By Guest Blogger Tori Robertson, San Jose State University Graduate Student
Knowledge management was not a subject that I previously knew much about, until I was able to take a class all about it from a Knowledge Manager (my professor, Crystal Megaridis). Knowledge management is important as an information professional of course, but it can also apply across the board in any and all organizations. The definition of Knowledge Management as I learned it from Professor Megaridis is: “the disciplined approach to solving business problems by leveraging information assets and employee knowledge.” What all that means is that using the collective knowledge of current leadership, employees, and important organizational information to create a space where all of those things can be found in one place and used by the company is invaluable to current and future staff. Current staff because they would be able to access information readily rather than running around trying to find it in different places. Future staff because it would be easier for them to train for a new position with this information available at their fingertips.
A knowledge manager is someone who takes all this relevant organization information and creates a space within the company, whether it be an information center or a library, where all of it is accessible to employees and leadership. It not only needs to contain and parse out this information, but also make it relevant to the employees as well. If they do not know how to use it or it does not serve them in a way that makes sense, it will not work, and will therefore make it irrelevant. So, knowledge managers also work with the employees in the organization to make sure it is tailored to them, and that leadership will lead by example so that employees will inevitably follow and utilize the knowledge management system put in place.
Honestly, I could go on about knowledge management, but this is a crash course and not a college course, so this is some of what I learned in a nutshell. Currently, I am a graduate student at San Jose State University in California, and I am getting my master’s degree in library information sciences in the winter. Learning this information in this one-unit course was invaluable in knowing how knowledge management relates to most organizations for me, and I hope that it will help you a little in figuring out what it means as well! Thanks for reading.
The SLA Transportation Community board is happy to share that Sheila Hatchell is receiving the 2024 Professional Achievement Award, and Eric Schwarz is receiving the 2024 Innovation Award.
Sheila has led many accomplishments while directing MnDOT Library since 2007, including an award-winning renovation of the library space in 2010-2011, the Return on Investment study of MnDOT Library in 2013, MnDOT Library Strategic Plan in 2017, and the vision to increase the library's digital services in recent years. Contributions to the larger community include co-authoring Proving Your Library’s Value: A Toolkit for Transportation Libraries and serving as president of the SLA Transportation division in 2012.
Sheila Hatchell with SLA Transportation Community 2024 Professional Achievement Award. With Sheila are (L-R) Maddie Kuncio, Qin Tang, Karen Neinstadt and Marilee Tuite. Missing is Jim Byerly. "I must also recognize our wonderful MnDOT Library staff – Jim Byerly, Qin Tang, Karen Neinstadt, Maddie Kuncio, and our special projects librarian Marilee Tuite, because none of this would have been possible without the amazing work each of them brings to the library every day," stated Sheila.
In 2023 Eric found the names of five men who had sacrificed their lives in an employee newspaper called The Highway, published from 1942 to 1950. He pieced together the stories of these five men using the accounts from The Highway, supplemented by research using the New Jersey State Library’s newspaper databases and draft registration cards from a military records database.
Eric presented these stories as the keynote speaker of NJDOT’s 23rd Annual Remembrance Ceremony where the names were added to the memorial wall.
Eric Schwarz with SLA Transportation Community 2024 Innovation Award. Photo taken July 9, 2024, at the New Jersey Department of Transportation's Employee Memorial. Photo by Glenn Catana, New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Sheila and Eric were nominated by their peers.
The purpose of the Professional Achievement Award is to honor those who have rendered distinguished service or have made a significant contribution to transportation libraries and librarianship. This contribution or service may take the form of contributions to library and transportation literature or bibliography, to the work and effectiveness of the Special Libraries Association and the Transportation Division, or to the transportation field through organizational work or publications.
The Innovation Award will recognize a project, technique, tool, or practical solution that has improved or has the potential to improve access, dissemination, or retrieval of transportation information. The project, technique, tool, or practical solution will have been developed and implemented during the previous two years. Particular consideration will be given to those that have broad applicability, where results are likely to be replicable in other settings.
