In preparation for our back to back Board and Business meeting on Sunday, here are the agendas.

Transportation Division Board Meeting
Sunday June 9, 2013 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Convention Center, Room 26B

Transportation Division Business Meeting
Sunday June 9, 2013 3:30pm – 5:00pm
Convention Center, Room 25C

See you there!

This year’s GTRIC Roundtable will be held on on Saturday, June 8th from 8:00 to 12:00 pm. Session attendees are to meet in Room 25B of the San Diego Convention Center. D-TRAN Chair-Elect, A.J. Million will facilitate the event.

Welcome:  8:00 – 8:15 am

Introductions: 8:15 – 8:45 am

Los Angeles Metro & Public Private Partnerships: 8:45 – 9:30 am
Matt Barrett, Los Angeles Metro

Networking Update: 9:30 – 9:45 am
Carol Pazamant, ETKN Chair, Karen Perrin, MTKN Chair, Laura Wilt, WTKN Chair, Maggie
Sacco, HS InFocus, Mary Moulton, NTL

Coffee Break: 9:45 – 10:15 am

Innovation Award Presentation: 10:15 – 11:00 am
Kendra Levine, UC Berkley, Kenn Bicknell, Los Angeles Metro

Collaboration Workshop: 11:00 – 11:45 am

Wrap Up: 11:45 – 12:00 pm

The Special Library Association’s Transportation Division is proud to name Ken Winter as the recipient of the Division’s Professional Achievement Award.  Ken joined SLA’s Transportation Division in 2003 and since then has continually demonstrated his commitment to the national transportation librarian community through his activities at the Virginia Department of Transportation and within SLA.

Ken is the Manager of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Research Library where he modernized the library services and made valuable local research accessible to all by digitizing the entire run of VDOT research reports, which are now publicly accessible through TRID database and National Transportation Library.  To better foster access to library resources, Ken led the development and implementation of both the library’s website and automation system.

Read more

The SLA Transportation Division 2013 Innovation Award has been awarded to Kenn Bicknell and Matthew Barrett of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Library & Archive for their Los Angeles Transportation Headlines.

The Los Angeles Transportation Headlines began in Fall 2005, the very the early days of blogging and social media. The original focus of the Headlines were to help the LACMTA Planning Department stay current with transportation research, but has evolved as new technologies came on market. Currently it is one of the best curated transportation news and information services on the internet. Their willingness to experiment with new technologies and innovate service models embodies the spirit of the award.

Read more

The April 2013 issue of Kaleidoscope, the Quarterly Newsletter of the Special Libraries Association Transportation Division,  is online.

Thanks Rosalyn.

Today’s webinar entitled “Providing Value: Library Return-on-Investment” was a resounding success! A big thanks goes out to those who were able to attend. If you would like to review this presentation the GoToWebinar recording is available for you to download.

If you enjoy programing like this, D-TRAN plans to offer additional online learning opportunities in the future. Stay tuned!

The Transportation Library Connectivity & Development Pooled Fund Study is thrilled to announce the publication of Proving Your Library’s Value: a Toolkit for Transportation Librarians!  

The Toolkit is available to help you define and communicate the value that your library brings to the parent organization. Authors A.J. Million (Univ. Missouri), Sheila M. Hatchell (Mn/DOT) and Roberto A. Sarmiento (Northwestern Univ. Transportation Library) have developed this toolkit to assist transportation librarians in identifying and articulating the low-cost, high return of library services.

Saturday, June 8, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, GTRIC Roundtable: General Transportation Information Committee

A ticketed event, the General Transportation Research Information Committee (GTRIC) Roundtable – formerly targeted to Government employees – is intended to provide a mixed forum to discuss the latest developments in Transportation. This year’s session will consist of a variety of speakers from both the public and private sectors. Topics will include the development of Transportation Knowledge Networks (TKNs), how long-term government funding concerns can be expected to impact construction contractors, new models of public-private cooperation, and the ongoing need for public transparency.

Sunday, June 9, 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm, Standards Update - Co-sponsor

The Standards Update is your opportunity to meet many of the standards development organizations (SDOs) and vendors. Learn about new developments and the latest product or technological innovations. Ask questions and provide feedback while the SDOs are all in the same room!

Sunday, June 9, 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm, Transportation Division Board Meeting

This Transportation Division (DTRN) Board Meeting is intended to provide officers an opportunity to address relevant business. The issues raised will be presented at the Annual Business Meeting. Members interested in leadership positions are also encouraged to attend.

Sunday, June 9, 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm, Transportation Division Business Meeting

This Annual Transportation Division (DTRN) Business Meeting is coupled with a special presentation titled, “Fact or Fiction: Is America’s Infrastructure Really Crumbling?” As part of this session, issues raised at the DTRN Board Meeting will be presented to those in attendance. New business will also be opened for discussion. All Division members are encouraged to attend, and a roundtable format will help to facilitate an informal – but lively – debate.

