1. Transportation Knowledge Networks Task Force
July 23, 2012
1:00 to 2:39 pm EDT
AASHTO RAC Meeting, Burlington, Vermont

2. Purpose
The TKN Task Force serves as a forum to develop the concept, understanding, and application of transportation knowledge networks for the transportation sector. The TKN Task Force advocates and supports the rapid and efficient exchange of information resources through development of strategies and the innovative use of technology.

3. Members Leni Oman (WSDOT-Region 4), TF Chair
Camille Crichton-Sumners (NJ DOT-Region 1)
Lynn Matis (MA DOT-Region 1)
Sandy Brady (LTRC – Region 2)
JT Rabun (GA DOT – Region 2)
Cynthia Gerst (OH DOT – Region 3)
Daniel Yeh (WI DOT – Region 3)
Dave Ahlvers (MoDOT – Region 3)
Ron Curb (OKDOT – Region 4)
Dale Steele (AZDOT – Region 4)

4. Affiliates Mary Moulton (RITA NTL) Dawn Vanlandingham (FHWA)
Lisa Loyo (TRB)
Vacant (CUTC)
Vacant (TRB LIST)
Amanda Wilson RITA NTL (NTKN)
Lynn Matis, MA DOT (ETKN)
Laura Wilt, OR DOT (MTKN)
Karen Perrin, IL DOT (MTKN)

5. 33 Friends/14 Active Jennifer Boteler, FHWA TFHRC Librarian
Sandra Tucker, Texas A&M Librarian
Anita Vandervalk, Parsons Brinkerhoff
Roberto Sarmiento, Northwestern University
Tommy Nantung, INDOT
Marie Manthe, KSDOT
Chris Hedges, TRB
Jennifer Rosales, TRB
Tom Palmerlee, TRB
Anne Ellis, AZDOT
Jim McDonnell, WisDOT
Moy Biswas, NC DOT
Glenn Roberts, NH DOT
Nelda Bravo, FHWA
Maureen Hammer, VADOT
Shashi Nambisan, ISU
Tim Klein, RITA
Rick Collins, TxDOT
Sandra Larson, IADOT
Sue Sillick, MTDOT
Rita Evans, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley
Kendra Levine, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley
Sena Loyd, Nevada DOT Librarian
Betty Ambler, CTDOT Librarian
John Cherney, Wisconsin DOT
Bob Cullen, AASHTO
Frances Harrison, SpyPond Partners
Anita Vandervalk, Parsons Brinkerhoff
Kathy Szolomayer, WSDOT
Andy Everett, WSDOT
Gordon Kennedy, WSDOT
Jeff Mixter, OHDOT
Ida Van Schalkwyk, CH2M Hill

6. Membership Needs CUTC Rep
What are the data and information needs of the researchers?
How are information products produced by universities shared within the transportation community?
How do we help practitioners find experts and facilities?
TRB Library & Information Science for Transportation Rep
Many members and friends are involved with LIST but we don’t have an official representative
Need to develop/formalize connections with:
TRB Special Task Force on Data for Decisions and Performance Measures
Data Section/Data Committees
TRB Task Force on Knowledge Management
Others?

7. Meetings Monthly conference calls You’re welcome to:
First Thursday of each month
One hour: 8:30 to 9:30 Pacific Time
GoTo Meeting and VoIP/conference line
You’re welcome to:
Listen in
Participate
Send your ideas on needs or opportunities
Contact Leni Oman )

8. Recent Accomplishments
TKN Video
Thank you, Ron and OK DOT!
Distributed to RAC, posted to AASHTO TV and YouTube
Informational Papers
Bibliographic Database vs. Library Repository: TRID and NTL (Completed. Authors: Laura Wilt, OR DOT & Lynn Matis, MA DOT co-lead)
Using the TRT to Catalog Data (Completed. Author: Andy Everett, WSDOT)
Information Portals: Perspectives, Planning, and Practices (Completed. Authors: AJ Million MO DOT; John Cherney, WisDOT; Bob Cullen, AASHTO)