Posted on behalf of Glenn Cole, Manager, Library Services, Transportation Association of Canada (TAC), gcole@tac-atc.ca
Madeline Kuncio, Librarian, MnDOT
This article was reprinted with permission from the MN DOT Newsline, February 28, 2024 and was originally titled "On the Job: Madeline Kuncio does the research (and more)", written by Doug Mack
https://www.newsline.dot.state.mn.us/articles.html#Z5
From historic maps to obscure documents to the latest news in specific industries, there’s lots of information that MnDOT employees need but sometimes can’t find on their own. Madeline Kuncio and her colleagues at the MnDOT Library are there to help through research and other services.
I started in August 2021, so about two and a half years.
Most people think of us as a provider of books and e-books, but the bulk of the librarian’s work is reference and research for the entire agency, both in person and online. Most people reach out to us over email or our Ask-A-Librarian form, but we’re open every day from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We also send out curated news alerts on various topics of interest to MnDOT, like Connected and Automatous Vehicles, Sustainability and Public Health, and Government Workforce Development. Last year, we started the MnDOT Digital Library, which contains digitized copies of MnDOT material, including books, maps, photographs and reports.
It depends on if I am at home or in the office. I come in at least once a week, and usually more. About half my time is spent working on the MnDOT Digital Library: getting materials scanned, creating metadata and ingesting the items into the library. If I’m in the office, I work on projects such as preparing material for digitization, working with the physical collection and doing research that I can’t do online. If I’m at home, I focus on uploading documents to the digital library and creating metadata, and anything I can do completely electronically.
We work with other offices when they need information and help accessing resources. MnDOT Library is a focused, specialized library, so for materials requested by staff that we don’t own, I borrow reports, books and articles from other libraries, who borrow specialized material from us as well. Now that we have the MnDOT Digital Library, I work with other offices to see if they have material that they want to preserve in another repository. The material we collect sometimes overlaps with eDOCs, but it has both a wider and narrower focus.
Probably how many different subjects my work touches on. I’ve done research on Minnesota laws, public engagement best practices, the history of the Office of Communications and how DOTs around the country are planting native plant species to make roadsides into pollinator habitats.
I love to cook, and I’m trying to learn painting at the moment.
Beth Burnett, Metadata Librarian, National Transportation Library
at the Stegastein Viewpoint in Norway
Beth Burnett is the Metadata Librarian for the National Transportation Library (NTL). NTL is a fully virtual library with over 60,000 resources, datasets, and briefs catalogued in its Rosa P portal. While she isn’t NTL’s first metadata librarian, the position has been vacant for a few years, so this is an excellent opportunity for Beth to employ strategic thinking and create a metadata plan for the library. She’s only been in her position since December 2023, and already she’s improved some of NTL’s metadata guidelines around resource authorship. Two talented contract catalogers work for Beth, and she plans to help with some of the hands-on cataloging too from time to time so she can identify challenges that her cataloguers encounter.
Beth was raised in Florida, obtained her bachelor's degree in psychology from Auburn University in Alabama, and her graduate degree in library science from University of Alabama. Her previous positions included working as a digital scholarship librarian and head of technical services for Georgia Southern University.
She resides in Savannah, GA. In her spare time, you’ll find Beth hiking, crafting, and reading. One of Beth’s favorite things about Savannah is going to the annual book festival, where she has seen several of her favorite authors speak including Stephen King, T.C. Boyle, Kiley Reid, Tom Perrotta, Joe Hill, Ruth Ware, Victor LaValle, Lauren Groff, Grady Hendrix, Karen Thompson Walker, and Gabrielle Zevin.
Beth also enjoys traveling with her husband. She’s been to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Japan, and the British Isles (where she enjoyed visiting the library at Trinity College in Dublin). Since NTL staff work remotely, she hopes to meet her colleagues in-person someday at a meeting or conference.