Monday, June 10, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm, Self-Defense for Librarians - Co-sponsor

Personal safety is especially important during conferences when many of us are visiting an unfamiliar city. In this workshop on self-defense techniques Evan Dzierzynski, Owner and Lead Coach of NOVA Self Defense, will show us how we can defend ourselves safely.

Monday, June 10, 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, Open House - Co-sponsor

The Solo Division and Government Information Division Division invite you to join us for a few hours of fun, networking, food and great company! Celebrate another great conference with old and new friends.

Tuesday, June 11, 10:00 am to 11:30 am, Biofuels: Past, Present, Future - Co-sponsor

Biofuels have generated controversy and discussion ever since they were touted as an alternative to petroleum, please come and here what the history, present state of affairs and the future holds for biofuels

Tuesday, June 11, 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm, Crucial Confrontations - Co-sponsor

Tom Holloway (FAA) introduces the concept of “Crucial Confrontations”: a process for enhancing accountability, improving performance, and ensuring execution. By learning how to talk about violated expectations in a way that solves problems while improving relationships, you’ll improve individual, team, and organizational effectiveness.

Dear Transportation Division Members:

I want to thank you for your continued support of the Transportation Division by maintaining your membership and contributing as you were able. This includes serving in leadership positions and also helping your colleagues in their day-to-day work by providing needed resources, answering questions, participating in surveys, collaborating on support letters, and other incidentals that keep our Division alive and thriving.

I would like to acknowledge and thank some members in particular who helped with major initiatives this past year.

• Kendra Levine was our program planner for the annual conference. Kendra put some great programs together and saw to many of the details that made our portion of the conference come off smoothly.
• Betsy Aldridge has been our Treasurer the past two years and did an excellent job keeping track of our finances and advising us along the way about past and present spending as we worked to keep our budget in balance.
• Aileen Marshall served ably as Division Secretary and took notes at our monthly Board meetings that helped immensely in keeping us on track with our goals and objectives for the year.
• John Cherney as past chair gave of his time and experience as he attended all of our Board meetings and answered many of my questions over the year, providing sound advice.
• A. J. Million, elected to serve as Chair in 2014, developed a membership recruitment plan and related materials, positioning the Division to move forward next year in attracting and recruiting new members to add to our Division’s knowledge base and enhance membership commitment.
• Karen Neinstadt did a great job in her first year as Vendor Relations Chair, securing funding support for conference activities and producing timely and attractive publicity for our vendors. Karen was assisted by Qin Tang, and Bob Sweet as past chair, was a helpful mentor to Karen.
• Rosalyn Alleman was instrumental in resurrecting the Division’s newsletter, Kaleidoscope, providing a format to share information across the transportation information community and keeping us all apprised of current happenings.
• Jim Byerly assumed the duties of Discussion List Manager and Website Manager. He has been adding content to the website throughout the year and will continue to do so next year. Jim also resolved several problems with the discussion list and removed inactive accounts.
• Kay Geary our awards committee chair and Carol Paszamant committee member, for their assistance in managing the Division’s Professional Achievement and Innovation Awards, from the announcements, to the receipt of nominations, to the creation of award plaques.
• Arlene Mathison and Nominating Committee members John Cherney and Laura Whayne for developing a slate of candidates and holding elections to secure our 2015 Chair Karen Perrin and 2013/14 Treasurer Kay Geary.
• Maggie Sacco, Kirsten Seeber and everyone else at HS InFocus who provided flawless transportation planning to the SLA Annual Conference and other professional events for many of our division members.
• Roberto Sarmiento and Jennifer Boteler for developing their award-winning publication Transportation Libraries Collection Development Policy Template.
• Rita Evans for her numerous contributions to the Transportation Division as well as to her local SLA Chapter, leading to her DTRN Professional Achievement Award.
• Karen Neinstadt and others who brought marketing materials and shared success stories at GTRIC.
• Paul Burley for his “Sailing Through Cataloging” presentation of tips and tricks for new and experienced catalogers.
• Rita Evans, chair, and committee members John Cherney, Jada Maxwell, Karen Perrin, and Amanda Wilson who revised the Innovation Award making it more accessible and sustainable into the future.
• Bob Cullen and Amanda Wilson for their dedication to and support of the monthly Transportation Librarians’ Roundtable, keeping us all abreast of recent developments and innovations in our profession.
• Susan Dresley, Mary Moulton, and Elizabeth Weldekidan for completing and launching the long-anticipated revision of Directory of Transportation Libraries and Information Centers.
• And anyone else I may have inadvertently neglected to mention.

With DTRN’s 2013 Board of Directors that includes Chair Kendra Levine, Chair Elect and Conference Program Planner A.J. Million, Secretary Aileen Marshall, Treasurer Kay Geary, and Chair Elect-Elect Karen Perrin, the Division is in great hands.

Happy Holidays and all the best to each of you in the New Year!

Sheila Hatchell, MLIS, 2012 Transportation Division Chair