Year Three of the pooled fund has seen big changes. This is the last post to the blog, so sorry to those who subscribe to the RSS feeds…you might have guessed that it was being phased out. We have a new website at http://www.libraryconnectivity.org. You can get the latest news and updates there. Check out our Members & Partners page for an interactive map of our members where you can download their profiles. Our membership now stands at 18 members in 16 states, up 63% from Year Two. There are now three operating regional TKNs, and I’m pleased to say that the pooled fund and its members have been instrumental in initiating and sustaining these networks, along with Amanda Wilson (NTL), Ken Winter (VDOT VTRC), Dale Steel (AZDOT) and too many other dedicated librarians to list here. We’re looking forward to collaborating on special projects and events with the TKNs and NTL, so check our new web site for all the latest!
Iowa is in! Our membership as of this post is as follows: CA, Center for Transportation Studies (University of Minnesota), IA, ID, KS, LA, MN, MO, MS, MT, Midwest Regional University Transportation Center, OH, OR, PA, TN, WA, WI. We now have 17 members, 6 of them are new going into the next two years. Progress!
From the TPF site:
TPF-5(105) Study Partners: CA, Center for Transportation Studies (University of Minnesota), IA,ID, KS, LA, MN, MO, MS, MT, Midwest Regional University Transportation Center, OH, OR, PA, TN, WA, WI. New members in BOLD! That’s 45% increase - wow! (I hear there’s another one, but they aren’t on the TPF site yet, so I’ll just wait to unveil our 6th new member, who will bump us up to a 54% increase…)
All are welcome - just look at the distinguished company you’ll be in. Contact our chair from WisDOT, Ann Pahnke for more information on the Transportation Library Connectivity Pooled Fund Study
What are the benefits of joining our pooled fund? What can we do for your library? What do we get out of this? All good questions. Take a look at what we have been doing for our libraries and the transportation library landscape over the last two years: Transportation Library Connectivity Pooled Fund Accomplishments, Phase 1. We have big plans for the future.
Thanks to Roberto Sarmiento for posting this to tranlib today:
Understanding Research Behaviors, Information Resources, and Service Needs of Scientists and Graduate Students: A Study by the University of Minnesota Libraries
Report Prepared by Cecily Marcus, with Stephanie Ball, Leslie Delserone, Amy Hribar, and Wayne Loftus; Co-Principal Investigators Linda Watson, Director, Health Sciences Libraries and Karen Williams, Associate University Librarian, Academic Programs
June 2007
How do scientists share work with colleagues, both internal
and external to the University? What kinds of collaborative workspaces are used
or needed, both physical and virtual? Are they exploring new forms of electronic
publication? How do scientists collect, manipulate, mine, and preserve their
data? How do scientists use libraries? And how can the libraries better facilitate
research in the sciences?
The study will inform current and future library planning, and will assist academic
leadership in understanding how libraries can maximize the increasingly
expansive nature of scholarly inquiry in the sciences. Within the library, the
results of the study allow us to identify how the needs of scientists differ from
those of other scholars, as well as how the scholarly process across the
disciplines is characterized by an increasing dependence on a wide array of
electronic resources and tools.
An interesting read for all of us in the transportation library/info services field - have a look, tell us what you learned or was affirmed by the study.
Thanks to Barbara Post who posted this on tranlib this morning:
“TRB’s new Research Needs Statements (RNS) database is now available. The database contains some 700 transportation research needs statements that have been prepared and approved by 125 of TRB’s technical activities standing committees. While TRB standing committees have long been responsible for maintaining a collection of research needs statements, the new database provides a central location that allows easy searching and sharing of the statements. Organizations, agencies, universities, students, consultants, and others who fund and conduct transportation research can now quickly and confidently identify where the focus of their critical resources is most needed. The database will be updated continuously by TRB’s standing committees. The RNS database can be accessed at http://rns.trb.org/
Thanks to all of our panelists and presenters for making the 2007 annual meeting such a great success! Presentations will be uploaded as they become available.
Tuesday, September 18:
janet_bix_caitlin_mckee.ppt
Wednesday, September 19:
Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together: Library, Research and Transportation Information Management Initiatives - moderated by Christi Powers
Amanda Wilson, NTL Director - Update on NTL & RITA
Frances Harrison, SpyPond Partners - Update on NCHRP 20-75
Arlene Mathison, CTS - Advocacy Initiatives (TALENT, AASHTO Spec. Task Group)
Monique Evans, Ohio DOT - Reauthorization overview
Kathy Szolomayer, WSDOT - WTKN Update
Synergy Within the Library Landscape - moderated by Jerry Baldwin
Bonnie Osif, Penn State (academic)
Peter Young & Gary McCone, National Agricultural Library (federal, special)
Amanda Wilson, NTL - Collaboration
Thursday, September 20:
Connecting the DOTs - Forming Regional Transportation Knowledge Networks - moderated by Maggie Sacco
Bob Sweet - MTKN Update
Kathy Szolomayer - WTKN Update (above)
Amanda Wilson - ETKN Update
Keynote Address: Doug Newcomb, SLA Public Policy Officer
Sidebar functionality has miraculously returned. I was able to repopulate the sidebar with most of the links and widgets that were previously lost. Let me know if you notice anything missing that I may have forgotten or if there’s something you would like to see on the blog.
The blog is alive, but perhaps not as well as it could be. We’ve had some really frustrating technical issues. One is that we lost the ability to publish posts and sometimes they could be found living in the drafts section, and other times it seemed like they went out into the stratosphere. I regret the deafening silence of the blog this summer, and we’re working on a solution to improve the software and integrate it with the website. No content should be lost when the move occurs, but all the fun widgets that used to be in the sidebar will have to be repopulated when the move occurs. I’ve lost that function entirely on WordPress and there seems to be no fix for it at this time. Bear with us. Thanks!
Day 3 - our final day and although we adjourned at 1:30, it was a very productive conclusion to a hugely successful meeting. We began with a web session: “Connecting the D.O.T.s – Forming Regional Transportation Knowledge Networks: How to Support, Sustain & Fund” - moderated by Maggie Sacco (CTC & Associates)
Bob Sweet, MTKN chair and librarian, University of Michigan Transportation and Research Institute (UMTRI)
Kathy Szolomayer, librarian, Washington DOT
Amanda Wilson, director, NTL
We discussed the funding recommendations in SR 284 (p.73-81) and how we can be creative about finding the money. As Bob Sweet says, “Where will the money come from? Wherever it is now.”
We welcomed Doug Newcomb, chief policy officer, Special Libraries Association via the web for his address focusing on the “SLA Outlook on the Library Profession” and had time for Q&A with him regarding the reversal of the EPA library closures and SLA’s part in the campaign to restore the regional EPA library funding.
SLA is very active in public policy that pertains to information access and libraries. Check out their activities and get details on EPA, Net Neutrality and LOTS more!
This is so exciting - Scott Menter from LTRC has set up a listserv for the pooled fund. We now have our own blog, a website and listserv. So high tec ;-)