The “most popular” resource may well go to the Transportation Statistics Annual Report. This report presents an overview of the U.S. transportation system and key indicators, including data and statistics on passenger travel, freight movement, transportation and the economy, system reliability, safety, energy use, and the environmental impacts of transportation.
Beth sees all the new resources catalogued for ROSA P and likes resources with creative titles. For example, one new title is Hammer Time: Using the Schmidt Hammer to Improve the Forecasting Accuracy of the Rockfall Activity Index (RAI). Anyone who remembers the MC Hammer song “U Can’t Touch This” will probably smile at that reference.
Mondays are always great days for Beth. She and NTL Digital Librarian Mary Moulton kick off the day by meeting to review all the cataloguing records from the previous week, often adding additional Transportation Research Thesaurus (TRT) terms, and additional subject terms that are not in the thesaurus. After that is a cataloging meeting, followed by various projects. While she doesn’t staff the virtual reference desk, the work that technical services does is used in many ways by reference services.
Beth would like to get to know her colleagues (including fellow NTKNers), start providing metadata metrics, and publicize the good work that the NTL cataloguers are doing.
Metadata is complicated! Beth advises that if you get stuck, look at previous work by other cataloguers to get “unstuck.” Don’t reinvent the wheel. She’s interested in seeing what artificial intelligence (AI) may bring to the domain of metadata – it may prove useful for scanning for errors.
Decluttering and organizing. Beth finds it energizing and satisfying to bring order to environments of any size, whether it be a drawer, a closet, or a room.
Guest Blog Post by Eric Schwarz, Research Librarian
New Jersey Department of Transportation
Photo description: New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti presents Eric Schwarz with a plaque for his research leading to the addition of five names on the memorial wall. All photos in this article are courtesy of Glenn Catana, NJDOT Office of Communications.
Research and digitization work at the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has opened up the opportunity to recognize road workers who died on the job many decades ago.
Like many other libraries, the NJDOT Research Library is:
Tragically, dozens of workers from the NJDOT and its predecessor, the New Jersey State Highway Department (NJSHD) have died while on the job and on the road. In 2000, the NJDOT erected an Employee Memorial wall with a plaque for each of the 32 employees known to have died under these circumstances. Over the years, four names were added, including those of employees who gave their lives in 2007 and 2010. This brought the pre-2023 total of known names to 36.
In early 2023, NJDOT Research Librarian Eric Schwarz found the names of five additional men who had sacrificed their lives, in an employee newspaper called The Highway, published from 1942 to 1950. These names were added to the wall during the NJDOT’s 23rd Annual Remembrance Ceremony and 22nd Anniversary of 9/11, held on September 11, 2023.
The Highway, and an older publication (The Highwayman, 1921-1922) were being held in the NJDOT’s Communications Office. Curiosity, establishing a good relationship with the Communications Office, a “cleanup campaign” of NJDOT offices, and the Transportation Research and Connectivity Pooled Fund were all factors contributing to the discovery of these five names, which were missing from the wall.
Over its eight years, The Highway published 80 issues, each four pages long. All it took to find the five missing names (Arthur Reinhardt, Walter Eckert, Jeremiah O’Brien, William Kays, and Joseph Platt) was reading through each of these issues.
Using the accounts from The Highway, supplemented by research using the New Jersey State Library’s newspaper databases and draft registration cards from the military records database Fold3, Eric pieced together the stories of these five men, their deaths, and their lives. He presented stories of these men, and of the archival and digitization work, as the keynote speaker at the 2023 remembrance ceremony.
The NJDOT unveiled its Employee Memorial on September 8, 2000, coincidentally about one year before the terrorist attacks on America on 9/11/01. Since 2001, the Employee Memorial has taken on additional meaning, and the ceremony has been held on or about September 11 each year since 2002. The ceremony also honors military personnel and veterans, law enforcement, and emergency responders from NJDOT and the New Jersey State Police.
