Idaho Transportation Department initially set up a library in the 1970s. Although exact dates aren’t known, this Library was dismantled sometime in the 1980s and eventually sent to the Idaho State Library in the early 1990s, where the materials were eventually discarded. The current collection is from the Materials Lab Library – a small collection that was transferred to Research with a rudimentary organizational scheme in an Access database. This collection was transferred to the Research Department at the ITD headquarters in September 2009. Staff

The Idaho Transportation Library is under the direction of the librarian, Inez Adele Hopkins. Inez has a hybrid position within ITD as a Senior Research Analyst and spends roughly 1/3 of her time providing Library and information services to the ITD staff. The other 2/3 of her responsibilities includes administration of the department’s Videolog and Roadway Data programs. The Library is part of the Research Section in the Planning Division. Inez has help in the Library from three division staff: JoAnn Auger, Research Analyst, Annette Tetreault, Transportation Tech; and Roberta Karl, Transportation Tech. At this stage, they assist with downloading reports, unpacking boxes and shelving materials.

Physical Space

The Library just received a space for the collection in the Planning Division. At approximately 200 square feet, the space is on an upper floor of the building and was not designed to bear the weight of Library shelving. The shelving is arranged along the outer and interior modular walls of the space and is in the early stages of unpacking. A few small shelving units will be added to the interior in the future. With space at such a premium, Inez and her Research Program Manager, Ned Parrish are thinking strategically about the physical and digital development of their collection. Their goal is to make as much of the collection available in electronic format as possible, while maintaining a physical collection of unique reports and reference materials. Collection & Services

Much of the Library collection is still being unpacked and inventoried at this time. The ultimate size and content of the collection is still unknown, besides the AASHTO, TRB, FHWA and state reports. Some unique finds in the unpacking process have been several previously unknown ITD historic reports that Inez believes are one-of-a-kind. The State Library is going to catalog the ITD research reports which will be maintained on their Web site and included in WorldCat. Inez would like to systematically digitize reports and create an electronic document Library like the Kansas DOT’s Electronic Reports Library.


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The Materials Library collection was cataloged in an Access database that provided some measure of control over the collection, but the database is inconsistent and incomplete, lacking many of the normal access points in the records. Inez has 6,515 bibliographic records in ProCite and would prefer to use it as the Library’s catalog in the near term. During the visit we successfully imported the Access database of 6,515 into ProCite, which Inez can clean up with some global changes and the inevitable manual maintenance. A college intern stationed in Roadway Data is starting to try and write a program to clean up the records. ProCite is MARC capable which will allow for easier data conversion and upload to OCLC if ITD decides to purchase a new ILS in the future that will make cataloging and accessing full text PDF reports easier for researchers. ITD is a new OCLC member and has subscriptions to WorldCat, TLCat and Resource Sharing. Cataloging will be initiated when Inez has her ProCite database ready for upload. With an emphasis on collecting digital reports, Inez downloads PDF reports to CDs and catalogs them as collections. There is no dedicated serials budget at this time, but they are keeping digital subscriptions in mind for the future to add depth and breadth to the usual state reports, AASHTO and TRB publications. There are a small number of monographs, and some unique historical Idaho reports. Priority online subscriptions (wish list) include: Compendex, ASCE Library, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, Applied Science and Technology Index. Extra digital storage space on a shared network drive and external backup drives are also needed. Ned Parrish explained that the Research budget is currently $1.4 million which includes pooled funds and technical service programs with AASHTO, NCHRP, etc. so there is a limited amount of internal research capability. This means that ITD is reliant on access to research done by other states. Inez has access to LILI, a suite of databases available to Idaho libraries, the Boise State University Library resources (requires travel to the University), TRIS, RiP, TLCat and the Google Transportation metasearch engines locate research reports and perform literature searches for her customers. Inez and Ned have created an extensive index of transportation information resources on the ITD intranet for their researchers and decision makers. The Library also provides interlibrary loan and document delivery services and is participating in the Transportation Knowledge Networks Resource Sharing Pilot Project. Idaho Transportation Department’s Goals for the Pooled Fund Study

ITD’s priorities for the pooled fund study going forward are: • Recommendations for priority activities related to the set up of the Library • Recommendations for essential online journal and database subscriptions • Support for WTKN and related efforts • Increased access to electronic resources through the TKN Resource Sharing Pilot Project

OCLC subscriptions, and group subscriptions to databases • Increased networking among state DOT libraries, UTCs and private industry information

professionals

More about ITD:

About ITD http://itd.idaho.gov/AboutITD/About.htm


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ITD Mission & Overview http://itd.idaho.gov/AboutITD/OverWhy.htm ITD Organizational Chart http://itd.idaho.gov/AboutITD/org.htm ITD Publications http://itd.idaho.gov/NewsAndInfo/Publications.htm ITD Transporter Newsletter http://itd.idaho.gov/Transporter/ ITD Projects http://itd.idaho.gov/Projects/ ITD Research Webpage http://itd.idaho.gov/planning/research/ For more information about the ITD Library, please contact:

Inez Adele Hopkins Senior Research Analyst Research/Roadway Data, Planning Division Coverage - General Research, Library, VideoLog, Portable Traffic Counts Idaho Transportation Department PO Box 7129 or 3313 W. State Street Boise, ID 83707-1129 Office 208-334-8226 Fax 208-334-4432 [email protected]

Maggie Sacco CTC & Associates LLC [email protected] Date: 27 January 2006 Site: Kansas DOT Library Staff: Marie Manthe, Librarian

Site Visit Summary

History The KDOT Library is part of the Research Unit of the Bureau of Materials and Research, under the direction of Dick McReynolds. The Kansas Department of Transportation Library moved into a new space at KDOT Headquarters in downtown Topeka in September, 2004. Previously, the library was located in the basement of the department’s Materials and Research Center. The KDOT Library was founded in 1962 when the State Highway Commission of Kansas hired its first librarian. Over the next 40 years, the library grew far beyond any one person’s ability to maintain it. Everything that was ever received was saved, including many duplicate copies, and items which were not transportation-related. Although the result was an overwhelming amount of material to weed and account for, the KDOT Library today has a rich collection of older and hard-to-find reports and documents because of it. A Kansas Quality Management team was formed in 1996 to examine the library’s role in the context of KDOT’s goal of providing the best service possible to both internal and external customers. The team’s report, The Paper Chasers, was published in May 1997. It included recommendations for acquisitions, document retention, creation of an online catalog, and the purchase of additional moveable shelves. The shelves were obtained, and an online catalog was started some time later, but the retention guidelines were not fully enacted until after the librarian retired in late 2002. By that time, it had been decided that the KDOT Library should be relocated from the Materials and Research Center to the new KDOT Headquarters building. Marie Manthe started her job as the KDOT Librarian in September 2003 and inherited the task of bringing order to the large backlog of unclassified materials. In the months between the prior librarian’s retirement and Marie’s arrival, 35 tons of paper had already been weeded and recycled in preparation for the move. A classification system had also been developed by Becky Klenklen-Welsh, the Research Unit’s Publications Writer, and many KDOT items had already been cataloged and labeled. Much progress has been made, but they are still weeding and evaluating what was salvaged. This is an ongoing project for Marie and her staff. Staff Marie Manthe, Librarian Krystal Taylor, Office Assistant Christi Huard, Scanning Operator Marie is a solo librarian at KDOT. This is her first full-time professional librarian position, and she is thrilled with her job and all of its challenges. Marie’s library degree is from the University of Arizona. Marie has two “long-term temporary workers” to help her out in the library. Krystal was hired for the new Office Assistant position in November 2005. It is a part-time position, approximately 20 hours per week. Krystal assists Marie with many of the library’s day-

CTC & Associates LLC

Maggie Sacco CTC & Associates LLC [email protected] to-day tasks, including shelving and labeling books, and checking in magazines. She also does much of the data entry which is necessary to add items to the Electronic Library Catalog. Christi is the Scanning Operator. While she is located in the KDOT Library, her primary tasks support the growth of KDOT’s Electronic Library Catalog. She scans and creates PDF files of KDOT publications, Transportation Research Records, and other items on an as-needed basis. The files can then be added to the Electronic Library. Although Becky Klenklen-Welsh is not a member of the library staff, she deserves mention here for her digitizing efforts on both the KDOT Electronic Library Catalog, which is available on KDOT’s intranet site only, and the KDOT Research Reports Catalog, the external internet site containing PDF files of KDOT’s K-TRAN research reports. Becky and Marie work in concert to populate the internal catalog with full-text reports whenever possible, and directions on how to obtain those that are not available in their entirety in the catalog. The result is a truly fantastic tool and a potential source of digitization expertise the pooled fund may want to draw on in the future. Physical Space The new KDOT Library is very spacious and welcoming. The stacks are 3 shelves high, which is due to the floor’s weight limit, and Marie likes the open feel the lower shelves provide. Many older wood and glass bookcases were salvaged from the former location, and they house reports and books. An assortment of old archival photos were mounted, and are displayed throughout the library. Marie has managed to mix the old and new in her library, giving a sense of past, present and future to her operation. The library’s previous location in the Materials and Research Center is now the library annex. That space contains mostly reports published prior to 1980, older serials that they plan to keep indefinitely (as opposed to current three years at the main library), and duplicate copies of titles held in the main library. There are some international materials at the annex as well, including items from Switzerland, Japan, China, Korea and India. Marie visits on an as-needed basis to fill requests and shelve materials. Collection The KDOT library contains:

• Current and historical KDOT documents and manuals • K-TRAN reports • Publications by federal agencies and national associations such as:

o FHWA o AASHTO o TRB o ASTM o NCHRP o ASCE

• Other Kansas State agencies’ publications • Other states’ transportation-related publications1

As mentioned above, numerous documents are available in digital format through the KDOT Electronic Library Catalog. The collection is arranged by an in-house numbering system, initially

1 KDOT Library brochure, KDOT LIBRARY: The Corporate History Resides Here.


Maggie Sacco CTC & Associates LLC [email protected] developed by Becky, and modified by Marie as needed. Subject headings and keywords come from the TRT thesaurus and the keywords provided by the authors of the technical reports. Plans & Goals Marie’s main concerns for the KDOT library are budget constraints, and continuing to work through the backlog of materials while processing new acquisitions in a timely fashion. The goal of cataloging all of the states by January 2006 was met, as Washington D.C. materials have just been completed. The next group of materials that are a priority are older and current Kansas reports, AASHTO publications, and additional TRB publications beyond Transportation Research Records. The TRR series has been a priority for full scanning, and will continue to be: numbers 1 through 500 are already in the internal catalog, each article with its own entry, and Christi and Becky are now working to add numbers 501 through 1000. Marie’s long-term goal is to finish the backlog and have everything in the catalog, so she’ll know what’s in the library, and will be able to locate requested items quickly and easily. KDOT Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study Marie believes strongly in the benefits of transportation knowledge networks. Her hopes for KDOT’s involvement in the pooled fund study are: assistance with OCLC costs, better communication and resource sharing among the members, and the desire to participate in this national effort to establish a transportation knowledge network. Photos:


Maggie Sacco CTC & Associates LLC [email protected]

More about KDOT KDOT Research Reports Catalog KDOT Website


http://www.ksdot.org/burmatrres/kdotlib2.asp

http://www.ksdot.org/


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Date: 27 April 2008 Site: Louisiana Transportation Research Center Staff: Sandy Brady, Librarian Glynn Cavin, TTEC Administrator Scott Menter, Audio Video Specialist Sandy Romero, Training Events Program Manager, LTRC/LaDOTD

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview The Louisiana Transportation Research Center was established in 1986 by the state legislature as an education and training center for Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Louisiana State University staff, and local practitioners. The Center conducts long and short-tem research provides training to engineers, and technology transfer to transportation professionals. The LTRC is a hybrid organization, serving both the academic and DOTD communities. The LTRC is partially funded by grants and is located on the LSU campus. The TTEC facility opened in October 2006. As a part of LTRC, TTEC is a state of the art facility which facilitates the delivery of professional development and training to the transportation community. Staff The LTRC is staffed by DOTD and LSU employees. Sandy Brady is the librarian at the Center. She has been at the LTRC for six months and comes from an academic background, having worked in the LSU library for twelve years. In her short time with the LTRC, Sandy has made enormous progress transforming the library from a room full of boxes to an organized collection that she is already cataloging into LibraryThing, as she awaits the purchase of the library’s ILS. They will be implementing Sirsi Unicorn with a substantial cost savings through the LOUIS, the Louisiana Library Network. One of the advantages of being located on campus is that Sandy is free to use Web 2.0 applications common in higher education, but not often seen in other DOT libraries such as chat reference and blogging. Glynn Cavin is TTEC Administrator. Glynn is a strong library supporter and sees the library as an essential part of the research and education process. The training facilities at the LTRC TTEC are state of the art, with classrooms and an auditorium, all wired to take advantage of the best Web conferencing and classroom technologies. Scott Menter is the LTRC TTEC Audio Visual Specialist. Scott has a background in distance learning and audio-visual technology and has designed the AV systems at LTRC as a state-of-the-art distance learning environment. Sandy Romero is the LTRC/DOTD Training Events Program Manager. She has already become an essential part of our annual meeting planning process, providing coordination and planning expertise.


