Conduct of Research Committee has new website

The Conduct of Research Committee has a new website. The site will be used for Committee business, notices, agendas and minutes, and as a central repository for activities and documents related to the Goal Teams.

On a personal note

This is Lisa Pogue, co-chair of the committee. Just wanted to let folks know that I am now working as information specialist at the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute. I am still settling in but I'm already blogging on our intranet. --- lisa

Call for poster presentations

On behalf of the TRB Library and Information Science in Transportation Committee, I am sending you this "Call for Poster Proposals." We would like to request that you forward this call for proposals to the TRB Technology Transfer Committee membership. Thank you.
TRB 90th Annual Meeting, January 23-27, 2011 - Call for Poster Proposals

Call Title
Search, Discovery and Current Awareness: New and Innovative Uses of Online Research Tools in Transportation Research and Implementation

Sponsoring Committee
ABG40 Committee on Library and Information Science for Transportation (LIST)

Call Description
The Committee on Library and Information Science for Transportation invites you to submit proposals for a poster session focusing on new and innovative uses of practical online search, discovery and current awareness tools that can give modern transportation professionals a competitive edge. Posters will be displayed at the TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, January 2011.

Background
Extending a theme begun with LIST’s 2006 presentation session on wikis, blogs, RSS and podcasting, and continued in 2007, 2008, and 2009 with LIST sessions on the application of Web 2.0 social media technologies, the committee is issuing a call for posters related to new and innovative uses of online research tools as they relate to search, discovery and current awareness in transportation. This poster session is designed to complement this year’s LIST-sponsored workshop titled “The Right Tool for the Job: Search, Discovery and Current Awareness Tools, Tips and Tricks for Busy Transportation Professionals.” While the workshop will provide a high-level overview and will focus specifically on TRB and Google tools and ways they can be used to find high-quality transportation information, the poster session will allow presenters to explore specific tools and specific techniques in great depth. This poster session is not limited to TRB and Google tools.

Description
The poster session will focus on new and innovative uses of tools and techniques that can be used by transportation professionals to save time and improve the work effectiveness of professionals who must quickly search for, find and ultimately make decisions based on reliable information. Posters will showcase successful efforts, programs or initiatives by individuals or agencies. The poster session will highlight methods, tools, technologies and techniques that TRB attendees could put to work immediately to improve the ways they search for, find, organize and use transportation research, information and data. Examples could include but are not limited to automated current awareness tools and techniques, Web 2.0 tools or techniques for professional collaboration, information or data visualization tools, open-source applications, push/pull or other feed technologies, and technologies that automate or syndicate the information search and retrieval process. The audience for this session is broad, including all transportation stakeholders: state DOT practitioners and decision makers, universities, and practitioners or consultants interested in recent advances in the delivery of information to save time and improve the quality of transportation research and practice. Please review TRB's guidelines for poster presenters at http://www.trb.org/Guidelines/PosterPresenters.pdf.

(Note: A paper is not required for this session, an exception being extended for this call by TRB). Files and information from the poster session will be posted on the LIST committee Web site (http://sites.google.com/site/trblist) .

Definitions
Current Awareness Tools – Web-based applications designed to alert users to new/modified content from Web page changes, search engine results, or news or other sources. Such tools can typically be personalized or tailored to meet the interest profile of a specific individual or group. Examples could include: RSS, e-mail alerts, or table-of-contents delivery services.

Discovery Tools– Applications or embedded functionality that helps users refine searches or make additional search decisions related to content including, evaluating or browsing. Examples include: Corrective spelling, pattern matching, faceting, visualizing search results, or other techniques for effectively refining searches.
Search Tools – Web-based applications used to search for and aggregate relevant content. Includes search engines, Web portals, online databases, and online catalogs and indexes.

Web 2.0 Tools – Web-based applications that facilitate interactive information sharing among multiple users, interoperability, user-centered design and professional collaboration.

About LIST
The Library and Information Science for Transportation Committee (ABG40) serves as a forum for transportation librarians and the transportation research community on developments in information science and their applicability to transportation. The committee facilitates diffusion of national library and information science innovations throughout the transportation community by monitoring the use of new resources and tools in the transportation arena, defining critical research and training issues relating to their implementation, and promoting the benefits of these capabilities.

