Traditionally, a small group of libraries have been responsible for providing information service within the transportation community. They have managed collections while supporting practitioners and decision-makers. Yet, today a vast amount of industry information is not collected or posted to the internet without a management plan. User research habits are also changing. Recognizing this, a national effort has been made over the past five years to advocate for the development of improved library and information centers. Unfortunately, stakeholders have been hampered by time and funding constraints. To overcome these constraints, this Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF) supports and evaluates collaborative library development. It also enhances existing efforts to develop a national transportation information infrastructure using Transportation Knowledge Networks (TKNs). While facilitating coordination among federal, state, academic and private sector libraries, this study provides technical and promotional support. Moreover, it capitalizes on previously developed networking initiatives to implement research tools and analyzes their effectiveness. Library services can be supported locally, but collaboration allows for shared problem solving, resources as well as potential time and cost savings through best practices, defrayed costs and collective purchasing power. All of these things are critical in an era of real-time communication.

To support the coordinated development of transportation libraries, help implement TKNs and extend efforts beyond those of the TPF-5(105) Transportation Library Connectivity pooled fund, the following objectives have been adopted. These will be accomplished through member activities, partnerships with professional groups such as TRBs Library and Information Science for Transportation Committee, SLA's Transportation Division and the services of a qualified consultant: 1. Provide technical guidance to eligible members, focused on smaller libraries that are served by only one librarian, while emphasizing an increased reliance on self-sustaining networks. 2. Promote the value of transportation library and information services through the following activities: a) Create key information products to demonstrate the value of, and further the contribution of, libraries to the field. b) Deliver presentations to gatherings of DOT administrators, such as meetings of AASHTO and TRB Committees (Highways, Planning, Environment, etc...). c) Share training materials and provide training sessions, with an added marketing component, for library users at member institutions. 3. Conduct an annual meeting and workshop, in conjunction with other events, to help members demonstrate the value of library and information services to their customers. 4. Develop an interactive content management system (CMS) based project website, including tracking and reporting information, as well as provide limited access to server space. 5. Collaborate with the National Transportation Library, the AASHTO RAC Task Force on TKNs and other stakeholder groups to enhance communication between transportation librarians, specifically to support their projects as they help implement Transportation Knowledge Networks. 6. Pay OCLC and TLCat subscriptions for eligible pooled fund members. 7. Implement focused research and technology projects, as proposed by members, on an annual basis. Potential projects which have already been identified include: a) Financial, technical, and logistical support for the creation of an NTKN portal website as envisioned in NCHRP Report 643. b) The completion of a return-on-investment case study highlighting the tangible contributions of libraries to research. c) A collaborative cataloging project to expand access to transportation resources, possibly done in conjunction with the National Transportation Knowledge Network, alleviating member time constraints. d) Pooled subscriptions for online databases to improve the accessibility of electronic information while reducing access costs to member libraries. e) Digitization support for institutions wishing to convert printed copies of older materials to digital formats.

Pooled fund activities will include the objectives listed above. All seven of these can be classified into one of three areas: promote library and information services, support the development of a national transportation information infrastructure by connecting libraries, or providing resources for members to ensure that these networks can serve practitioner and decision-maker needs.