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Research Tools

A guide to transportation research sources with an emphasis on government information and materials in the public domain

Digitization Projects and Collections of National Significance to Transportation

National Transportation Library

ROSA P Collections Link to ROSA P Collections  Collections in ROSA P present information about a shared topic, research area, or mode of transportation.  Notable collections of digitized legacy content:

  • Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 50th Anniversary  Link to FTA 50th Anniversary Document Collection  Collection of historical documents digitized in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Urban Mass Transportation Act.
  • Investigations of Aircraft Accidents 1934-1965  Link to Investigations of Aircraft Accidents  Digitized copies of United States "Civil Aeronautics Board Aircraft Accident Reports," dating from 1934 to 1965. Incident reports are searchable by airline name (at time of incident), site of incident, and date of incident.

NTL Digital Special Collections  Link to NTL Digital Special Collections  In an effort to preserve its materials and to provide easy access for NTL customers, the library has digitized numerous collections including:  Advisory Circulars, CAA and FAA Reports, Civil Aeronautics Manuals, Civil Aeronautics Regulations, Federal Aviation Regulations, Historic CAB/DOT Orders, Investigations of Railroad Accidents, Investigations of Aircraft Accidents, National Conferences on Street and Highway Safety, Papers By H.S. Fairbank - Frank Turner - T.H. Macdonald, and US Coastguard Circulars.  Patrons must register to use the service; the registration process is explained the first time you visit the site.

Library of Congress  Link to Library of Congress   Physical and digital collections include books, historic maps, images, newspapers, and oral histories.  Noteworthy Digital Collections  Link to Digital Collections: 

National Technical Information Service (NTIS)  Link to NTIS  Home to Federal Data Products including the National Technical Reports Library (NTRL)  Link to NTRL

Internet Archive  Link to Internet Archive  Free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications, moving images, and public-domain documents.  As funding permits, NTL partners with IA to digitize and make freely available, historical technical reports produced by the US Department of Transportation. Link to Internet Archive NTL Collection