Call Organizer
Jennifer Boteler (Jennifer.Boteler.CTR@dot.gov), (202) 493-3071

We will accept poster proposal ideas submitted by or on behalf of government or education agencies. Please submit an abstract (500 word limit) with enough detail to review your proposal to review committee chair Jennifer Boteler (Jennifer.Boteler.CTR@dot.gov)

We will convene a working group of reviewers to judge submissions and notify those selected in late September. We require an abstract for each poster selected. Those selected must present in person at TRB, however, partnering with colleagues is encouraged.

Submissions
Submit your poster proposals no later than Friday, September 10, 2010 by sending them to: Jennifer Boteler (Jennifer.Boteler.CTR@dot.gov), (202) 493-3071

Notes from the January meeting

The notes from the January committee meeting have been posted on the committee's wiki. If you have comments or corrections, please comment to this blog or on the wiki.

Virtual worlds, universities and hype

Thinking of exploring virtual worlds like Second Life for training and meetings but are scared off by the hype? A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, After Frustrations in Second Life, Colleges Look to New Virtual Worlds, explored the joys and frustrations of college and university teaching on Second Life and virtual worlds. I found the article interesting, but even more so the comments.

TRB Annual Meeting 2010

The first TRB annual meeting of the decade started out with a bang (lots of construction noise at our committee meeting) and went out with a bang (two of our sponsored sessions were recorded as e-sessions). Co-chair Larry Orcutt and I are working to firm up the notes from the committee meeting (mainly due to the aforementioned construction noise) and will get those out soon. In the meantime, I have updated the calendar on the committee wiki. You'll notice that the deadlines related to program planning for the 2011 annual meeting are highlighted. Once, one annual meeting is over, it's time to start planning the next.

Check out Transportation Research Collaboration

What Is It?

Transportation Research Collaboration (TRC) is a Microsoft Sharepoint site which allows the transportation research community (researchers and research managers) to share information and to connect and collaborate on shared issues. Over time, we envision this as a repository of documents and work products that will become a collective set of best practices for planning, conducting, managing, and implementing transportation research projects.

Site Overview

This site is organized around the following concepts:

• Setting the Research Agenda – Share information about your research needs, priorities, selection processes and timelines, and learn about those of other organizations.
• Collaborating in Research Activities – Share and learn about tools for collaborative partnership, and ways to connect with others who share your research goals.
• Carrying Out Research – How you can manage your projects and programs to maximize your research investment.
• Delivering Results/Communicating Value – Ways you can ensure research lives beyond the project, and makes a difference in transportation practice.
• Team Collaboration -- The vision for this section is to create a space for research committees and teams to have a place to collaborate and share products for the broader research community to use.

The Audience

The target audience of this site includes transportation researchers, research mangers, and transportation committee members.

Site Functions

This site’s functionality is similar to a regular website but with the added capability to collaborate and share information with professionals within the transportation research community.

• Add a link or announcement, participate in a group discussion, download a document- Any site visitors are given this permission.
• Post a document – A user account is required in order to add documents in existing lists and libraries in the areas of interest.
• Create a collaboration area - A unique sub-site for collaboration can be created by us for team collaboration.

If you would like to get a user account so that you can contribute content, please contact Frank Law (Frank.law@dot.ca.gov) at Caltrans.

Related Sites

• Professional Networking for Transportation Research Collaboration: www.transportationresearch.ning.com
• Transportation Collaboration, USDOT NTL and RITA: www.transportationresearch.gov
• Transportation Research Collaboration” Group on LinkedIn
  

If you or your organization would like to become involved and help set the direction of this effort, please contact Linda Preisen (lpreisen@umn.edu), Co-Chair, AASHTO RAC-TRB Conduct of Research Web Collaboration and Coordination Subcommittee.

The buzz from TRB

Having experienced several committee meetings for the Research and Education Section, I keep hearing the same words over again, like:

• Cooperation
• International
• Collaboration
• Interactivity
• New technologies
• Limited resources
• Unable to travel.

We had as productive a committee meeting as we possibly could have with loud construction going on. Thanks to the committee members and friends who soldiered on with all the distractions. Co-chair Larry Orcutt and I will be following through with notes from the meetings and an update of our strategic plan.

Our last session is tomorrow. Check out New Media Communications in Transportation from 8 to 9:45 a.m. in the Hilton, Lincoln East.

Missed Everything You Need to Know about Web 2.0?

This will be available as a TRB “e-Session” for the 2010 Annual Meeting. The e-Session recording will include a video of the presenter at the podium, and audio synchronized with the visual aid (i.e. .ppt, .pdf, etc). The recordings will be available to rent as on-demand video (view-only) starting on Monday, January 25, 2010.