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Physical Space The TTEC facility is a brand new building on the LSU Campus. The library is still in the process of organization. Over 100 boxes of materials have been received from offices in the older LTRC building. The library is approximately 221 square feet, and has new compact shelving and will be reconfigured to feature a reference desk, a conference table, and three customer use PCs. Most of the configuration elements are present at this time, but will be rearranged in a more welcoming layout for customers. Collection & Services As much of the collection has not been unpacked, the number of items and formats within the collection are unknown at this time. So far, the collection is made up of mostly TRB and FHWA publications, and many DOT reports from across the US. Library services include reference and literature searches, research assistance interlibrary loan/document delivery, and research instruction. Sandy and Glynn are both very customer-focused and as the LTRC library establishes itself, it promises to be in tune with customer needs and heavily involved in the research process with its LaDOTD, LTAP and LSU customers. As previously mentioned, Sandy is already exploring how Web and Library 2.0 applications can facilitate communication with her customers. Reaching out and making the library’s services available from any location, chat reference is available during LTRC business hours. Glynn and Sandy are both very committed to the concept of transportation library networks and are getting involved in ETKN. LTRC will be a very effective member of their regional network. Participation in the pooled fund is helping Sandy - a solo librarian - acclimate to her new environment by connecting her to other transportation librarians. It is also offsetting the cost of OCLC subscriptions and facilitating adding the holdings of another transportation library to WorldCat and TLCat. Glynn expressed the importance of continuing the pooled fund study for a fourth year and working closely together as the regional and national networks make progress. LTRC’s Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study LTRC’s priorities for the pooled fund study going forward are:

OCLC subscription cost subsidies Adding holdings to WorldCat and TLCat Marketing of library ser vices and outreach to potential customers Support in participating in ETKN and related efforts, Connecting with and learning from special librarians that work in transportation


3

Sandy Brady, LTRC TTEC Librarian


4

LTRC


5

LTRC Classroom


6

LTRC Auditorium More Photos More about LTRC & LaDOTD: LTRC Web Site LTRC TTEC Library Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Louisiana State University LTRC Publications Research at LTRC

*

*This report was updated in 2010. Please see the update at the end of the report.

Date: 2 February 2006 Site: Minnesota DOT Library Staff: Jerry Baldwin, Library Director

Maggie Sacco CTC & Associates LLC [email protected] Date: 2 February 2006 Site: Minnesota DOT Library Staff: Jerry Baldwin, Library Directory

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview The Minnesota Department of Transportation library has been part of many different units within the department since its beginnings in 1957, when it was in the training department of what was then the Minnesota Department of Highways. They began with one librarian and now have three, a decline from their highest staffing levels in 1998, when there were 5.75 professional librarians on staff. The Mn/DOT library’s customers are 50% Mn/DOT employees, 30% general public, 10% city and county workers, and 10% academic users. Transportation Knowledge Networks have been in practice in Minnesota for some time. The Minnesota Transportation Libraries (MTL) program provides library and information services to transportation practitioners throughout the state including employees of municipal, county and regional transportation agencies as a part of Minnesota’s LTAP program. MTKN was conceived as a way to implement similar services throughout the Midwestern region. Jerry believes library and information services are an essential component of technology transfer efforts. The Mn/DOT library offers a hybrid approach to virtual and onsite library services. The goal is to provide anything patrons would find in the library also on the web site so that remote users get the same benefits as onsite users. Consequently, the web site is heavily used because of the extent of content and service levels, and Jerry monitors it daily. The content is evolving to local use, with an average of 100 unique visitors and 250 page hits per day. Usage of the site is increasingly from the Midwest, with an average of 65% from the region. The most frequently accessed page on the site is the Directory of DOT libraries at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/dotlist.html. Bookmarks and direct links (versus searching) account for around 50% of the hits. All of this detailed information comes from Site Meter, a powerful free website tracking tool. Click on the Site Meter icon at the bottom of any of the Mn/DOT web pages to see the information Jerry can gather on the utility of their web content: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/access.html. Staff Jerry Baldwin, Director Jim Byerly, Systems Librarian Qin Tang, Technical Services Librarian Barb Hogan, Library Technician – Acquisitions Olive Nerem, Library Technician - Interlibrary Loans Linda Christen, Check-Out & Reception Pam Gonzalez , Periodicals/Routing Clerk

CTC & Associates LLC 1

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/dotlist.html

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/access.html

Maggie Sacco CTC & Associates LLC [email protected] Physical Space The Mn/DOT library is an exceptional facility with a very traditional library feel, with the exception of the reference area. The reference desk is located in an office space with a glass front, and while it’s not positioned at the entry and out in the open as reference desks often are, it’s visible and very accessible. There is a reference area with a large table, map case, public use PCs and quiet study carrels. The library is very spacious with plenty of room for the collection and the staff’s work spaces. Everyone has their own private cubicle at the back of the library, and there is a work area for processing newly cataloged items. The library is the only work space in the Mn/DOT building open to the public. View the floorplan here. Collection 17,800 monographs (titles) 700 periodicals – 350 active titles 35,000 reports on microfiche 1,000 VHS tapes Online databases: Dialog, TRANSPORT, Factiva, many others through statewide program 300 CD-ROMS; 10 DVDs 24 linear feet of vertical files Mn/DOT has an extensive reference collection that contains many of the customary reference sources used across disciplines and library types. Jerry tries to impress upon the department that the answer isn’t always in print – he stresses that access to experts is really key. So keeping sources like the Encyclopedia of Associations in the reference collection is an example of where more general resources have been very effective in leading the librarians at Mn/DOT and their customers to the best sources of knowledge – the practitioners. Mn/DOT Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study Mn/DOT values technology and has allowed the library to lead in its development since the beginning. They had the first authorized PCs, the first CD-ROM network, the first online searching capability, used bulletin boards and gophers from the start of the internet and led the development of the department’s first web site. In 1994 the library was part of the Communications department which was in charge of internet services from those very earliest days. Minnesota state agency libraries are included in most library programs funded by the state legislature and therefore Mn/DOT Library can provide its customers many services that would otherwise not be available. Jerry points out that this is a factor missing in the transportation sector as a whole. He believes that if we can grow a national network we could provide sophisticated library and information services across the board. Mn/DOT is well-positioned with in the department as a valued part of the Research department. Jerry is very good with numbers and has been able to quantify the value of library services and justify the library’s budget with easily understood cost/benefit analyses1. Their staffing level, although less than their peak in 1998, is sufficient to maintain critical services due to decreased demand as a result of department layoffs, but not to develop and maintain the collections or providing adequate marketing and outreach. Available funding allows the library to maintain a deposit account with MINITEX, their regional OCLC services provider sufficient to cover online services. However, Jerry points out that the library, at present, does not have a dedicated budget and is always aware that the library could be eliminated at anytime. What is Mn/DOT’s motive for joining the pooled fund study? Everyone who has worked with Jerry over the years knows the answer – a deep commitment to establishing transportation knowledge networks and helping other transportation libraries achieve more with the help of libraries who are more secure within


http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/libfloorplan.html

Maggie Sacco CTC & Associates LLC [email protected] their organizations. Jerry’s position on the trend of doing more with less is that this is a myth. Due to increasing costs and the growing number of producers of transportation information, just staying even requires more investment in information services. Jerry believes that TKNs are part of the answer. He has been working toward this, as have others in our group, for many years. Photos:




More about Mn/DOT Mn/DOT Library Mn/DOT Library Catalog

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/index.html

http://mdt.mnpals.net/F?RN=446235378&func=file&file_name=basic

Minnesota Department of Transportation Library Site Visit

2010 Update

Many changes have occurred since the 2006 report. A library technician and an administrative assistant

were laid off from the library in September 2007; Jerry Baldwin retired in December 2007, and Sheila

Hatchell was hired as the new library director.

In early 2008 the library developed a 35W Bridge research area (for the collapsed bridge) within the

library. Using a dedicated workstation and download station, parties interested in information related to

the collapsed bridge may come to the library to access all of the related information. The data include

scanned paper documents, born-digital documents, emails, plans and drawings and more. The 35W

bridge research area is expected to be in place for 10 years.

In 2008 the library developed a business plan (presented at the September 2009 Transportation

Librarians Roundtable) and several goals were reached during 2009. The collection was updated with

new editions of engineering manuals and reference materials, and more books of general interest were

purchased. The library has a dedicated budget which includes $2000 per month for books. A new

librarian position was added to the staff – that of senior librarian to which Jim Byerly was promoted.

Jim’s vacated position was filled by Karen Neinstadt who became our Outreach and Reference Librarian.

The library hired a library consultant to conduct focus groups in spring 2009. A cross section of library

customers was interviewed including Mn/DOT technical and professional staff, legal staff, city and

county engineers, a Local Road Research Board representative, a University of Minnesota Center for

Transportation Studies representative, and some non-government transportation practitioners.

Valuable information was garnered which propelled the library into Phase 2 of its business plan.

2010 has been a busy year already, with the library hiring a consultant to help us redesign our physical

space. We are close to having the final design of the footprint which will include a private office for the

library director, a new Information Commons area, a joint reference and circulation desk located close

to the front of the library, and additional shelving for our growing collections. Added to our daily

activities are planning and designing the space, and making furniture and carpeting selections. We are

also close (within a week or two ) of implementing Wi-Fi in the library. The Wi-Fi will run off of a portion

of Mn/DOT’s bandwidth, and our plans include making social networking and collaboration tools freely

available to anyone using the Wi-Fi. We hope to have Instant Messaging available in the next few

months. Also in 2010, the library moved its periodicals subscriptions to a new vendor. This has been a

positive and cost savings move for us and happened almost seamlessly thanks to the work of Pam

Gonzalez.

Additionally, the library hired a consultant to help us complete Phase 2 of our business plan. These

goals include creating a marketing and communications plan, developing a technology plan, redesigning

the library’s intranet and Internet Web sites, developing a Library Advisory Group, and reassessing staff

assignments in relation to the library’s future goals.

Finally, Qin Tang, the library’s Technical Services Librarian led the development of the Commissioner’s

Reading corner. The library implemented Kindle DX e-readers to help meet the overwhelming demand

for copies of the discussion books. We were able to write a contract for an additional half time librarian,

and Anne Shelley is working with us for the next year.

All of these projects and forward movement have been made possible by the dedicated and hard-

working library staff including Jim Byerly – Electronic Resources Librarian; Qin Tang – Technical Services

Librarian; Karen Neinstadt – Reference and Outreach Librarian; Barb Hogan – Interlibrary Loan

Technician; and Pam Gonzales – Periodicals and Acquisitions Technician; Anne Shelley – Contract and

Projects Librarian.

LIBRARY BEST PRACTICES MINI PEER EXCHANGE AND SITE VISITS

Hosted by the

Minnesota Department of Transportation and Wisconsin Department of

Transportation Libraries

November 16-17, 2009

Introduction

The Minnesota Department of Transportation and Wisconsin Department of Transportation libraries hosted a library best practices mini peer exchange November 16-17, 2009. The purpose of the mini peer exchange was to give pooled fund member librarians from state departments of transportation a forum to improve the quality and effectiveness of their library services and an opportunity to visit other DOT libraries Participants in the mini peer exchange and site visits were: • Sandy Brady, M.L.S., Librarian, Louisiana Department of Transportation LTRC-TTEC Library • Alexandra Briseno, M.L.I.S., Librarian, Michigan Department of Transportation • John Cherney, M.L.S., Head Librarian, Wisconsin Department of Transportation • Sheila Hatchell, M.L.S., Library Director, Minnesota Department of Transportation • Zona Kahakonen Keppler, M.L.S., Librarian, Ohio Department of Transportation • Qin Tang, M.L.S., Cataloger, Minnesota Department of Transportation • Karen Neinstadt, M.L.S., Marketing and Outreach/Reference, Minnesota Department of

Transportation • Jim Byerly, M.L.S., Electronic Resources, Minnesota Department of Transportation Also participating as the facilitator was Maggie Sacco, M.L.S., Consulting Librarian, TPF-5(105), CTC & Associates LLC To prepare for the peer exchange, the participants submitted topics for discussion and gathered documentation describing their libraries’ resources and practices. Maggie Sacco served as the organizer and facilitator. The discussion covered each host DOT library’s practices in providing information services and those used in other participants’ respective organizations. The discussion both days was informal and provided the exchange participants an opportunity to express their own concerns and challenges and listen to experiences, technical accomplishments and suggestions from their study partners.

Focus

The participants began the discussion with a review of the agenda topics and distribution of the documents detailing library resources and statistics from participants who were able to provide them. The primary focus of the site visits and mini peer exchange at the Mn/DOT and WisDOT libraries was the opportunity for participants to see two examples of established full service DOT libraries that strive to innovate and stay on the leading edge of information services and technology, while providing a forum to exchange best practices with the host libraries’ personnel and the other participants. However, all aspects of transportation library services were open for discussion within the context of the agenda topics: � What do your patrons most need, want, and appreciate from your library?

• Services, resources, physical space � How do you manage research requests?