Research continues to find additional employees of New Jersey’s Highway or Transportation departments who also sacrificed their lives on the job. Two of the main sources for this research are newspaper databases and the New Jersey Death Index.
Based on this work, Eric will present a poster at the TRB Annual Meeting on Jan. 8, 2024, “Discoveries in the First Year of New Jersey DOT’s Digitization Project.”
MORE ABOUT THE INTERNET ARCHIVE PROJECT AND THE NJDOT LIBRARY:
New Jersey is one of the partners in the Transportation Research and Connectivity Pooled Fund. This fund provides the money, and the framework, for the NJDOT Research Library’s collection in the Internet Archive.
As of November 22, 2023, there were 195 documents and 12 videos available in this collection. Highlights of the initial items posted to the NJDOT collection include: a 20-year video history of the Employee Memorial; a local TV documentary about a bridge restoration; monthly reports from 1956 to 1966; annual reports from 1939 to 1991; The First Five Years of the Garden State Parkway, 1954-1959; NJDOT’s 50th anniversary commemorative book from 2016; and some issues of The Highwayman (1921-1922). Issues of The Highway (1942-1950) and other employee publications will be posted in the next few months.
The NJDOT is working with its partner, the New Jersey State Library (NJSL), to catalog and index the Internet Archive documents in the NJSL’s DSpace archive. This archive, in turn, will feed into the DPLA via the DPLA’s New Jersey/Delaware Hub.
For a more complete account of the Remembrance Ceremony, and additional photos, please visit an archived page of the NJDOT Technology Transfer web site.
By Guest Blogger Alexandria Lowery, San Jose State University
Let’s be honest. Many people’s idea of a “librarian” is a person working in a school, college, or public setting. However, my time enrolled in the Master’s program for Library and Information Science at San Jose State University has taught me otherwise. The information profession has tons of job titles I was not aware of, even for someone who worked in the field for a couple of years now. For example, there could be an “art librarian” or “technical services librarian”. Both of which require different qualifications for one to apply to them.
I interned remotely at National Rural and Tribal Assistance Program (National RTAP) and was supervised by a professional with a job title I never heard about: “Knowledge and Resource Manager.” She’s also a transportation librarian. Please, cue the confusion.
So, what does a transportation librarian do?
(Image credits: TRB, Montana Transportation Department, Washington DOT, VTI/Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute)
According to Cara Marcus—"what defines transportation librarians is their commitment to collections, research strategies, and knowledge that enhances mobility, equity, and sustainable infrastructure for all.”
In other words, she helps those working in the transportation industry obtain the relevant and accurate information easily. And here I thought it was another way of saying she was a “Traveling Librarian.” Alas, the latter means something else that is not my focus for this blog post.
As I work my way through my MLIS degree, I have no doubt that I will again encounter different jobs with unexpected titles for those on their way to becoming information professionals.
Anders Johnson, Montana Transportation Department Librarian
Anders Johnson is the new Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) Librarian and came onboard in July 2023. Here’s some impressive numbers: the MDT library serves about 2,000 employees in 5 districts throughout the state and contains about 30,000 holdings, of which about 20,000 are print resources. This is even more impressive when you consider that Anders is a solo librarian (he is grateful to have a recent graduate intern who is helping him). While he is making progress through a cataloging backlog, he’s also performing outreach with different MDT departments and learning more about the field of transportation librarianship.
Anders received his bachelor’s degree in rhetoric (which is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing) from University of California, Berkley, where he worked in the university library and paved the path to his future career. He received his PhD from University of California, Irvine in September 2023, following his successful dissertation defense on European literary modernism (think Joseph Conrad). He also got a master’s degree in literature along the way, as well as a graduate degree in library science from Indiana University, Bloomington.
Through all his studies, Anders continued to work in libraries – including the Fine Arts Library at Indiana University, Bloomington where he was the supervisor of circulation and technical services and an internship in cataloging at University of California, Irvine.