9. More Recent Accomplishments
Knowledge Networks reference in MAP-21
Research problem statements
Two problem statements vetted by the TKN TF resulted in NCHRP (active)
Reviewed e-publications research need, opted out
Information Sharing
Climate Change Clearinghouse guidance updated
Collaboration
With other groups through members and the TKN Chairs
NTKN Meeting July 19th
TKN (NTKN, ETKN, MTKN,WTKN, AASHTO RAC) Chairs meet monthly. LIST, Library Connectivity TPF, and SLA-Transportation Division being added
Language from MAP-21
‘‘§ National Transportation Library
‘‘(a) PURPOSE AND ESTABLISHMENT.—To support the information management and decision making needs of transportation officials at the Federal, State, and local levels, there is established in the Bureau a National Transportation Library which shall—
‘‘(1) be headed by an individual who is highly qualified in library and information science;
‘‘(2) acquire, preserve, and manage transportation information and information products and services for use by the Department, other Federal agencies, and the general public;
‘‘(3) provide reference and research assistance;
‘‘(4) serve as a central depository for research results and technical publications of the Department;
‘‘(5) provide a central clearinghouse for transportation data and information of the Federal Government;
‘‘(6) serve as coordinator and policy lead for transportation information access;
‘‘(7) provide transportation information and information products and services to—
‘‘(A) the Department;
‘‘(B) other Federal agencies;
‘‘(C) public and private organizations; and
‘‘(D) individuals, within the United States and internationally;
‘‘(8) coordinate efforts among, and cooperate with, transportation libraries, information providers, and technical assistance centers, in conjunction with private industry and other transportation library and information centers, with the goal of developing a comprehensive transportation information and knowledge network that supports the activities described in section6302(b)(3)(B)(vi); and
‘‘(9) engage in such other activities as the Director determines to be necessary and as the resources of the Library permit.
‘‘(b) ACCESS.—The Director shall publicize, facilitate, and promote access to the information products and services described in subsection (a), to improve the ability of the transportation community to share information and the ability of the Director to make statistics and other information readily accessible as required under section 6302(b)(3)(B)(x).
‘‘(c) AGREEMENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, the Director may enter into agreements with, award grants to, and receive amounts from, any—
‘‘(A) State or local government;
‘‘(B) organization;
‘‘(C) business; or
‘‘(D) individual.
‘‘(2) CONTRACTS, GRANTS, AND AGREEMENTS.—The Library may initiate and support specific information and data management, access, and exchange activities in connection with matters relating to the Department’s strategic goals, knowledge networking, and national and international cooperation, by entering into contracts or other agreements or awarding grants for the conduct of such activities.
‘‘(3) AMOUNTS.—Any amounts received by the Library as payment for library products and services or other activities shall be made available to the Director to carry out this section, deposited in the Research and Innovative Technology Administration’s general fund account, and remain available until expended.

10. Building Blocks of a TKN
NCHRP Report 643 Implementing Transportation Knowledge Networks, Dec.21, 2009, TRB

11. Goals and Activities Research Report Management: Outreach:
Repositories: State of the practice & recommendation (active, Dale Steele, AZ DOT lead)
Distribution strategies (active, Sena Loyd, NV DOT lead)
Quality (active – with RAC-CUTC)
Formats (pending, have team members, need a lead)
Outreach:
Communication plan (active, Kathy Szolomayer, WSDOT, and Lynn Matis, MA DOT co-lead )
Reports to RAC & SCOR (ongoing)

12. Goals and Activities Information Sharing Information best practices
Collating Calendars (active, Laura Wilt, OR DOT & Cynthia Gerst, OH DOT co-lead)
Research websites and information architecture (in discussion)
Data Management
Will assist Safety Information Workshop recommendations
Information Sharing
International Information Workshop prep and outcomes
Webinar/outreach plan (active, Andy Everett, WSDOT, Mary Moulton, RITA NTL, Frances Harrison)

13. Research Report Management
Need for expectations, guidance, and best practices for research report management
Distribution amongst state DOTs, USDOT Administrations, universities, and other interested parties
Managing collections and repositories
Report formats