• Methods of submission (email, chat, phone, face-to-face consultation) • Methods of gathering information • Presentation (synthesis, trend tracking, other value-added services)

� How do you communicate the value of library services

• Statistics: How do you track? (software, database, excel, paper) • What statistics do you keep? • Reporting: How do you present the library to your managers?

Major Observations of Peer Exchange Team

� Patrons are becoming more information and technology savvy and this is resulting in more demand for library services and resources, not less.

� Budget crises are severely hampering librarians’ fulfillment of patron needs from within the libraries’ collections; sharing resources through library networks is paramount and will increase over time.

� Innovation and creativity are crucial to positioning the library as an indispensable resource within the parent organization.

� Participants expressed interest in other librarian’s approach to information requests, including literature searches. Sources consulted and thoroughness of consultation were high priorities.

� Participants are interested in value-added services. � Promotion of services is key to the library’s survival, but lack of staff and resources must be

considered when promotion will cause an unmanageable workload. � Effective communication to managers and CEOs about the value of library services in a Return

on Investment framework is crucial. � Transportation librarians are rarely subject specialists in the multidisciplinary field in which they

work. Providing services to engineers and other transportation practitioners requires development of communication skills and a familiarity with technical terms. Time and education through conferences are key to acclimating to terminology, subject areas, and applications.

� The librarians would like to understand better how transportation agencies partner with universities the way that LaDOTD/LTRC has (Louisiana State University) and Iowa DOT and Iowa State have. These libraries enjoy much greater access to resources than the other DOTs who are not partnered with universities.

Opportunities Identified by the Peer Exchange Team

� Use free databases such as TRIS, ASCE engineering databases, and those available through local, regional and state consortia memberships.

� Methods of gathering information are similar. All start with research proposals and look in RiP, TRR, etc. and move on to databases with published results.

� Take advantage of personal interactions to promote library services. The two minute “elevator speech” should be utilized whenever library staff encounters high level managers or CEOs.

� Work with graphics staff to develop a library logo to brand your emails, print and electronic documents and services.

� Capitalize on value-added information services with full service presentation, analysis, trend tracking and library branding.

� Ask about requested timeline up front and prioritize requests accordingly. Consult with customer and Transportation Research Thesaurus for proper terminology when constructing search strategies.

� Contact staff that can get you into high level meetings for a presentation on what the library can do for specific projects.

� Develop a marketing packet focusing on how the library can help customers reach their strategic goals.

� Do as much as you can without involving communications and/or IT if they will restrict or slow you down.

� Survey the department for access to publications and databases that are part of required professional memberships (engineers) to avoid duplication within the department.

� Provide regular reports using return on investment data and customer testimonials to demonstrate the value of library services to managers. A report template should be developed for libraries.

Library Status Reports by the Peer Exchange Team

Alexandra Briseno, M.L.I.S., Librarian, Michigan Department of Transportation

1. Patrons want more print and online resources that the library can’t provide due to a complete loss of materials budget in 2007 (from $27k to $0). Actually, I found old budget docs for the library that stated a $15K budget for books and a $22k budget for subscriptions (neither have now)

2. The Library was closed from 2002-2007 MDOT due to fire, and the resources that were there previously are now gone.

3. Interlibrary loan is the only way to obtain needed materials for customers, so OCLC subscriptions and the TKN Resource Sharing Pilot are vitally important.

4. Alexandra uses a form designed by CTC & Associates for literature search requests. 5. The MDOT Library tracks statistics on paper tally sheets including circulation, ILL/Document

Delivery (in/out/filled/unfilled/inside-outside collection), literature searches, reference (in-depth and ready reference).

6. The MDOT library isn’t heavily used at this time. Even though the library does outreach with fliers, brochures, etc., there is a lack of awareness of the library. More effort is needed in this area.

7. The library’s Cuadra Star catalog is intranet only due to firewall issues, so patrons can’t search offsite.

8. The MDOT library relies on free publications from AASHTO and TRB. 9. The Library of Michigan is being reorganized and decentralized. Sheila Hatchell, M.L.S., Library Director, Minnesota Department of Transportation

Qin Tang, M.L.S., Cataloger, Minnesota Department of Transportation

Karen Neinstadt, M.L.S., Marketing and Outreach/Reference, Minnesota Department of

Transportation

Jim Byerly, M.L.S., Electronic Resources, Minnesota Department of Transportation

1. Customers want to learn more about searching on their own, but want the library to take a leadership role in technology.

2. A technology fair is planned as a follow up to the Emagination Jam that was held to collect ideas. One suggestion was to put library outside the firewall for wi-fi and Web 2.0 to alleviate security concerns.

3. The library needs a marketing plan, which will be Phase Two of the business plan developed recently.

4. Mn/DOT tracks Library statistics in MS Excel including circulation, ILL/Document Delivery (in/out/filled/unfilled/inside-outside collection), literature searches, reference (in-depth and ready reference).

5. The library would like to increase visibility in first floor lobby which is somewhat complicated due to required permits from the building management Dept of Administration.

6. The focus of questions and kind of information customers want has changed over time. Customers want librarians to select resources and to provide more synthesis or analysis.

7. Innovation is a focus. The library recently purchased four Amazon Kindles that will be loaded with requested information and circulated.

8. Mn/DOT has web submission form for reference and literature search requests and a central library email account accessed by all reference librarians. Requests are also taken by phone, personal email and in person.

9. Typical literature search results are synthesized and organized to include Web results, Mn/DOT library resources, databases, etc. and PDFs, and are branded with the Mn/DOT library logo.

10. Transportation Knowledge Networks used to exist with subject experts. The Mn/DOT commissioner wants to see these at the state level. Sheila has learned to use risk analysis for decision making and library strategic goals. Sheila is proposing a TKN for risk management and innovation for subject specialists to come together on collaborative site to work on these issues.

Zona Kahakonen Keppler, M.L.S., Librarian, Ohio Department of Transportation

1. ODOT does not allow access to Web 2.0 tools. This is a major challenge that must be addressed, as many useful tools are in use increasingly in the DOTs and federal government.

2. Space is a big issue for the ODOT Library. The collection is in five different locations in the building which presents access issues.

3. The Library collection hasn’t been developed for the last couple of years, but judicious weeding is taking place in preparation for updating.

4. The ODOT Library tracks statistics on paper and uses their circulation system to generate reports of usage including circulation, ILL/Document Delivery (in/out/filled/unfilled/inside-outside collection), literature searches, reference (in-depth and ready reference).

5. Marketing and outreach are needed to reach beyond the core group of users. 6. The Library is working on a strategic plan. 7. The Library has champions, including Monique Evans, Head of R&D. 8. The Library’s budget is healthy and they can purchase whatever they need. They are aligned

with the Ohio State Library, which includes a shared catalog cataloging of new materials, and a piggyback OCLC subscription.

9. Zona would like to do a survey of library awareness and customer needs. 10. There are plans to participate in new employee orientation and train people on the use of the

catalog and databases. Individual training is ongoing and they are now incorporating other things into training like RSS feeds.

11. The Library has an online research request submission form and presents the results in a similar value-added format as Mn/DOT (above).

12. The Library created a SharePoint site for library and is now being used as an example for training. It includes announcements; a new titles list and user statistics.

13. The Library Web site needs redesigning and updating. 14. Zona feels the library is delivering information customers want.

Sandy Brady, M.L.S., Librarian, Louisiana Department of Transportation LTRC-TTEC

Library

1. The Library is receiving research requests but is not getting feedback on how well the information fulfills customers’ needs.

2. A survey is needed at this point to find out what customers want and what services or methods of delivery could be improved.

3. Sandy is planning to set up a user account for the LTRC for the Louisiana State University Library ILL services. It is often faster than OCLC.

4. Sandy has instituted some Web 2.0 tools such as flickr, a blog and chat reference on the Library’s Web site.

5. The LTRC Library tracks statistics in Excel including circulation, ILL/Document Delivery (in/out/filled/unfilled/inside-outside collection), literature searches, reference (in-depth and ready reference).

6. Sandy looked at RefWorks is working with a student to create relational db to track requests. 7. Sandy compiles research and literature search results in a MS Word document with citations

and links to full text resources. She would like template to include branding and better organization of findings.

John Cherney, M.L.S., Head Librarian, Wisconsin Department of Transportation

1. The Library was redesigned as an iCommons in 2007-2008 to increase visibility, accessibility and user comfort.

2. Part of the iCommons mission is to serve the public as well as the internal DOT staff. 3. The public makes use of the copy machine, free internet, newspapers, magazines, some

transportation research. 4. Internal DOT customers want standards and specifications, computer training materials,

reference and literature searches. 5. John is tracking statistics in Excel, on paper and with Google Urchin including circulation,

ILL/Document Delivery (in/out/filled/unfilled/inside-outside collection), literature searches, reference (in-depth and ready reference).

6. The WisDOT Research & Library Advisory Committee met quarterly starting in 2007.

Attendance has dropped and the committee intends to continue as research advisory committee. 7. WisDOT has strong library champions in administration and throughout the DOT, including the

deputy secretary, division administrator and administrative bureau directors. Many of these relationships begin as one-on-one interactions with delivery of information services.


1

Date: 22 April 2008

Site: Mississippi Department of Transportation Staff: James Watkins, Research Director

Tina Leavy, Administrative Assistant

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview

The Mississippi Department of Transportation Library is part of the Research Department. Mississippi is the only state where the DOT is overseen by an elected commissioner, and does not

have a secretary of transportation. The commissioner is not tied to the governor and answers

only to the legislature. The library does not have a dedicated budget, similar to most DOT libraries.

Staff

The Research Department has a staff of 15 that includes a computer specialist, office manager,

administrative assistant, pavement management and research staff.

James Watkins is the Research Director at MDOT. The library is one part of his many responsibilities, which include operational functions, such as nondestructive testing equipment,

pavement management which have become Research Department responsibilities over time.

The Library is staffed by a part-time by Tina Leavy, the Research Department Administrative

Assistant. Tina has learned a great deal about library operations on her own by populating the Library’s MS FoxPro database and by filling requests for information and resources within the

DOT. She is very customer service focused and is eager to learn more about library operations by

participating in the pooled fund and the Eastern Transportation Knowledge Network.

Commissioner

Materials Research

Library

Asst. Chief Engineer of Ops.


2

Physical Space

As for most libraries, space is a concern at MDOT and James would like to invest in digitizing the entire collection and keeping materials on CDs and backed up on a server. He predicts they will

only lose physical space in the future, not gain any square footage or library storage or shelving improvements. Since this is a trend that is likely to continue, James is interested in the idea of

digitizing sizeable portions of the collection and stresses the need for redundancy in the process

so that data is protected.


The Library has 12,546 items in the FoxPro database as of the site visit. The collection includes

Mississippi and out-of-state reports, TRB and AASHTO materials, and some legal and historical resources. Some of the older research reports and historical photographs are not cataloged in the

MS FoxPro database at this time. Tina catalogues the new materials and adds 50-100 new titles each month. The FoxPro database was designed in-house has worked well for them for about 12

years; however we discussed the need to participate in reciprocal borrowing and to get the MDOT collection into TLCat. Part of the benefit of pooled fund membership is the technical

assistance MDOT needs in the library software selection and purchase process. In order to move

forward with resource sharing and TLCat, the MDOT library needs cataloging software that is MARC compatible and will allow Tina to continue cataloging in text fields. OCLC Batchloading is

their preferred system to continue adding records and updating holdings in WorldCat and TLCat once the initial conversion and upload is complete. We estimate with the MDOT software

purchasing guidelines, data conversion, training that they can go live with the catalog and begin

their OCLC subscriptions in the second half of 2009.

Information and reference services are handled by request, following the “pull” model of delivering information. The lack of staff and training hasn’t allowed MDOT to “push” information

out to the agency and has also curtailed outreach to potential customers. James believes that

most of the department is unaware of the depth of the collection and its value, and may in fact be scarcely aware of the library’s existence. He would like to change that.

James is eager to participate in a national transportation library network and has tasked Tina

with representing MDOT in ETKN. He sees the developments on the NTKN as movement in a positive direction and a chance to expand MDOT’s access to information and improve its library’s

services by sharing best practices. Tina is new to the systematic and established practices in

libraries and plans to learn as much as she can by working collaboratively with other information professionals and is very interested in the possibilities.

MDOT’s Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study

LTRC’s priorities for the pooled fund study going forward are: • OCLC subscription cost subsidies

• Adding holdings to WorldCat and TLCat

• Marketing of library ser vices and outreach to potential customers

• Support in participating in ETKN and related efforts,

• Connecting with and learning from special librarians that work in transportation

More about MDOT:

MDOT Web Site

MDOT Research Reports

Date: 28 September 2009*

Site: Missouri Department of Transportation Library

Staff: Anthony J. Million, Librarian

Mara Campbell, Organizational Results Director

Susan Morrisroe, Director, Missouri State Library Reference Services



1

Date: 28 September 2009 Site: Missouri Department of Transportation Library

Staff: Anthony J. Million, Librarian

Mara Campbell, Organizational Results Director

Susan Morrisroe, Director, Missouri State Library Reference Services

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview

The first Missouri Department of Transportation library was located at the headquarters in the 1950s, most likely as part of the materials department. In the early 2000s, MoDOT entered into a

transportation library project with the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Civil Engineering School. By late 2004, the Missouri State Library became part of the project and the Secretary’s

office signed an MOU with MoDOT to house the collection at the State Library and to joint

supervise the librarian. The librarian position was originally with MoDOT, but is now through College of Civil Engineering at UM-Columbia. Initially, the engineering students and faculty were

the library’s primary clientele, and the library utilized graduate students from the UM-Columbia library school to complete an integrated library system migration from EOS to III that was

facilitated by the State Library. Over time, the library’s clientele has shifted from university to

MoDOT staff. MoDOT Organizational Results makes frequent use of the library to conduct research, improve processes, develop best practices, and execute literature searches. They

continually ask, “How can we do our job better?” The library is a vital part of Organizational Results and the department has become its core customer base. The library did not have a

history of strong collaborative relationships with other departments at MoDOT, and A.J. is working on strengthening ties with other departments through outreach efforts.

