FHWA Research Library Martha Soneira Team Leader, Strategic Communications Federal Highway Administration

On Becoming A World-Class Library

Library Enhancements = Happy Customers

Staffing The FHWA Library Bunch Cataloger Photo Cataloger Technician Manager

Challenges -- Undoing Bad Habits Library seen as a source for copies of FHWA reports to keep or give away to colleagues. Photocopying of reports in their entirety in violation of copyright law. Using the library as a dumping ground for unwanted or unneeded publications. Arrangement of collection by publication type or geographic location of publisher. Use of Access Database used to create catalog records. TFHRC employees spending a lot of their time trying to find information or publications on their own, instead of coming to the library.

More Challenges Greater information access Information overload Justifying ones existence Money If we have more information today, we suffer for this very reason from a dearth of knowledge. Brookings Institute

Library Goals and Objectives Collections Photo Archive Outreach Interlibrary Loans Document Delivery

Collections Goals FHWA Reports will be fully cataloged, rearranged and shelved more appropriately Organize and catalog State Research reports Establish a process for disposition of giveaways

Performance Aug 05-Mar 06 ½-time cataloger cataloged 1600 items. Batchloading project was partially successful – DBText ran against OCLC 1751 records matched 2260 unmatched (due to incomplete Access database records converted to DBText) May 06 FHWA Research Library is the only holder of 1,275 TLCat items 240 OCLC items

Photo Archive Goal To catalog and store images for use by FHWA staff

Interlibrary Loans & Document Delivery Goals Establish onsite access to OCLC WorldCat and Resource Sharing Use local government, academic & special library collections Subscribe to electronic resources (online indexes, full-text journals)

Resources Developed Reference Interview Targeted Literature Searches Access to Databases IRRD through Transport Private STINET (Defense Technical Information Center) DoD ASSIST UC Berkeley Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

Outreach Goal Promote library services Intranet Web page Open House Informational Meetings Training sessions Evaluate

Open House Announcement Want an update on library services and resources available to you now? Heres your opportunity to meet with those who care about your information needs! Open House Turner-Fairbank Technical Reference Center Meet Technical Reference Center staff and learn about available and planned services. Stay for demonstrations of new and improved online resources

Question... Why does TFHRC need a technical reference center or a professional librarian?

Interlibrary Loan Requests

Our Next Steps Searchable online catalog on a TFHRC server Create a Web presence for the library with links Solicit management support for funding for subscription databases & print subscriptions & books Investigate ways to provide more electronic content to customers Continually market services to employees

Staying Alive Maintain the image of The place to go for FHWA R&D reports Preserve institutional memory Explore options for going digital