14. Help Wanted Information we can always use:
Team Lead for Research Report Format Update Task
FHWA point of contact for the official process
Team Lead for Research Information Workflow
Can we value stream map the process?
Need Research managers, librarians and website
Information we can always use:
Information tools and resources you like that you think we should do more of
Priority information needs – what needs help first
Advocacy – help people understand information doesn’t manage itself and that we can improve by working together

15. Next Steps Next meeting: August 9, 2012, 8:30 AM PDT
Continuing tasks with input from this meeting
Follow up from NTKN Meeting: expanded “steering committee” and work plan

16. Timeline of TKNs NCHRP Rpt 643 Implementing TKNs 2009 Jun 03
Scoping Study for National Strategic Plan for Transportation Information Management
Jan 06
TRB Spec Rpt 284
TKNs: A Management Strategy for the 21st Century
Aug 07
WTKN
2001
MTKN Pilot
Jun 12
MAP-21 mentions TKNs
July 07
RAC TKN TF
Nov 08
ETKN
Apr 04
TL Cat
Oct 05 – Still Active
Transportation Library Connectivity Study
Aug 10 – Dec 12
NCHRP Improving Management of Transportation Information
In the beginning were:
SLA- Transportation Division,
TRB LIST ABG40 and the
National Transportation Library

17. NTKN Vision Themes: coordination role, executive body
national resource to take and initiate resolution of info management problems too big for local or regional (cross-cutting)
not focused on executing actions, but coordinating across available groups
information management for transportation community, not just librarians
information exchange unit between transportation and broader LIS initiatives (represent transportation and bring back info for transportation)
general notes:
one minute, one sentence elevator speech
aimed at general audience
focused on outcome and user, not internal process

18. DRAFT NTKN Work Plan Action Items
Establish a formal NTKN Steering Committee
Purpose of the NTKN Steering Committee is to
(1) provide oversight and development of an information management agenda for transportation;
(2) coordinate activities between regional TKN and partner groups
(3) conduct planning and needs assessments with the user and stakeholder community
(4) communicate and conduct outreach regarding all of the above
Members
Membership:
NTL Director
Regional TKN chairs,
AASTHO RAC TF chair
TRB LIST chair
Library Connectivity and Development Pooled Fund rep
SLA Transportation Division chair

19. NTKN - Next Steps
Expand current monthly TKN chairs group to become NTKN Steering Committee in August 2012
Develop guidelines for operation (how projects are proposed and moved forward, developing an agenda; communicating with stakeholders) by December 2012
Review and approve NTKN communication – logo, presentation templates, website establishment and content by September/October 2012
Review TRB Safety Information Sharing Workshop action items and determine TKN groups that will support each to move that agenda forward
Develop near-term national agenda and strategic focus for NTKN activities   

20. Better Safety Results Through Information Sharing: A Workshop
Objective: To identify concrete ways that the library and information sciences community can collaborate more effectively with safety researchers and practitioners to improve the delivery of relevant and timely information that will reduce crashes and save lives.
slide source: Frances D Harrison, 13 July 2012, TRB Workshop

21. Issues and Ideas - 1 Finding what you need Enhancing search strategies
Training on how to search
Search support – role for information specialists
Costs and value of specialists
Enhancing search channels
People
Leveraging existing networks
Digital tools
Safety search tools
Making info more findable
Guidance for using standard key words
Market existing safety information resources/directory?
slide source: Frances D Harrison, 13 July 2012, TRB Workshop

22. Issues and Ideas - 2 Securing & archiving information
Improving existing information repositories
Archiving key data
Making the case, providing motivation, standardization
Statewide/regional data repositories
Unpublished papers
“Gray literature”
Avoiding/reducing duplication
Guidance for archiving research methods and data
Data citation
Reproducibility
slide source: Frances D Harrison, 13 July 2012, TRB Workshop

23. Issues and Ideas - 3 Common Language Describing Information (Metadata)
Definitions, thesauri, glossaries
Crosswalks for changes in terms over time
Describing Information (Metadata)
Data quality
Data derivation
Source/Credibility
slide source: Frances D Harrison, 13 July 2012, TRB Workshop