MoDOT participates in MOBIUS, the shared catalog of the MOBIUS statewide library consortium. The catalog provides extensive access to resources outside of the MoDOT and State Libraries and

MoDOT’s inclusion in MOBIUD has benefited MoDOT researchers tremendously. MoDOT library customers have expanded access to resources through MOBIUS, Merlin (UM Library catalog),

Arthur (State Library catalog), regional TKNs, OCLC WorldCat and TLCat, which is reflected in the

TKN ILL and MTKN metrics.

Susan Morrisroe is the Director of Reference Services at the Missouri State Library. Susan discussed the history of the joint venture between the State Library and MoDOT and feels that

the role of the State Library has become more focused over time. As a consequence, the

partnership has been a very successful and that they are achieving the State Library’s goal that the partnership would serve as a model for other state departments that have valuable but

underutilized libraries to join MOBIUS.

All executive departments in Missouri state government are trying to develop standards for data and document retention. The State Library no longer collects paper documents, focusing only on

collecting and harvesting digital documents using OCLC’s contentDM. There are now multiple

electronic copies of many holdings and they are hoping to collaborate with MoDOT on organizing and streamlining the process and the collection. A.J. meets with Susan and other State Library

staff monthly to discuss electronic access.

Staff The MoDOT Library is under the direction of the librarian, A. J. Million. A.J. is a full-time

University of Missouri employee. The MoDOT library is part of the office of Organizational Results,


2

led by Mara Campbell. A.J. splits his time between the State Library and the MoDOT office where

Organizational Results is located.

Physical Space The library collection is located on the mezzanine level of the State Library, with collection stacks

overlooking a large reading room. A major weeding effort is underway, and the plan is that 25%

of the physical collection will remain when it is complete. While the State Library’s physical collection is being downsized, MoDOT’s collection continues to grow.

The Missouri State Library Reading Room

Collection & Services The MoDOT Library collection has approximately 7500 monographs, 1500 serials, plus CDs and

videos. There is a special collection of historic state highway commission reports from 1913-1970s. Most historic items such as photographs have been given to the State Archives for

preservation and are now part of the archive’s permanent collection.

The MoDOT Library has excellent access to databases through the State Library and the

University of Missouri, and has its own subscription to the ASCE Research Library.

A.J.’s primary strategic goal is to focus on an internally hosted digital repository. He would like to

provide a Table of Contents service and access to digital resources via Sharepoint where the Library could host Missouri publications and have it function as a centralized marketing tool with

a blog, an RSS feed, document libraries and requests for literature searches. MoDOT is using Web 2.0 tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogger, podcasting and widgets in its

delivery of information internally and to the public. Access to these tools presents the Library with great opportunities to reach customers wherever they reside.


3

A.J. has cataloged approximately 1900 items in the last 6 months. MoDOT is currently performing

K Level cataloging in OCLC and PDFs are linked in WorldCat.

A.J. has set up a DOT state measures section on the MTKN Drupal site. Also planned for the Drupal site are performance measures from all states, as an MTKN project. A.J. keeps statistics

such as reference requests, literature searches, departments, divisions and districts making

requests, interlibrary loans and subject areas.

The MoDOT Library collection is kept on the mezzanine level of the State Library.


4

MoDOT’s Goals for the Pooled Fund Study

Continued coverage of OCLC subscriptions through the pooled fund study is front and center as budgets are strained and this trend seems likely to continue into the foreseeable future. While

much of A.J.’s focus is internal MoDOT business, he would like to see that other libraries that are perhaps not as well supported as MoDOT’s get the help they need through the pooled fund.

Projects such as development of an updated Return on Investment formula and documentation

are very important to MoDOT, as they emphasize a results-oriented approach. The ability to quantify the value of library services with the most recent applications and strategies behind it

are of great interest to MoDOT. A.J. also feels it is vital to keep the momentum going on the development and launch of the National Transportation Knowledge Network and keep the

regional networks cohesive and working together.

More about MoDOT:

About MoDOT http://www.modot.mo.gov/about/

MoDOT’s Mission, Values and Tangible Results http://www.modot.mo.gov/about/general_info/strategicplan.htm

MoDOT Organizational Chart

http://www.modot.mo.gov/jobs/documents/MoDOTOrgChart.pdf

MoDOT Organizational Results

http://www.modot.mo.gov/services/OR/index.htm

MoDOT Publications http://www.modot.mo.gov/newsandinfo/

MoDOT Roadside Review Newsletter http://www.modot.mo.gov/services/community/documents/RoadsideReviewSummer09.pdf

MoDOT Plans & Projects

http://www.modot.mo.gov/plansandprojects/

For more information about the MoDOT Library, please contact:

A.J. Million, M.L.S. Librarian MoDOT Transportation Library 600 W. Main St. Jefferson City, MO 65101 (573) 751-3075

[email protected]

Missouri Department of Transportation Library Site Visit

2010 Update

History & Overview

The first Missouri Department of Transportation library was located at the headquarters in the 1950s, most

likely as part of the materials department. In the early 2000s, MoDOT entered into a transportation library

project with the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Civil Engineering School. By late 2004, the Missouri

State Library became part of the project and the Secretary’s office signed an MOU with MoDOT to house the

collection at the State Library and to joint supervise the librarian. Initially the library utilized graduate students

from the UM-Columbia library school to complete an integrated library system migration from EOS to III that

was facilitated by the State Library. MoDOT Organizational Results makes frequent use of the library to

conduct research, improve processes, develop best practices, and execute literature searches. They

continually ask, “How can we do our job better?” The library is a vital part of Organizational Results and the

department has become its core customer base. The library did not have a history of strong collaborative

relationships with other departments at MoDOT, and A.J. is working on strengthening ties with other

departments through outreach efforts.

A.J. meets with State Library staff monthly.


12500 monographs

A.J.’s primary strategic goal is to focus on an internally hosted digital repository. He would like to provide a Table of

Contents service and access to digital resources where the Library could host Missouri publications and have it

function as a centralized marketing tool with a blog, an RSS feed, document libraries and requests for literature

searches.

MoDOT is currently performing K Level cataloging in OCLC and PDFs are linked in WorldCat. Enhancements will come later.

More about MoDOT:

MoDOT Library Webpage

http://www.sos.mo.gov/library/reference/modot.asp



Date: 8 January 2007*

Site: Montana Department of Transportation Library

Staff: Lisa Autio, Librarian

Sue Sillick, Research Manager


Site Visit Summary

History & Overview The Montana Department of Transportation Library has been part of MDT since as early as the

1980s. Research Manager Sue Sillick estimates that the library’s inception predates the cataloging of the collection in OCLC by at least two decades. Prior to joining OCLC MDT had no catalog or

database of library materials. Without any library science training, Sue taught herself copy

cataloging and in 2002 was one of the founders of the Montana State Network’s (MLN) shared catalog project to automate libraries statewide by purchasing a group license for the SirsiDynix

integrated library system. There were 17 Montana libraries participating when the project began, and there are now over 80 libraries (including branches) using the Montana Shared Catalog. The

MLN offers its members a wide range of benefits including the shared catalog, access to a variety

of databases and fixed-fee OCLC subscription pricing. Sustained by Institute of Museum and Library Services and Library Services and Technology Act funds, MLN is able to enhance access to

library resources and services for professionals and the public statewide. To learn more about MLN, see Montana Libraries in 2020.

Staff

Lisa Autio is the new Librarian at MDT. She joined the department in April 2006 and brings professional experience in special libraries (medicine) to her new role as a transportation

librarian. As a solo librarian within MDT, Lisa’s priorities since assuming her new job have been organizing the library and learning the intricacies of transportation and interdisciplinary subjects.

Lisa is very interested in the newly organizing Western Transportation Knowledge Network

(WTKN) and sees it as another vital link for solo librarians, much as the pooled fund and MTKN are now. She expressed feeling much more connected after the annual meeting and seeing

everyone face-to-face.

Sue Sillick is Manager of Research Programs at MDT and oversees the library as part of the technology transfer initiatives in her Section.

Jeanne Nydegger is the Administrative Assistant to the Research office and assists part-time with

book processing and shelving.

In the past year, the library has absorbed other collections, cleaned up a substantial backlog with contract catalogers, and made use of temporary staff to complete projects, such as cleaning up

call numbers in the catalog. New projects in 2007 include the indexing of the serial collection, which is sizable.

Physical Space The MDT library is located in the agency’s headquarters in Helena. At about 250 square feet, the

library makes use of compact shelving for its collection.



Collection & Services There are about 22,500 items in the collection.

12,180 Monographs 1,011 Videocassettes

139 CDs

73 Kits 9,104 Electronic titles through NetLibrary, provided through Montana State Library

46 DVDs

Sue has promoted customer service over the years and has offered to catalog and house satellite collections within MDT. Recently, the organizational development collection has been absorbed,

as well as aeronautics, construction, planning, and traffic engineering items. The organizational

development collection is housed in the main library, but the Human Resources Division assumes responsibility for collection development and purchasing. Lisa would like to promote it by

developing pathfinders. The video collection is similar to most other DOT libraries with a concentration on safety and CIT videos. As with most other DOT libraries, the main collection

consists heavily of highway materials with some rail and aeronautics, safety, and state reports.

Deer-vehicle data and habitat preservation also figure prominently. Planning and pedestrian and bicycle information are areas Lisa would like to develop.

Customer service is a strong focus for the MDT library, as is outreach. Some effective internal

marketing strategies Lisa and Sue employ are highlighting new resources in the “Library Corner” of the quarterly research newsletters. More than a corner, the newsletter devotes an entire page

to the topics and resources Lisa would like to highlight in each issue. The library also posts to the

bimonthly internal employee newsletter, participates in new employee orientation, where Sue gives a presentation with an overview of the library and its services. Lisa offers library instruction

quarterly and upon request to individual employees. She also makes a presentation to the management training participants as a part of MDT’s year-long management training program.

Library training includes searching the catalog, setting up user IDs, databases available through

the state library and TRIS, RiP and TLCat. Internal marketing brochures such as “Top 10 Reasons to Find it @ Your MDT Library” are also used to promote awareness of the library and its services.

MDT Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study

Lisa’s priorities for the pooled fund study going forward are: • Developing a toolkit, consisting of the tools a new transportation librarian would find

useful in building a new collection of resources and services

• Determining benchmarks and performance measurements, or indicators of progress

toward expressed goals. • Maintaining communities of practice or networks, and staying in touch with the very

specialized community of librarians that deal in transportation information and using their

experience and ideas. • Determining best practices that have been shown as the most effective models for others

to follow.

Sue and Lisa are both very committed to the concept of transportation library networks. Participation in the pooled fund has made Lisa - a solo librarian working with a new subject

matter - feel more connected to other transportation librarians. She would like to continue with the pooled fund if an extension is feasible. Sue also expressed the desire to continue, but would

prefer to concentrate on the newly forming WTKN if it came to a choice between the two. She

also indicated uncertainty about MDT’s willingness or ability to fund their participation in the pooled fund beyond November 2007. The beginning stages of organization for the WTKN are



encouraging and MDT will be a very effective member of the regional network. The pooled fund

will coordinate and lead a WTKN teleconference later in February or March 2007.

More about MDT: MDT

MDT Library

Montana Department of Transportation Research Programs

MDT Research Newsletters



Montana Department of Transportation Library Site Visit 2010 Update

History & Overview The Montana Library Network does not exist anymore; it was fully integrated into the Montana

state Library. The Montana DOT was a founding member of the former MLN’s the Montana Shared Catalog which is now a service of the state library.

Staff

The librarian and administrative assistant positions have been vacant for over 20 months. There

are two project managers who conduct literature searches and handle most of the library work such as handling customer requests, circulation and shelving. No cataloging is being done at this

time.

Services

The quarterly research newsletter has been shelved since the loss of library staff. A project to index the serials collection that was slated for 2007 has been put on hold.