PhD students don’t have much spare time, but Anders is looking forward to getting back into playing the synthesizer and collecting more movies. He has a sizable collection (lots of horror movies) and may open a movie archive to the public someday.
What are some of the gems in your collection? There is a very cool book called Taming Big Sky Country by MTD resident historian John Axline about the history of Montana transportation back to 1860. The author is still at MTD and Anders is considering hosting a book talk about the book at the library.
Another gem (especially since Anders likes horror movies) is "The Whale" - a digitized video recording with footage from 1970 which shows Oregon DOT staff exploding a dead whale carcass with dynamite. In the video, some of the exploded whale blubber crushes a person's car. Please note, soon after the video was taken, legislation was passed forbidding this type of handling.
The library also has an Overdrive collection through a partnership with the Montana State Library. This collection contains electronic books and audiobooks on many topics, such professional development, time management, etc. Anders hopes to grow this collection to include books on the history of transportation.
A question on storm-water management was memorable, and the MTD library contained a lot of books and DVDs for Anders to dig into (pun intended). It was also the first question Anders received in his new role, which made it especially memorable, and helped him to familiarize himself with the collection.
While Anders’ most well-known superpower may be his adaptability, he also has a secret (till now) superpower: After he healed from a motorcycle accident, he can predict when it is going to rain by how his foot feels.
“The process one goes through to obtain a PhD provides a substantial background in research. You need to navigate numerous resources which more than prepares you for a library role. You certainly get to know a library when you are writing a dissertation,” says Anders. Like many PhD candidates, he was an instructor while studying for his PhD, and feels that the process of teaching can prepare one for many aspects of library outreach and public speaking.
By Guest Blogger: Emily Tiet, Library and Information Science Graduate Student at San Jose State University
My name is Emily Tiet and I am currently in my third semester of a Masters of Library and Information Science program at San Jose State University. During the spring semester of this year, I took a class called Information Literacy and Learning, in which one of my assignments was to create a LibGuide.
The LibGuide was to be about a topic of our choice, so I chose a topic that hits close to home for me: depression. I wanted to create a LibGuide not only for those struggling with depression to seek resources, but for people seeking information on how to support a loved one through depression as well. To do this, I included information geared toward both parties. For example, on the home page, I wrote a description of what depression is, its common symptoms, what not to say to someone with depression, and most importantly, a link to find a therapist or psychiatrist for those who may need it.
I also included links to various resources, such as books, helpful databases, and relevant journals. For the print resources, I separated my recommendations into self help books for those suffering from depression and books to help understand depression better in order to support a loved one. For the databases and journals, I only wanted to include ones that are geared toward mental health, wellness, and psychology, so that users could narrow down resources easier.
I realized during the creation of my LibGuide that many of the resources on the Internet were very clinical. While the clinical side of mental health is important, it is equally as important to provide a compassionate and empathetic approach that acknowledges the emotional journey of individuals dealing with depression. Many resources focus on the diagnostic aspects, treatment options, and medical terminology, but these can often feel detached and impersonal to someone who is already grappling with intense emotions. I hope that my LibGuide can contribute to a more open and empathetic dialogue around mental health, as well as assure those struggling that they are not alone, and that it is never too late to seek help.
As I reflect on my journey of creating a LibGuide during my Information Literacy and Learning course, I've come to appreciate the art of curating knowledge in a way that serves diverse audiences. I began by selecting a topic that held personal significance to me, and I soon learned that this emotional connection can be a powerful motivator throughout the process. I then prioritized sourcing high-quality information to populate the LibGuide, placing the utmost importance on the resources' caliber. After, I toggled between many layouts and formats to decide on one that ensured intuitiveness and user-friendliness. Crafting an effective LibGuide involves thoughtful organization, clear categorization of resources, and an intuitive layout that aids users in navigating the wealth of information available. My experience emphasized the value of finding a balance between comprehensive information and approachable presentation, ensuring that users of varying expertise can benefit from the guide. This endeavor has shown me that LibGuides are not just repositories of information, but gateways to understanding, and their creation is a chance to contribute to the spread of knowledge and make a positive impact within a community.