24. Issues and Ideas - 4 Valuation Marketing data
Assessing the value of safety data – the case for investment
Assessing the value of advanced search methods
Marketing data
Marketing existing sources, tools
Marketing data programs
Communication and collaboration tools
Communicating the value of safety information
Case studies and stories
Building bridges to data users – analysts & policy makers
Collaborative research teams – bringing information scientists aboard
Analysis tools
slide source: Frances D Harrison, 13 July 2012, TRB Workshop

25. Issues and Ideas - 5 How to leverage:
TRB Committees, Research Communication and Collaboration Task Force
TRCCs
SHRP-2 Implementation/Knowledge Transfer Systems
Transportation Knowledge Networks …
slide source: Frances D Harrison, 13 July 2012, TRB Workshop

26. Workshop Actions How to search Making Data & Information Findable
Methods
Tools
Google meta search on safety resources
Training
Assessing quality of data and information
Communicating data quality
Making Data & Information Findable
Guide on metadata for creators
Developing a unified safety thesaurus/vocabulary
For search, retrieval, and website architecture
Include commonly-used terms
slide source: Frances D Harrison, 13 July 2012, TRB Workshop

27. Workshop Actions Develop a guide to safety resources
NCHRP Synthesis
Should be updated periodically (every 2 years?)
Find, access, and archive GreyLit
NCHRP project
Include a survey
Enhancing access to data behind reports
Bringing together organizations and entities who have a stake in this issue
Objective: policy documenting why this is good practice
Could be an NCHRP project or funded in some other way
Continuing the conversation beyond this workshop
WORKSHOP NOTE: AAA foundation for public safety does solicitations for projects and are potentially a source to support some efforts
slide source: Frances D Harrison, 13 July 2012, TRB Workshop

28. Other ideas: Notes and Strategies
General Notes
Think about non-highway safety issues
note financial resources to support action item tasks
scope note: public domain information only focus for action items or proprietary initiative – needs to be noted because they need to be treated differently
Strategy: How do we go out and find information that is not currently available in existing resources
NCHRP project to compile grey literature
Focus on safety – info supporting legislative testimony or court cases
Challenge might be to specify a focus for literature
SHRP-2 Knowledge Transfer activities – ensure using sustainable information practices
TRB LIST committee – explore safety data in “big data issue”

29. Other ideas: Transportation Taxonomies
ACTION: Transportation Research Thesaurus expansion
BUILD OUT: Integrate TRT expansion with TRB committees through the Back to Basics initiative
Spend a year to focus on safety area
Build out
DEPLOYMENT: Add direction on the Technical Documentation page to get the word out about the TRT
Reason to use the TRT (use for better search results and lists)
BUILD a new taxonomy team (building on glossaries of safety from committees and other areas)
ACTION: Need to think more broadly than transportation and intersect with enforcement and health fields
What are the non-traditional groups
How do we integrate our activities with them and continue to build bridges
Potential partner is TRB TAC

30. Other ideas: Tools demonstrate Google is not good enough
ACTION: give tools to use the Google better (training, etc)
PRODUCT: wallet card to give to students for tips
ACTION: how do you ensure what makes things findable
What elements to use
Address all different formats of materials
how to disseminate effectively through social media
Audience: researchers and creators for documents
How can we get some efficiencies with proliferation of one-stop shops
Where is there duplication?
Where is duplication appropriate and where is it not?
ACTION: what is out there and how can we put into different buckets and network resources
NCHRP Synthesis report
Topics – where is it housed, how do you sort through information (information cycle and how to use data)

31. Other ideas: Communications
Forum for the workshop participants in the future?
Formalized task force or committee
Who is primary audience for home for task force?
How do we reach out into the future for action
Using COPs in practice areas to push information to practitioners
Push resources out to these channels
This addresses practitioner perspective

32. Improving Research Information
What are out business needs?
National
Within State Programs
Researchers
What information resources do we rely on/need?
What are our information products that we need to deliver?
What are out business needs?
National communication
Research unit description
Research Procedures Manual
SPR Research Workplans?
Research Projects and Reports
High Value Research
Peer reports
Surveys
Within State Programs