Collection

24,000 items in the collection. 13,703 Monographs

806 Videocassettes

241 CDs 72 Kits

9,273 Electronic titles through NetLibrary, provided through Montana State Library 147 DVDs

28 audio recordings

16 periodicals


1

Date: 23 March 2010 Site: New Mexico Department of Transportation Library/Knowledge Center

Staff: Krystyna Cherry, Senior Librarian

Scott McClure, Research Bureau Chief

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview The New Mexico Department of Transportation Library began as a transportation section in the

collection of the New Mexico State Library. In the mid-1990s, the physical collection was slated for elimination and a large portion was taken into private office collections throughout the

department. The remainder was weeded further and moved to a rented space belonging to the University of New Mexico. The NMDOT library was reestablished in the early 2000s and began

with what remained of the collection being moved to the Research Bureau at the District 3 offices

in Albuquerque. The library does not have a dedicated budget and is funded as part of the Research Bureau. Staff Krystyna is a solo librarian at the NMDOT. She began her job at in the library as a temporary

cataloger in the LTAP bureau in 2001. She has a background in art and textiles with a degree from Oxford University and received her M.A. from the University of Colorado. The Research

Bureau staff has been reduced from 12 people to 6 in recent years.

Physical Space The library is located in the NMDOT District 3 Research Bureau. The collection occupies

approximately 600 square feet.


Approximately 50% of the collection is TRB publications. Krystyna established a duplicate distribution program with the LTAP program and sends a monthly list of available publications to

recipients. There is great interest at NMDOT about what other states are doing, what is the latest

and greatest technology or practice, but a lot of things in civil engineering don’t change so the collection is quite similar in its makeup and subject matter to other state DOT libraries with state

reports, AASHTO and TRB reports that mainly reflect Highways as the dominant subject concentration. Additionally, Krystyna has developed a PE exam preparation collection in the past

year. NMDOT is an OCLC library, but not yet participating in TLCat. Cataloging is done in-house

and by the state library. A copy of completed research is emailed to the government documents department at the state library, where it is cataloged into OCLC. 5 physical copies are sent as

state laws require. Krystyna catalogs materials in-house using the Liberty3 system. The collection is cataloged using the Library of Congress classification scheme.

Monographs Approximately 8,000 Active serial titles 2,000

Krystyna spends a lot of time engaged in literature searches for the Research Bureau. She uses

TRIS, RiP, and other databases and the Internet, frequently including Google transportation metasearches to provide her customers with a comprehensive look at what is available in the

literature on the desired topic. Interlibrary loan and document delivery as well as some reference

are other services provided by the NMDOT library. Krystyna also participates in marketing NMDOT research at in-state conferences to get the word out that NMDOT can provide a great

deal of completed research and fill new research needs. The PE exam preparation collection is an


2

important service added within the last year. She makes an effort to know the engineers and communicate with them regularly to stay current with their research and information needs.

New Mexico DOT’s Priorities and Goals for TPF-5(105) and the Next Pooled Fund Study

• NMDOT plans to participate in a future pooled fund study to follow TPF-5(105).

• Cataloging backlog needs to be addressed and NMDOT would take advantage of pooled

funds for contract cataloging if available in the future. • Professional development and travel benefits are extremely valuable benefits for pooled

fund members. Krystyna looks for better ways to do things. What is the most efficient,

time saving, how to do more with fewer resources? She wants to know what similar sized

DOT libraries are doing and networking at meetings and conferences provide these opportunities.

• Best practices exchange for promoting research tools to staff.

More about the New Mexico DOT Library/Knowledge Center:

About NMDOT http://nmshtd.state.nm.us/main.asp?secid=15426

About the NMDOT Research Bureau http://www.nmshtd.state.nm.us/main.asp?secid=16486

NMDOT Research Bureau Services

http://nmshtd.state.nm.us/main.asp?secid=16306

NMDOT Library Catalog

http://slk060.liberty3.net/nmdot/gateway/gateway.exe?application=NMDOT&displayform=frame

NMDOT Completed Research Reports

http://nmshtd.state.nm.us/main.asp?secid=14833

NMDOT Guiding Principles and Organizational Chart

http://nmshtd.state.nm.us/upload/images/GTG/Q1_2006/Guiding_Principles_Priorities_and_org_chart.pdf

For more information about the NMDOT Library, please contact:

Krystyna Cherry Senior Librarian

NMDOT Research Bureau

PO Box 94690 Albuquerque, NM 87199-4690

Tel: 505.841.9150 Fax: 505.841.9158

[email protected]


1

Date: 28 July 2010

Site: New York State Department of Transportation

Staff: Jane Minotti, Librarian

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview

The New York State Department of Transportation Library is part of the Transportation Research & Development Bureau. The library has been part of the bureau since the late 1980’s.

Previously, several departments (Materials, Planning and Research) maintained their own collections which were consolidated to form the basis of the collection for the current library

serving the department. At the time of the consolidation, the library was staffed with at least one fulltime person and at various times there have been more than one staff member. The NYSDOT

Library has a dedicated operational budget under the TR & D Bureau and receiving some funds

from FHWA. NYSDOT is an OCLC library. They are not participating in TLCat at this time

Staff

Librarian Jane Minotti has been at NYSDOT for three years. Her background in public libraries is

an asset, as she brings a strong commitment to serving her customers’ reference and research needs. Jane is a solo librarian with full responsibility of library services and operations. She

works a compressed schedule and the library is closed every other Friday. Administrative Assistant Debbie Papura provides backup for when Jane is not in the library, however this is not a

dedicated position or set of hours and Debbie’s assistance is provided on an as-needed basis. Jane feels that one other full-time staff member would be ideal but a half-time position would be

enormously helpful.

Physical Space The NYSDOT Library presently occupies 1,065 square feet in the central office in Albany, NY.

Space is at a premium and Jane would like to assess several aspects of the collection to establish

effective retention and digitization policies and plan for future collection growth. Library services and collection usage has grown steadily over time Library services and collection usage has

grown steadily over time with usage patterns reflecting the slowdown of economic growth as well as the initiation of new projects.


NYSDOT’s collection is typical of most state DOT libraries consisting primarily TRB, FHWA and AASHTO publications, state reports, commercial publications and some unique historical items.

As with most state DOTs, the subject concentration is Highways. An approximate breakdown of the collection by format is below.

Monographs 12,300 Active Serial titles 50

Audiovisual resources 100


2

The library offers services such as literature searches, reference, interlibrary loan and document

delivery. Jane markets the library’s services to her customers through a quarterly library newsletter where she highlights new titles, ongoing services and has been promoting the

Library’s new integrated library system, EOS Web Express which was launched in April 2010 during National Library Week. The new ILS is a major upgrade from a 1998 version of Inmagic

DBTextworks that was no longer serving Jane’s needs. The new system launch was announced

on the NYSDOT intranet and through targeted outreach to regional offices throughout the state. Jane is pleased with the response from the regional offices , noting an increase in information

requests from outside the central office and plans to promote the new system regularly through the quarterly library newsletter.

Jane estimates the cataloged collection at about 90%. Cataloging is done in-house on EOS and uploaded to OCLC whenever new materials are processed. New York State documents are

cataloged by the state library, but NYSDOT reports are done mainly in-house. Jane creates a

brief record immediately using the EOS Easy MARC to get the item in the catalog, then checks OCLC to copy catalog or create an original bibliographic record. A barcoding project was

undertaken in to physically barcode between 9,000-10,000 items that had barcodes assigned to the records. NYSDOT is an OCLC library. They are not participating in TLCat at this time.

Distribution of NYSDOT publications and reports are mandated at two depository copies for the library. Reports are not considered closed out until they are distributed.

TKNs

Jane is very active in the transportation library community, serving as the current chair of the ETKN and treasurer for the SLA Transportation Division. She is also serving on the panel for the

anticipated NCHRP 20-90 project, Improving access to Transportation Information along with

other pooled fund and TKN members. The objective of this research will be to investigate methods for capturing transportation agency information resources and organizing them to

improve availability and facilitate their use to support informed decision making, policy development, performance management and research. The panel’s first meeting is Aug 26-27,

2010 in Washington, DC with another planned for December 2010.

NYSDOT & TPF-5(105)

• OCLC subscription cost subsidies are a priority. NYSDOT has been paying through their

membership in NYLINK, a statewide library consortium and former OCLC regional service provider which will cease operations in June 2011.

• Travel and networking opportunities have been very beneficial to Jane as a new

transportation librarian. Access to colleagues and improved communication to share best practices are very important.

• Training opportunities (such as the Outsell Webinars and workshop) were excellent

learning experiences, as continuing education opportunities for transportation librarians

are few and far between. The quarterly topical teleconferences were really beneficial for this same reason.

• The Transportation Librarian’s Toolkit has been an excellent resource. Jane would like to

see continued development. • Assistance communicating value of library within organization through pooled fund

outreach efforts has been very helpful.

Future Pooled Fund Study

• NYSDOT will participate in the new pooled fund which will be led by Missouri DOT. Jane

has Research Manager Gary Frederick’s support to continue active participation in TKN activities through SLA, ETKN and pooled fund membership.


3

• OCLC subscription subsidies should be a benefit of membership in the new pooled fund

for members who need them.

• The new pooled fund scope should fit the new landscape that has resulted from the

accomplishments of TPF-5(105), the regional TKNs and developments within NTL, but should continue to build upon many successful and beneficial aspects of TPF-5(105).

• The Transportation Librarian’s Toolkit should continue to develop and serve as a valuable

resource. • Travel and networking opportunities should continue, as building relationships and

exchanging best practices is vital. Regional peer exchanges would be a great way to

continue and build upon the previous efforts to enhance communication and networking. • Policy development assistance would be helpful. Mission statements, collection

development, retention, circulation and other policy development would benefit librarians

and customers.

• Special projects should continue. A union list of serials that includes TKN and pooled fund

members would be a great start. The list could expand by pulling in those libraries listed in the new RITA Library and Information Center Directory.

NYSDOT Library


4

More about NYSDOT Library:

NYSDOT Library Catalog

http://207.67.203.68/N94020Staff/OPAC/Search/AdvancedSearch.asp

About NYSDOT Transportation Research & Development Bureau https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services

NYSDOT Publications https://www.nysdot.gov/publications

About NYSDOT

https://www.nysdot.gov/about-dot

For more information about the NYSDOT Library, please contact:

Jane Minotti Librarian

Research Library

NYS Department of Transportation 50 Wolf Road POD 3-4

Albany, NY 12232 Phone: 518-485-2077

Fax: 518-457-7535 Email: [email protected]



Date: 13 March 2006 Site: Ohio Department of Transportation Library Staff: Janet Bix, Librarian

Site Visit Summary History & Overview The Ohio Department of Transportation library was founded in 1976. In the department’s organizational chart, the library is under the direction of the Division of Quality and Human Resources, a move Janet Bix recommended during the last reorganization, as the library is an agency-wide service unit. The library’s mission is to serve its ODOT customers, and library cards are issued jointly by the State Library and ODOT for internal customers.

ODOT Library Mission Statement Our mission is to serve the people of the Ohio Department of Transportation by providing pertinent and appropriate information necessary for personal, professional and organizational growth. Each employee can request customized service, tailored to their needs with information provided in their choice of format whenever possible. We are dedicated to creating and maintaining an electronic information system that provides for the acquisition, processing, and delivery of information effectively and efficiently, accessible to all ODOT employees. At the same time, we will maintain professional networks that provide access to additional unique information. We will continue to build the physical library collection so that it can continue to increase in value, visibility and provide the backbone of the information network.

The ODOT library is a member of OhioLINK, a statewide library network that is a program of the Ohio Board of Regents1. Its member libraries include 17 public universities, 23 technical and community colleges, 42 independent colleges, and the State Library of Ohio. There are over 31 million items in the union catalog (8 million unique titles), and 100 databases available to members in addition to a statewide Digital Media Center2. There is a close relationship between the ODOT library and the State Library of Ohio. ODOT used to have an internal proprietary stand-alone catalog, but Y2K forced the issue of upgrading to the state library catalog (III Millennium). In giving up the proprietary system, ODOT lost a catalog 1 OhioLINK: http://www.ohiolink.edu/2 OhioLINK Digital Media Center provides access to electronic multimedia such as digital images, sounds and video: http://dmc.ohiolink.edu/

http://www.ohiolink.edu/

http://dmc.ohiolink.edu/



r

t

that their customers were accustomed to and had to re-barcode the entire collection. However, they gained a top notch integrated library system and dramatically increased the visibility of their collection. The state library provides training, cataloging and professional networking opportunities for the ODOT library staff. It is a mutually beneficial relationship, and Janet is very happy with the arrangement. The ODOT library catalog now has higher quality records for their research reports, and new R&D publications are added to the OCLC Digital Archive3. State Library catalogers are working to add the entire digital R&D collection. The State Library/ODOT Library joint catalog is available to all ODOT employees who have access to a PC, and they can page any library item (both combined catalog & OhioLINK) from their desktops. Delivery services from the State Library are provided daily. The ODOT library also has a strong connection to the LTAP program. The ODOT Library staff manages the LTAP collection which is shelved separately in the LTAP Area. The LTAP video collection has been cataloged in OCLC. The library edited & published the current Ohio LTAP Video Catalog. The ODOT library actively markets and promotes its services with a variety of services available on the ODOT intranet, pamphlets, alerting services and a 14 minute video tour of the library, available as a streaming video on their intranet or on DVD. They produce two issues annually of their newsletter New Acquisitions 4. Staff Janet Bix, Lib arian Janet is the ODOT library administrator. She has been with ODOT for 12 years. Previously she was Director of the National Ground Water Information Center. Her MLS is from Kent State University. In addition to managing the library, she provides reference and literature searches for patrons. Stephanie Newton, Records Managemen Officer Stephanie has worked at ODOT for 27 years, and has been with the Library since June, 1996. . Stephanie manages the serials subscriptions including routing periodicals throughout the department. She works at the circulation desk and maintains the current periodicals list. Stephanie represents the library at ODOT’s new hire orientation twice a month, and the library video is shown during one of the break times. Ruth Monks, Library Assistant II Ruth has worked at the ODOT library for nearly 13 years. Among her many duties are creating new acquisitions lists, creating temporary records so new in-demand items can circulate immediately, generating customized new report notifications and sending out training videos and PECE study materials. Ruth also takes shifts at the circulation desk, and was responsible for barcoding the entire collection, which took 1½ years. LTAP patrons contact Ruth directly to borrow LTAP videos. This gives her an opportunity to recommend additional resources that local municipalities & townships staff might be unaware of. Jenny Schnell, Intern Jenny is pursuing her master’s of library science at Kent State University. Jenny recently updated the library’s logo, which also required updating all of the library’s promotional materials. Jenny just returned from hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail. Emily Glenn, Intern