Sunday at TRB off to a great start

Sunday at TRB was chock full of great T2 events. My day started off at the Everything You Need to Know about Web 2.0: Using Communication and Collaboration to Improve Transportation” workshop. I caught Andrew Krzmarzick from GovLoop.com. GovLoop is a social network for government (all kinds). Check out the Transportation 2.0 group. They’ve got discussions as well as information from TRB.

Georgene Geary from GeorgiaDOT related some very practical information about implementing Web 2.0 in a state DOT. Kendra Levine shared her www.MashTrans.org site with us. Check it out for some really fascinating uses of Web 2.0 technology.

Then it was off to the Shoreham for Communicating the Value of Research and Accelerating Innovation for Transportation Professionals. T2 Committee Larry Orcutt organized this session and brought together the experts in communications and innovation. The workshop was centered around two new efforts – NCHRP Project 20-78 “Communicating the Value of Research Training” and the National Highway Institute course, “Leap not Creep: Accelerating Innovation Implementation.” Speakers included committee members Ann Overton and Rukhsana Kahn Lindsey.

Unfortunately I had to leave right when the discussion was getting lively to attend the new and young attendees welcome session. If you want to get energized about transportation and TRB, just spend a few minutes with these folks. The crowd was mostly young and international and they were eager to learn about TRB. As you go about your day at TRB, be sure to say hi to attendees with a while new attendee badge and welcome them yourself.

My day ended with an overview of what’s happening in the exhibit hall. It seems like every year there are more and more exhibits. After hitting the highlights and seeing old friends, I’ll have to get back.

I hope to see all the T2 fans at the committee meeting on Tuesday. --- lisa

Getting ready for the annual meeting - The TRB cheat sheet

We have posted TRB’s 2010 State of TRB Report on the committee’s wiki.

Today’s blog posting concerns the use of communications tools, with commentary from your committee co-chair.

TRB Staff and Committees Make Progress in Enhancing Use of Communications Tools

Effective communications have always been critical to the success of TRB standing committees.

With travel budgets being cut, robust communications portfolios are more important than ever.

• Each committee was asked by TAC to review its communications portfolio during 2009.(Currently the committee maintains a wiki and a blog. In addition, we have a presence on Facebook and LinkedIn. )
  
• TRB has been updating/expanding its guidelines to committees on effective communications portfolios and sample templates and guidance for committee webpages have been provided to the committees. (We will be considering whether to convert our wiki to TRB’s web pages.)
  

In response to an offer earlier this year, more than 170 standing committees appointed a communications coordinator to work with TRB staff and other committees to enhance the communications portfolios (Ann Overton is the T2 committee’s coordinator.)

• Three webinars and communiqués will have been provided for communications coordinators by January 2010.
  
• A shared webpage for communications coordinators was launched. The webpage contains guidance and discussion areas for questions and sharing of experiences.
  
• A smaller Council of communications coordinators was formed and works with TRB staff between the issuance of webinars and communiqués to the larger group.

The Technical Activities Division, with help from National Academies staff, initiated a review and a possible reorganization of the Division’s webpages.

• Will complement the revamped TRB website that was launched in August.
• A detailed survey of over 350 members and friends who volunteered to participate in this effort is underway and the analysis of the results will be concluded shortly after the Annual Meeting.
  
• For our chairs, our objective is to make the ‘business’ side of running a committee as painless as possible-- easy access to all of the annual deadlines we ask you to meet, templates and samples to work from, etc.
  
• Another objective is to do more to explain how the work of the standing committees fits in to the bigger TRB picture and how to go about becoming a friend of a committee and what that means.

TRB examining opportunities in Web 2.0/social networking.

• Revamped TRB website includes links to social networking sites.
  
• National Academies Mirzayan Fellow assigned to TRB researched social networking opportunities for TRB and transportation organizations.
  
• As a result, TRB has initiated a Twitter account. Follow us at TRBofNA.
  
• Upcoming webinar for committee communications coordinators will address potential committee applications of social networking.
  
• Currently, at least 20 committees have established social networking sites.

Two Sunday workshops and several sessions at 2010 TRB Annual Meeting will be dedicated to social networking. (Check out sessions/workshops the committee is co-sponsoring:

• Jan 10 2010 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM: Everything You Need to Know About Web 2.0: Using Communication and Collaboration to Improve Transportation, Marriott, Thurgood Marshall East
• Jan 13 2010 8:00 AM- 9:45 AM: New Media Communications in Transportation, Hilton, Lincoln East

T2 Committe schedule for 2010 TRB annual meeting

Mark your calendars for interesting sessions and informative meetings sponsored by the T2 Committee at the 2010 TRB annual meeting.