Eden Orelove, Archivist/Historian
National Transportation Library (NTL)
Shown volunteering at King Street Cats
Eden Orelove is brand new to the National Transportation Library (NTL) – she just started on June 20, 2023, as the Archivist/Historian. While she is not NTL’s first historian, she is its first archivist. And she is not a novice to the archival field – she’s held positions at the Smithsonian as the Technical Services Archivist in the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and as the Photo Archivist for the National Museum of African Art. She recently began exploring the many boxes of documents and memorabilia at NTL and is excited about what she will discover.
Eden obtained her bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington in Seattle and her MLS at the University of Pittsburgh, where she concentrated on archival management. She obtained a second graduate degree in art history from The George Washington University. Her favorite class in her library program was on preservation, and she is excited to preserve NTL’s exceptional collection. So far, Eden has enjoyed meeting staff members and has begun familiarizing herself with the history of the Department. In her past position at the National Museum of African Art, Eden curated and processed materials related to African art and culture. steamships.
In her spare time, you’ll find Eden running . . . marathons! Not just any marathon – her goal is to complete all six World Marathons (so far, she has completed 4, including the Tokyo Marathon) and will soon be running a marathon in Antarctica. She and her husband Andrew like to travel and have a cute cat named Purrsephone (a pun on the name of the Greek goddess of spring and queen of the underworld). Eden also volunteers at King Street Cats – the only all-volunteer, cat-exclusive, no-kill rescue facility in Alexandria, Virginia.
We have already uncovered some valuable binders of papers collected by State DOT Secretaries, including some from the Eisenhower administration. The NTL collection includes many spectacular historical maps, photographs, and rare newsletters and publications that document the history of transportation from the 1800s onward.
As Eden makes progress organizing the NTL archives, she is happy to answer reference questions from DOT staff, government officials, and researchers. A memorable question she received while working at the Smithsonian Institution was from a visitor who asked if she could take the Kermit the Frog puppet out of its display case to have her picture taken with it. Obviously, Eden said “No!”
Eden is a highly successful mentor. In a 2012 conference presentation titled “Working as a Contract Archivist: Strategies for Success,”, Eden advised, “Take advantage of networking opportunities. Don’t be afraid to meet people. If You Feel Overwhelmed… Contact Me.”
“Archives enable us to understand and learn from our past. Reflecting on our history enables us to grow and shape a better, more informed future.”
By Guest Blogger Alexandria Lowery, San Jose State University
I am a student currently pursuing her Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) at San Jose State University. One of the first courses we were required to take was Information Retrieval Database Design (aka: Information and Knowledge Management).
So, what is this course about? It essentially teaches students how to organize information and learn how to make that information easily retrievable for others.
This course was designed around group projects that was related to different aspects of designing databases. For one group project, we built a database using the work previously assigned to us in the course. Our database was created in Caspio and focused on spices and spice blends.
There were many surprising components involved when creating the database. For example, we needed to determine who our target users were—home cooks who shopped online and cooked as a leisure activity—and their information-seeking behaviors (i.e., what keywords would they most likely search for). Then, we needed to create the rules for the categories we came up with. That is, the guidelines for designers to follow when upgrading the database but remaining consistent with the formatting. We also needed to ensure our database was easy to use and grasp for first-time users.
Personally, this class was both challenge and exciting. I am a person who never went dealt with the “behind-the-scenes” of a database, let alone creating one. So, it really forced me to think differently not as a user, but as a database designer. After all, we all know how annoying it is to go to a website only to find it is hard to figure out or it makes us click on too many links to get a small (but accurate) piece of information needed from the site. Overall, this course boosted my awareness on the importance of creating accessible databases for users while ensuring they are easy to maintain and update the more time passes.