3 The OCLC Digital Archive is a digital collection management that allows harvesting, organization and access to digital collections in multiple formats: http://www.oclc.org/digitalarchive/about/default.htm4 New Acquisitions, Winter 2006: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/library/WinterNewAcquisitions2006.PDF

http://www.oclc.org/digitalarchive/about/default.htm

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/library/WinterNewAcquisitions2006.PDF



Emily is a graduate student at Kent State University working toward her master’s degree in library science. Her target graduation date is May, 2006. Among other projects, she has developed an Access database to track research and reference requests. Emily and Jenny have created number brochures & PowerPoint presentations that describe the library’s services and programs. Physical Space The library is in a very visible location in the ODOT headquarters offices in Columbus. They are on the second floor across from the director’s office. An open atrium style lobby shows the library stacks clearly upon walking into the main entrance of the building. Janet likes this location because the presence of the library is noted by visitors and staff as soon as they walk in. They estimate they have 2200 square feet of space, with additional storage in three other areas. The library has been in its current location for seven years, and ODOT is next door to the Department of Public Safety, which encourages more synergy between the two agencies. Collection & Services Monographs - 28,801 Serials - 230 Film & fiche - 2631 microfilm, 132 fiche Audiovisual - 987 (472 + 515 LTAP videos) Online databases - 100+ via OhioLINK CD-ROMs - 621 The ODOT library uses well-known vendors for acquisitions and collection management. Serials subscriptions are managed with EBSCO, and book vendors include Baker & Taylor and ASCE. They purchase about 110 book titles per year, including some international publications from the UK and Australia. TRB publications, AASHTO publications, specifications/standards are all well represented in the collection. There are special collections including Ohio roadway plans on microfilm back to the 1920-30's and Ohio Department of Highways reports and specifications from the 1900's through 1930's. Maps of all 88 Ohio counties are available, as are P.E. & EIT study materials. The following library services are available to ODOT staff:

1. Online search services including the state library /ODOT library catalog 2. Alerts 3. Data exchange among all 50 state DOTs 4. Journal routing 5. OhioLINK access

ODOT Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study Janet is a big supporter of library networks and has been very active with MTKN. She believes strongly in the networking possibilities and increased visibility for libraries that commit to being involved in sharing their resources and raising their profiles within the transportation and library communities. Janet had taken a wait and see position for the second year of the pooled fund, but has decided to commit to year two, as she is happy with the direction of the project.



Pictures:

Ruth Monks, Stephanie Newton, Janet Bix, Jenny Schnell



More about ODOT: ODOT ODOT Library State library/ODOT catalog OhioLINK Catalog Ohio LTAP Center

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/library/

http://slonet.state.oh.us/

http://olc1.ohiolink.edu/search/

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/LTAP/

*


Date: 16 February 2006*

Site: Oregon Department of Transportation Library

Staff: Laura Wilt, Librarian



Date: 16 February 2006 Site: Oregon DOT Library Staff: Laura Wilt, Librarian

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview The Oregon Department of Transportation library was established in 1937, making it one of the pooled fund’s oldest libraries. The library has been moved several times, but usually within the headquarters building in downtown Salem. In 2000, it was decided that the library was to be closed. However, after trying to farm out the collection to various offices, the decision was reversed and the library survived this close call. Laura Wilt has been the ODOT librarian for the past two years. When she arrived, she realized that many publications were not cataloged, some since 1994. They were instead arranged numerically (i.e., NCHRP and FHWA publications), however catalog access seemed a non-issue for these kinds of publications. The catalog was only available on the librarian’s desktop, and customers were accustomed to retrieving these publications by going to the shelf and browsing by number. Knowing this level of access was not what she strived for, Laura launched the department’s first webpac and spent six months waiting for IS to set up the server while she cataloged feverishly, determined to get as many records in the database as possible. The EOSI system is now operational and the webpac is available on the ORDOT intranet. Laura hopes it will be on the internet eventually. Currently the library is using many of the EOSI system modules including cataloging, GOPAC (OPAC), and the databridge (Z39.50 gateway). Serials and circulation are not used at this time. Chris Warden, Records & Media Manager, is Laura’s supervisor. The library is currently under Business Services in the organizational chart, which also includes graphic arts, photo video, aerial photography, large document reproduction, and general files/history center. Laura indicated that they will be changing the name of the unit in the near future to be more representative of the group. Chris is an enthusiastic supporter of the library. He says the library used to be a place where books and periodicals were handed out, but now with Laura, it has become an information center and more fully a part of the research process. Laura is working at forging more of a relationship with ODOT’s Research department, and it is in fact Research who is sponsoring the library in the pooled fund. Laura has developed a wonderful PowerPoint presentation to market the library’s services1, and sends welcome letters to new agency employees2. She would like to add a library services brochure to the new employee welcome packet, and be made aware of new hires in a more systematic way with the help of the Human Resources office. Emailing tables of contents has proven to be an effective outreach tool as well. 1 Laura’s PowerPoint presentation can be viewed at http://www.ctcandassociates.com/lpfblog/?p=422 ODOT Library new employee welcome letter can be viewed at http://www.ctcandassociates.com/lpfblog/?p=42

http://www.ctcandassociates.com/lpfblog/?p=42

http://www.ctcandassociates.com/lpfblog/?p=42



Staff Laura Wilt, Librarian When Laura took the job at ODOT, her position was administrative. Since then it has been restructured to the state librarian level. The library originally had one library assistant, but that position was done away with in the late 1990s. Laura earned her M.L.S. from Emporia State University. Physical Space The library is located in the basement of the ODOT headquarters, a space it has occupied since 1994. Laura feels the visibility is not optimal, but it is quite accessible and most transactions are by telephone or email. There is plenty of room to grow, which Laura feels is an advantage. Another plus is the library’s proximity to the graphic arts, maps and history center. The library and history center had no prior relationship before Laura came to ODOT in 2004. Now Laura and Pat Solomon, the ODOT archivist, work closely together to pool their resources to assist patrons. The history center was established in 1990 and has a rich collection of correspondence, photographs, and publications. There will be a seismic retrofit of the building in the future, and that may offer an opportunity for a more visible location, although no date has been set for the renovation. Collection & Services Monographs - 14,000 Serials (active titles) - 65 Audiovisual - less than 50 Online databases - 60+ available through the state library CD-ROMs - 100 The collection is heavy in highways and bridges with planning, geo-hydro and geo-environmental materials also being well represented. As noted above, there is a wide selection of databases available through the Oregon state library, although Laura would like to see more engineering databases in the future. There are office collections around the agency, and Laura says the current custodians are receptive to having the titles added to the catalog. There is another collection at the materials lab, but it is not affiliated with the ODOT library. Laura rates the following services in order of demand at ODOT:

1. Literature searches for roadway and bridge research 2. Research requests from within the agency and from the public 3. Video requests 4. Article and publication requests 5. A/V equipment requests 6. Training/presentations

ODOT Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study Laura is interested in the pooled fund’s ability to provide platforms for information sharing among transportation agencies. She points out that not only do many state DOTs don’t have libraries and would benefit from being part of a network, that marketing and promoting library services are essential to raising visibility of DOT libraries within the agencies fortunate enough to have them. Laura is very interested in having the ODOT library’s holdings represented in TLCat and participating in the group catalog. We also discussed the potential for OCLC’s Content DM for photos and historical collections, if funds were to become available. Laura has investigated applying for grant money – perhaps federal matching funds and using private grants to offset the costs. This has been put on the back burner since the most recent reorganization at ORDOT. Assistance with original cataloging and serials cataloging is also high on Laura’s wish list.

http://library.state.or.us/databases/

http://library.state.or.us/databases/



Photos:



More about ODOT: ORDOT ORDOT Library History Center ORDOT Publications

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/CS/SSB/library.shtml

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/CS/SSB/historycenter.shtml

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/publications.shtml

Oregon Department of Transportation Library Site Visit

2010 Update

Staff

Laura Wilt has been the librarian for the past six years.

History and Overview

The library now uses the EOSi WebOPAC, giving access to the collection both to ODOT employees and to

the public. Circulation and serials modules have been added.

Physical Space

The library will be moving to a temporary space in the fall of 2010 while the main Transportation

Building undergoes a complete renovation and seismic upgrade. The current plan is to bring the library

back to the building, going from the basement to the fifth floor near the cafeteria. This would add an

increased visibility for the library.


Date: 7 March 2006 Site: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Library Staff: Cheryl Bodan, Librarian

Site Visit Summary

History & Overview The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Library has been part of PennDOT since 1979. The department is organized into deputates, and the library was formerly under the Administrative deputate. In the latest reorganization, Cheryl Bodan was aware that they might be taken on by Human Resources, however she didn’t feel that it was the best place for the library at this time, so she looked for another deputate to take the library - one that would offer the most support and the best fit in the agency. The result is that the library is now under the direction of Research and Planning, a move Cheryl is pleased with. Recently, the PennDOT library took over the LTAP collection. The contract was held by Penn State University, and is now handled by a consultant in partnership with PennDOT. After significant weeding, the LTAP collection contains about 150 videos. The LTAP guidelines stipulate that the collection may not be mixed with PennDOT library materials due to LTAP’s mission to provide materials for LTAP customers first, as materials are purchased from their own budget. The collection was housed in Harrisburg in a building owned by Penn State before moving it to PennDOT. Cheryl is happy to report that after a protracted period of negotiation between Sirsi and the PennDOT legal offices, a signed contract is imminent for their new Sirsi Unicorn OPAC and integrated library system. A large retrospective conversion project with Electronic Scriptorium was completed in Fall, 2003. 14,000 items were converted, and another 7,000 still need recon. Only the video collection remains cataloged a local system rather than MARC format. These are the only records that won’t migrate to the new system immediately when Unicorn is instituted and OCLC batch loads all of PennDOT’s holdings into WorldCat and TLCat. The new system is going to help Cheryl streamline her workflow, which will help tremendously as she is now a solo librarian since Dustin Brinton-Wilson left PennDOT about a month ago. Cheryl hopes to get an MLS student intern from Drexel University to assist with cataloging and other library operations. Staff Cheryl Bodan, Librarian Cheryl has been at PennDOT for six years. Previously, she was the librarian for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, a position she held for twelve years. Before her career with the state of Pennsylvania, Cheryl worked in school and public libraries over the years. She has her bachelor’s in Library Science from Millersville State University. Cheryl is now a solo librarian since the departure of the other full-time librarian. She believes the agency will not fill the position in the near future, and intends to hire a graduate student from the library school at Drexel University. It would be a great opportunity for a student to learn about working in a special library, where a very small staff or solo librarianship is often the norm and provides the opportunity to develop a wider array of skills.



