Transportation Library Quick Guide: Introduction: Background

Previous Editions

The first Transportation Library Connectivity pooled fund study (TPF-5(105)) produced, among other things, the Transportation Librarian’s Toolkit in 2007, which was updated in 2009 in the second edition. Both the 2007 and 2009 editions sought to:

• Ease the learning curve of those new to librarianship and/or transportation.
• Pull together the collective wisdom of members on topics that the pooled fund has addressed through its work on connecting and networking transportation libraries.
• Serve as a living document, updated frequently in print and online, to capture some of the institutional memory that is leaving DOTs as retirements increase.
• Give transportation librarians of varying experience levels and work situations some tools to inspire, enhance and streamline librarians’ work as well as library operations to make the transportation library an indispensable resource within the parent organization.

In 2012, a previous iteration of the pooled fund study also produced Proving Your Library’s Value: A Toolkit for Transportation Librarians, which focused on capturing and communicating the value of information services within an agency.

About the Quick Guides and the Transportation Library Toolkit

This current edition of the Quick Guides and Transportation Library Toolkit shares the purposes of the previous editions. Additionally, it is aimed at helping new and seasoned information professionals meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities in a time of evolving information needs, capabilities and contexts.