Physical Space The PennDOT library is located in the agency’s headquarters in downtown Harrisburg. The library was moved to a new location in November, 2005 from the 5th to the 6th floor and the transition reduced the size of the library by half. They lost 30 feet of shelving, a reading area, the book return, and a magazine rack that attracted a lot of traffic in the library. The library now stores about 500 items off-site. One televisions and one PC were saved (they used to have two of each), although Cheryl hasn’t set them up for use yet. The librarians’ workspaces were visible and accessible to customers in the former location, more so than in the new space. The library was frequently used for informal meetings and collaborative gatherings of DOT staff, as there were tables and plenty of space to do so. Presently, there are two work areas for staff and compact shelving for the collection. Collection & Services 18,000 Monographs 230 Active Serial titles 2000 Videos 100 CD-ROMs The serials collection at PennDOT is quite diverse, The collection serves the PennDOT workforce with, as Cheryl says, “everything from Concrete International to Working Mother.” The extensive video collection is made up mostly of training and safety videos on VHS tape. At 2000 titles, it is the largest video collection of any state library in Pennsylvania, and the collection is continually circulating. Cheryl explained that she is still ordering the format compatible with the agency’s players, as VCRs are still widely in use at this time. PennDOT Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study Philosophically, participation in the pooled fund study appeals to Cheryl for the cooperative aspects of building a transportation knowledge network. Practically speaking, OCLC subscriptions are a high priority for Cheryl, and a big reason she became interested in the pooled fund. Currently, PennDOT is “piggybacking” on the state library’s OCLC membership and their use is very restricted. Cheryl has decided to separate from the state library’s OCLC membership, and we will be instituting WorldCat and TLCat subscriptions for PennDOT through the pooled fund. This will enable Cheryl and her intern to improve their level of cataloging and increase their holdings in OCLC, while benefiting TLCat. As a practical matter, as OCLC services are an important part of pooled fund participation, Cheryl wanted to provide a push for PennDOT to approve the contracts in a timely fashion. A previous attempt to secure a contract with OCLC fizzled out over minor wording of the terms in the contract, and efforts were abandoned after two years. Cheryl is certain these circumstances are no longer in effect at PennDOT and is looking forward to becoming fully operational with OCLC. More about PennDOT: PennDOT PennDOT Library PennDOT Bureau of Planning and Research


http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/web.nsf/PennDOTHomepage?OpenFrameset

http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/Bureaus/pdPlanRes.nsf/infoLibrary?readform

http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/Bureaus/pdPlanRes.nsf/PlanningAndResearchHomePage?OpenFrameset



Date: 9 February 2006 Site: Tennessee DOT Library Staff: Ruth Letson, Library Director

Site Visit Summary History & Overview The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Library was established in 1973. Ruth Letson came onboard in 1978, and she is only the second librarian in the department’s history. Historically, the perception was that the library was only for the planning division because they were physically separate from other TDOT offices. In 1981 the library was moved to headquarters where they are more visible to other units. Ruth feels that the library might have still more internal visibility if it were directly under the commissioner, like other department-wide services like human resources or information technology, for example. However, the library has always been under research which remains part of the planning division. Planning was just recently split into two sections: long range planning, and project planning. The library is now part of long range planning. Until the most recent reorganization (about a year and a half ago), all research was managed by one person at TDOT and was contracted out to the University of Tennessee. Now it is coordinated in-house, and the library has assumed some of the administrative functions, primarily dissemination of research: “In the past year, the TDOT Library, a section of the Research Office, assumed responsibility for entering Tennessee research projects into RIP… and duplicating and distributing both hard and electronic copies of final research reports to individuals and organizations that have expressed interest in them. In addition to TRIS, TDOT’s final research reports are available on our website…” 1 Map sales and Photolog2 have been incorporated into the library’s services which has increased the workload, but also raised both public and internal awareness of the library. Another service the library offers to reach out to their internal customers is the Federal Register alerts. Librarian Rebecca Rhodes scans the Federal Register online each day for items of interest to TDOT employees and emails PDFs to a growing number of internal clients. The service has been very well-received. The Graduate Technology Assistant (GTA) program is also beneficial for internal awareness of the library. GTA recruits from Tennessee schools of engineering spend their first year rotating through several departments before settling into a permanent position. Part of the program is library orientation, and working in different departments, including research, provides opportunities for interaction with the librarians. Ruth believes it is beneficial for the future professionals and decision-makers to regard the library as institutionally necessary. The library has upgraded their Sydney Plus system to the newest version which runs on Oracle. They are continuing with the testing phase and hope to have the catalog available on the intranet very soon. The previous version is still available on TransPORTAL, the department’s intranet information portal. A barcoding project is underway, starting with newly cataloged items and items as they circulate. Ruth would like to hire a student to assist with barcoding the collection over the summer.

1 TDOT Research on the Move newsletter, Summer 2005, volume 1, issue 1. 2 Photolog is a collection of 35mm films (now digital) that began in the early 1970s and concluded in 1996. Every interstate and state route in Tennessee was driven and filmed in its entirety about every four years.



Staff Ruth Letson, Director Rebecca Rhodes, Librarian Sue Knuckles, Map Sales Technician Ruth has been a solo librarian for most of her 28 years at TDOT. She began her library career in higher education and has her MLS from Peabody College. Rebecca has been with the TDOT library for approximately 2 ½ years. She was a school librarian before coming to work at TDOT. She has her MLS from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. She receives orders, posting their receipt and recording the invoices in Sydney Plus. She does most of the cataloging and assists with reference service. She handles Interlibrary Loan requests. She helps supervise the Map Sales Office and assists as needed. Sue is in charge of map sales activities. She has a bachelor of arts degree in English and American Language and Literature from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She fills approximately 1000 requests per month for the Tennessee Official Transportation Map from the on-line request form. She vows we’ve sent one to every resident of Lithuania. In addition, she fills approximately 100 requests for sales of city and county maps and maintains an inventory of maps for use of TDOT personnel. She has recently begun coding invoices for payment for submittal to the Finance Office. She also assists in checking in periodical issues and routing them. Physical Space The library has approximately 2500 square feet. Space was sacrificed when legal offices were expanded, amounting to about 3 ranges of stacks. They are in their third location since Ruth has managed the library. Maps cases for the map sales operation take up large area in front and there is an open reference desk in the center of the library, with the reference area directly across from it and flanked by stacks on either side. Collection Monographs - 15,000 Serials (active titles) - 100 Online databases - 1 (Selected ASCE journals) CD-ROMs - 25 Ruth keeps one copy of 10+ year old Transportation Research Board materials. The collection needs extensive weeding of outdated materials. The 3 most recent years of periodicals are retained on the shelf. Older years are discarded or donated to free up valuable space, as older articles can be acquired through interlibrary loan. The original Photolog 35mm film reels were given to the Tennessee Library and Archives for preservation, as they are now completely digital. This resource fascinated me. Photolog filming began in early 1970s and the “runs” were completed and restarted about every four years. Every interstate and state route in Tennessee was driven and filmed from north to south and east to west. Now digital, you can query for mile marker, county, route number, direction, etc. You can slow down, speed up, and exclude features such as underpasses, or view only the shoulder. It even has u-turn feature. Photolog was integrated into the Tennessee Roadway Information Management System (TRIMS) when the films were digitized in starting in 1996. The reference collection is well-developed, containing the entire Code of Federal Regulations, parts of the United States Code Annotated, and the Tennessee Code Section 10, titles 55 & 56 pertaining to roads, bridges, ferries, etc. The Federal Register is still received in paper, and there are atlases and AASHTO materials in reference as well.



TDOT Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study Ruth’s motivation for participating in the pooled fund study stems less from budgetary necessity than from a desire to help other transportation libraries succeed and participate at the forefront of the establishment of a national transportation knowledge network. Her budget is less constricted than some other members, so she can be more pragmatic about the larger issues. However, having spent most of her 28 years as a solo librarian, Ruth is acutely aware of the value of a solid network and it’s potential. Solo librarians often feel isolated from their peers and networks provide a conduit to communication and resources that would otherwise be out of reach. In addition, as she approaches retirement, the network will be a valuable resource for her successor. Photos:



TransPORTAL TDOT’s intranet site for information.

Maggie Sacco


[email protected]


Date: 14 February 2006 Site: Washington State DOT Library Staff: Steve Cochran, Librarian Leni Oman, Director, Office of Research & Library Services;


Site Visit Summary History & Overview Washington State Department of Transportation was formerly the Washington Department of Highways until it merged into the Department of Transportation in 1977. It now has approximately 6,000 employees. The WSDOT Library was operated as a place-based Branch Library of the Washington State Library (WSL) until 2003. During this time, Librarians were WSL employees place-based at the WSDOT Library. In 2003, the single staff position was transferred to WSDOT into the Office of Research & Library Services. The operating budget (including staff costs) started at $172,500 and has increased to nearly $380,000. The collection budget remains around $30,000 biennium, a figure Leni and Steve are working at growing slowly. Other offices also pay for some online subscriptions and purchases for the Library. The library was moved to a smaller space in the basement of the WSDOT headquarters in approximately 2001. In 2003 there was a proposed 59% budget cut to the WSL’s budget. The actual cut ended up being 27%. This followed an earlier cut and move to a smaller facility. In 2003, the WSL was also directed to provide support to the public but not to state agencies. As a result, several services were cut, including subscriptions to a number of databases used by WSDOT (Compendex and Biosis), and direct mailing to state agencies. WSDOT is currently the only agency not staffed by state library although one other state agency is interested in using the WSDOT model. Leni and Steve feel that it is in the best interest of WSDOT library to remain independent due to the downward trend of the WSL in recent years. A WSL Digital Library Initiative was laid out in 2004, but not funded. Despite that, the digital library initiative moves forward at a slower pace Marketing library services is a major focus at WSDOT. Leni writes a monthly report to the agency executives including library news and statistics, and details of recent reference requests. This has helped agency executives understand that employees are using the Library and value many of the services offered such as Interlibrary Loan and Reference support. A survey

1 was conducted

of library use and awareness within the department. The survey was introduced with a story, The Case of the Missing Library

2, which intrigued respondents. The conclusion

3 of the tale was

presented with the results of the survey. This is an example of a clever dual-purpose marketing effort. The survey collected information to aid the library in better serving their clientele; the interesting presentation raised awareness of the library. Leni has developed a relationship with the Communications Office to discuss knowledge management make Public Information Officers

1 WSDOT Library Survey, November 2003, © 1996-2000. 2 The Case of the Missing Library, a Sherlock Holms-style detective narrative introduction to a library

awareness survey (WSDOT Library Survey, November 2003), was posted on the WSDOT intranet

12/23/03. 3 Episode 2: The Case of the Missing Library, posted 11/8/04.

Maggie Sacco


[email protected]


aware of the resources available in the Library. Steve continues to meet with them whenever possible. Leni asked to submit a one page flyer into new employee orientation packets but was turned down. However, she is interested in pursuing a tactic employed at the Montana DOT to send out a welcome email to new employees describing library services and resources. A folio (descriptive pamphlet) is in development for the library as well. Many WSDOT offices and activities are described in folios with useful information and contacts. Steve plans to make a complete folio collection available in the library. Leni describes WSDOT as an innovative agency continually interested in improvement opportunities. Steve and Leni hope to use this spirit of innovation to apply cutting edge technology to improve information gathering and delivery methods. There is interest in developing wikis as a project tool for their unparalleled utility in presenting collaborative expertise. There is also interest in expanding the use RSS feeds (WSDOT is using Google News alerts now) to deliver news feeds directly to users email. Leni and Steve also expressed interest in blogs as a way to communicate and disseminate information. We discussed the development of a knowledge management portal at WSDOT. Leni and Steve agree it is time to ask What do we know? A knowledge management portal would bring together internal and external information resources and make them available to users via tools on their desktops. Communities of practice could follow. Staff Steve Cochran, Librarian Steve began his position at WSDOT in December, 2005. He comes from Indiana, where he was the director of the Alexandrian Public Library in Mount Vernon. He was assistant director for four years prior to that, has worked as a rare book cataloger at the Old Cathedral Library and Museum in Vincennes, Indiana. Michel Wendt, Reference/Research Librarian Mike began in October of 2005 as a permanent part-time employee, and moves to full time effective April of 2006. He comes from Wisconsin by way of Missouri, and has worked as a Technology Support Librarian at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and as a References and Instruction Librarian at Southwest Missouri State University. Andrew Poultridge, Interlibrary Loan and Collection Services Associate Andrew began in August of 2004 as a permanent part-time employee. He has previous experience in Collection Management and Interlibrary Loan, and Bibliographic Instruction at the South Puget Sound Community College Library. Physical Space As mentioned above, the WSDOT library was moved to a smaller space in the basement in 2001. At the time of the move, there was a perception that removal to the basement was a sign that the library was being closed. Leni and Steve continue to raise the library’s profile through marketing efforts like those discussed above. The library has been remodeled once since July 2003 and is planning to expand by at least 10 ft. in the coming months. Leni plans to continue making requests for more space in anticipation of growth. Collection The collection contains multimodal subject coverage, strongly geared toward highway due to availability of materials and usage of highways as major mode of transportation. A unique mode in the collection is ferries, which are a common form of transportation in the Pacific Northwest. WSDOT’s budget has always been heavily funded in highways and ferries. Currently there are two organizational schemes in the collection. Most of the materials are cataloged and classified in

Maggie Sacco


[email protected]


Dewey, and some 3,000-4,000 reports are in a now obsolete numerical scheme, making it ideal for recon project. WSDOT Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study WSDOT is looking for collection management tools, a way to unify the ability to search for and find highly diverse types of information such as GIS, raw data, records, as-built drawings, and CAD drawings. Steve believes the Transportation Research Thesaurus is perhaps not robust enough to meet the need for a precise controlled vocabulary, and needs to be heavily enriched with both “See/Use” and “See also/Related terms” references. WSDOT is happy with their technical services contract with the state library for interlibrary loan and original cataloging. Collection management tools and ILL rate reduction are Leni’s priorities for the pooled fund and would like to see costs reduced further through participation in the pooled fund. Both Steve and Leni feel a collection management policy is needed. They both echoed John Cherney’s insight into the need to tame the proliferation of documents that continue to result from PDF publishing. They both see an enormous value in locating, organizing and accessing valuable PDF documents in a centralized location to eliminate duplication. Overall, both express keen interest in participating in formation of national transportation knowledge network, and are looking forward to evaluating the pooled fund’s first year results. Photos:

Maggie Sacco


[email protected]


More about WSDOT: WSDOT Library WSDOT Publications / Folios Organizational Chart

Maggie Sacco


[email protected]


Washington State Department of Transportation Library Site Visit

2010 Update

Staff Leni Oman, Director, Office of Research and Library Services

Kathy Szolomayer, WSDOT Librarian (since June 1, 2007)

History and Overview

WSDOT is a founding member of the Western Transportation Knowledge Network (WTKN), which Steve Cochran was instrumental in starting. Kathy Szolomayer, current WSDOT Librarian, was WTKN’s first

Chair, elected in 2007. WSDOT Library staff remain active participants in national initiatives to increase

resource sharing and promote the development of a National Transportation Knowledge Network.

Staff Kathy Szolomayer, WSDOT Librarian Kathy came to WSDOT in June 2007, after nearly 12 years at the Washington State Attorney General’s Law Library, where she was head of reference. Her professional experience also includes work in

community colleges, a bibliographic utility, a state college and a public library. She has a background in

both technical services and public services.

Physical Space In 2009 a remodel of the WSDOT Library space was completed. While the library did not gain square

footage, the physical layout and shelf capacity was much improved by switching from stationary stacks to

mobile, compact shelving.

More about WSDOT:

About WSDOT Library http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/library/

Maggie Sacco


[email protected]


Date: 23 January 2006 Site: Wisconsin DOT Library Staff: John Cherney, Librarian


Site Visit Summary

History The Wisconsin DOT library has been in existence since 1969, when it began as a collection of file cabinets and reports within the department’s planning bureau. In 1972 it was formally organized as a transportation library, providing services and expanding its collection through the absorption of the departments’ rail and transit materials. The library became an OCLC member in 1984. In 1996, the library moved along with the departments’ planning function, into the newly created Division of Transportation Investment Management (DTIM). In 1999, the library was a potential budget cut, which caused division management to call for a complete evaluation of library products and services, both at the home office and in the districts. The evaluation resulted in a report, completed in the Spring, 2000, for divisional management and WisDOT’s Board of Directors. Working with DTIM’s budget director, who wrote the report, the library surveyed customers and collected statistics to evaluate the usage of library services within the entire department. One of the recommendations of the report was to house and integrate various office collections by cataloging them into OCLC, and making them more available to the department and the public. These office collections included computer training videos, books and CDs, affirmative action office materials, career planning items, workplace safety materials, and several donations from district offices. In 2000, the determination was made to maintain the operation of the Central Library at the home office (Hill Farms State Office Building), and create positions to staff the library with 1.5 Full-time employees. Further complementing the staff was a .5 limited term employee. About the same time, the library began a synergistic and collaborative partnership with the department’s Research Coordination Section. This arrangement was formalized during the department’s 2005 reorganization, by placing the library under the newly created Research and Communications Services Section (RCSS), within the Division of Business Management, under the direction of section chief Nina McLawhorn. This section includes not only the strong connection between the research and library functions, but also contains web, graphic arts and audio-visual services. Currently, there are plans to expand the library’s space by creating remote storage options for some of the lesser-used materials. The expanded space in the Central Library will be used to create an Information Commons, an open area where the latest technology will be combined with library staff, and a more pleasant working environment for library patrons. There are various options discussed currently for how to create more space for both the Central Library and the Truax Materials Lab library, a department collection that focuses on technical pavement research on Madison’s east side. Staff John Cherney, Full-time Librarian Wendy Brand, Half-time Librarian JonAnne Hobbs, Three-quarters time Librarian assistant from the University of Wisconsin.

Maggie Sacco


[email protected]


As a result of Nina McLawhorn’s partnership with the University of Wisconsin (UW), a research project was recently implemented to help the WisDOT Library with the equivalent of 80 hours of labor per week. JonAnne Hobbs was hired to fill one of these positions, with the other hire pending. JonAnne’s varied duties include web work, cataloging, serial collection maintenance, journal routing as well as participating in marketing efforts. She has a Masters of library Science from the University of Oklahoma. The other UW position will focus on Web services and virtual library activities. A part-time (15 hours/week) person will be hired for the Truax materials library across town, and is independent of the UW partnership. Physical Space The library is on the 8

th floor of the Hill Farms State Office building on Madison’s west side. The

current library space is approximately 1400 square feet and is very crowded. Currently, there are no private offices for the staff. The information desk is situated at the entrance to the library, with a small reference collection and audiovisual section across from it. There are three PCs for public use, and a copier for staff and patrons. There is a reading table in the front and three study carels, with stacks in between. Moving materials to the basement storage area will be a great help in making the library a more open and welcoming space. The Central Library has responsibility for absorbing satellite collections around the state during the recent reorganization. Collections already absorbed include the LaCrosse, Eau Claire and Madison district office collections. The large collection in Waukesha (near Milwaukee) is to remain in that district office. Staffing concerns for that collection will be addressed in the near future. Collection The WisDOT library collects materials that represent all modes of transportation, including planning, land use, bike/ped, rail, transit, air, water and motor vehicles. The main collection is cataloged in OCLC and uses the Library of Congress classification system. The collection contains:

• Over 33,000 books and technical reports

• 300 periodical titles

• 350 audiovisual materials

• Approximately 250 CD-ROM titles

• Six daily newspapers

• Reference materials, phone books, road maps and tourist information

• Conference announcements1

We visited the Truax materials testing library is located on Madison’s east side. This library is not staffed at present, but as mentioned above, there are plans to hire a part time librarian. The collection contains Wisconsin research reports, FHWA materials, standards and specifications, and many unique items not in OCLC. The collection is largely uncataloged and uses a variety of numbering systems, including LC, FHWA, and the TRB publications nomenclature from the 1970s. Plans, Goals & Concerns John is concerned about the space issues in the WisDOT library, but is optimistic about receiving a larger space and moving some items into storage. There are office collections John would like to see cataloged, which include employee assistance, aeronautics, and legal materials.

1 Wisconsin Department of Transportation Library brochure.

Maggie Sacco


[email protected]


However, the main library has no jurisdiction over these, and although valuable and unique collections, they may continue to be, in effect, hidden and underutilized. In addition to space concerns, John sees visibility as challenge for the WisDOT library. He feels that their target audience - agency employees, practitioners, the public - is largely unaware of the library and the excellent services they offer. A small, internal core group of users is making regular use of the library. This is a major focus of the pooled fund study, with Christi Powers as our administrative coordinator in charge of marketing. John has some great ideas for projects including building a full text and image (archival photos) database in InMagic, their local library software. InMagic is very well suited towards this kind of database/knowledgebase/textbase, and there is plenty of server space to accommodate it. Another project is the “Wisconsin Information Capture”, which John envisions as a systematic search and capture of the wealth of ‘borne digital’ information proliferated by PDF publishing and buried on the invisible web. Information produced by municipal, county and state planning departments, highway commissions, academic centers, and consultants are often buried within Web sites. Even AASHTO and FHWA publications are buried and not captured by library catalogs. The focus would be on state and local information. WisDOT Expectations for the Pooled Fund Study Among the reasons WisDOT was motivated to join and take the lead in the pooled fund study are:

• Raising visibility for transportation information services and professionals

• Increasing resource sharing

• Filling in the gaps within Wisconsin’s transportation information record

• Learning techniques and strategies that other state DOTs are using to manage archival information, including photographs.

Photos:

Maggie Sacco


[email protected]


Wisconsin DOT iCommonsA Physical and Virtual Transportation Learning CenterThree-Year Study to Evaluate the Information Commons in a State Transportation Agency

The iCommons Vision in a State DOTThe Information Commons research project was inspired in part by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s vision statement: “Dedicated people creating transportation solutions through innovation and exceptional service.” The iCommons model, adopted successfully by libraries in the public and academic sectors, offered a potential way to accelerate innovation by improving staff access to internal and external information in a collaborative space or “commons.” WisDOT’s vision included the facilitation of knowledge transfer through the use of both physical and virtual collaborative spaces.

The WisDOT Library was relocated from the eighth floor to the first floor to improve access for employees, business partners and the public.

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Construction of the new library space was accomplished on a tight budget through extensive use of recycled equipment and materials.

Creating a Physical and Virtual Learning Center In keeping with iCommons principles, the research effort ran on two tracks—physical and virtual—to increase the accessibility and use of information in a wide variety of forms. Principal work tasks were:

• Redesign library space with accessible, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant stacks; comfortable seating for individuals and groups; and collaborative work and meeting space.

• Integrate collections of main library and satellite locations; expand online catalog capabilities; launch digital archive repository projects in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Google, Inc.

• Establish computers with user-friendly online access to:* Specialized WisDOT databases, academic and

professional journals, and the collections of other agencies.

* High-end design, office and data applications such as Microsoft Office 2007, Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, and other packages for iCommons users to access for self-service.

• Provide reference and research services at a physical information desk and through Virtual Librarian Services.

• Incorporate webcasting and webconferencing stations for presenting and recording informational talks and training and for interactive online conferences.

• Make appropriate technology available to staff, such as DVD players for self-training and high-speed digital scanning with the capability to save scans to a network drive.

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Surplus state computers were recycled for use at the public Internet station.

Pilot Research Project The iCommons research effort was initiated in July 2006 soon after the creation of a new Research and Communication Services Section within WisDOT and as the planning began for relocating the main library on the eighth floor to expanded space on the first floor of the Hill Farms State Transportation Building in Madison. John Cherney, WisDOT head librarian, and JonAnne Hobbs, a University of Wisconsin associate academic librarian working at the WisDOT Library, served as project investigators. WisDOT Librarian Wendy Brand participated in the implementation of the iCommons.

The WisDOT Research Program provided funding for the project. Research efforts were carried out from July 2006 through June 2008, with the final year of the project (July 2008 through June 2009) focused on communicating the iCommons concept and results throughout the transportation library community and evaluating impacts.

Going Green Keeps Budget LowConstruction of the new library space required close cooperation with WisDOT facility designers. A literature search, phone interviews and on-site visits to academic, special, corporate and public libraries provided solid concepts for implementing the iCommons vision, but tight budget restrictions called for creative approaches at every step. Examples of the use of cost-conscious, recycled materials:

• The new circulation desk was created by bolting together three used office desks and custom-fitting them with a decorative table top and front panel built in-house. Cost: one-tenth of a library circulation table.

• All shelving was acquired at no cost (from old library and other state agency salvage) and electrostatically painted to give it a new look.

• Carpet tiles, tables, lounge chairs and bookcases were recycled from other WisDOT offices and a state surplus warehouse.

• Surplus state computers were recycled for use at the Internet station (open to the public).

Comfortable seating (above) and collaborative work spaces invite library use. The new circulation desk (below) was built in-house from surplus materials at one-tenth the cost of buying new.

Telling the WisDOT Library and iCommons Story Head Librarian and Principal Investigator John Cherney explained the motivation, planning and execution for the WisDOT iCommons through the following regional and national publications and meetings:

• Spring 2007 issue of SLANT, a publication of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Special Libraries Association: http://units.sla.org/chapter/cwi/slant_spring07.pdf

• November 2007 online meeting of the Transportation Librarians Roundtable, hosted by the U.S. DOT’s National Transportation Library: http://ntl.bts.gov/networking/tlrarchive/iCommons/

• January 2009 poster session at the TRB Annual Meeting: http://www.libraryconnectivity.org/annualmeetings_files/JCherneyWisDOTiCommonsTRBposter_jan%2009_final.pdf

John Cherney (second from left) explains his poster on the WisDOT Library and iCommons at the 2009 TRB Annual Meeting.

Measuring the ImpactsThe WisDOT Library and iCommons Learning Center has changed dramatically in the past three years. WisDOT statistics show that library and information services to WisDOT customers and the public have expanded significantly. The commitment of WisDOT leadership along with the dedicated work of Library & Research staff has made the following gains possible during the three-year pilot research project:

• Walk-in traffic by WisDOT staff has tripled, and walk-in traffic by the general public has more than quadrupled, underscoring the importance of the move to the first-floor main entrance, close to the Division of Motor Vehicles customer service center.

• Item checkout from the library’s physical collection has tripled, with increased use of physical space for meetings, webconferences, reading and study.

• Electronic document delivery through FTP and document delivery through photocopying and scanning have tripled thanks to the new copier/scanner/fax machine.

• Internet terminal use by WisDOT staff and the public has quadrupled due to three additional terminals and a more user-friendly environment.

• Use of quick reference services has quadrupled, with doubling of requests for literature searches and in-depth reference.

AcknowledgmentsThis research project was

made possible by the

Wisconsin Department of Transportation,

Ann Pahnke, Research & Library supervisor,

4802 Sheboygan Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53705.

For more information, contact John Cherney, head librarian and

principal investigator, at [email protected]

or (608) 264-8142.

http://units.sla.org/chapter/cwi/slant_spring07.pdf

http://units.sla.org/chapter/cwi/slant_spring07.pdf

http://ntl.bts.gov/networking/tlrarchive/iCommons/

http://www.libraryconnectivity.org/annualmeetings_files/JCherneyWisDOTiCommonsTRBposter_jan%2009_final.pdf

http://www.libraryconnectivity.org/annualmeetings_files/JCherneyWisDOTiCommonsTRBposter_jan%2009_final.pdf

mailto:john.cherney%40dot.wi.gov?subject=