• Jan 10 2010 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM: Everything You Need to Know About Web 2.0: Using Communication and Collaboration to Improve Transportation, Marriott, Thurgood Marshall East
• Jan 10 2010 1:30 PM- 4:30 PM: Communicating the Value of Research and Accelerating Innovation Implementation for Transportation Professionals, Shoreham, Blue Room
• Jan 10 2010 1:30 PM- 4:30 PM: International Transportation Research Collaboration: Success Stories, Hilton, Jefferson West
• Jan 12 2010 8:00 AM- 9:45 AM: Knowledge Management: Successful Practices for Succession Planning, Hilton, Jefferson West
• Jan 12 2010 3:45 PM- 5:30 PM: Technology Transfer Committee Meeting, Hilton, Holmead
• Jan 13 2010 8:00 AM- 9:45 AM: New Media Communications in Transportation, Hilton, Lincoln East

Want to know more about Web 2.0? Check out T2 Committee sessions at TRB annual meeting

Wanting to get down with the latest in technology? The T2 Committee is co-sponsoring a workshop, “Everything You Need to Know About Web 2.0: Using Communication and Collaboration to Improve Transportation.” The workshop will take place January 10, from 9 a.m. to noon.

What will it cover? Transportation agencies have begun experimenting with Web 2.0 technologies for everything from tweets on road closures to using VOIP services to collaborate with researchers. This workshop provides overviews of many Web 2.0 applications, including social networks, podcasts, blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, and virtual worlds. The workshop will highlight current efforts to improve transportation research by using Web 2.0 and provide participants with instructions to get started using these technologies.

You’ll hear from:

• Andrew Krzmarzick- U.S. Department of Agriculture on Introduction to Government 2.0 and Social Media
• Georgene M. Geary - Georgia Department of Transportation on Using Web 2.0 Tools at Georgia Department of Transportation
• Melissa Jordan - Bay Area Rapid Transit District on Transit 2.0 at BART.gov
• Transportation Security Administration's Blog and Idea Factory
• Kendra Levine - University of California, Berkeley on Mashtrans.org: Looking at Transportation with a Web 2.0 lens

And, if you want to know even more about new technologies and what they will mean for you and your organization, check out the session we are also co-sponsoring Jan 13 from 8 to 9:45 a.m. at the Hilton. You’ll also hear about some of the new media initiatives being sponsored by TRB.

New Media Communications in Transportation

• TRB’s Communication Coordinators Council on New Media Technologies, Jeffrey L. Western - Western Management and Consulting, LLC
• Overview of New Media Technologies such as Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, Web 2.0 , Brian P. Kennedy - AECOM
• Social Media Statistics: Who Is Doing What by Mia Zmud - NuStats, LLC
• Web 2.0 Technologies for Collaboration: Ways to Use Web 2.0 for Collaboration in Transportation and TRB by Lisa Haakon Pogue,
• Twitter for Transportation: Effective Uses of Twitter for Transportation Information, News, and Building Communities by Kendra Levine - University of California, Berkeley
• Sensorpedia: Web 2.0 Methods for Sensor Information Sharing by Bryan Gorman - Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Communicating the value of research and accelerating innovation at 2010 TRB annual meeting

In this and future blogs, we’ll be previewing the excellent sessions and workshops the committee has been busy organizing for the 2010 TRB annual meeting.

Be sure to attend the workshop, “Communicating the Value of Research and Accelerating Innovation Implementation for Transportation Professionals” on Sunday, co-sponsored with the Committee on Conduct of Research. Co-chair Larry Orcutt has put together an great chance to get to know the NCHRP Project 20-78: "Communicating the Value of Research Training," and an NHI course, "Leap Not Creep: Accelerating Innovation Implementation." Transportation professionals will learn to overcome typical communication challenges and institute best-practice activities in the research process, which results in successfully conveying the value of research to key audiences and leads to innovation. A panel of practitioners will share innovation success stories, including:

• Committee member and the committee’s TRB Communications Coordinator Ann M. Overton, Virginia Transportation Research Council, will lead with ” What Works in Communicating Transportation Research: View from the Field”
• Kim Hilsenbeck, NuStats Partners LP will introduce us to the NCHRP project with “Communicating the Value of Research: Overview”
• “Introduction to National Highway Institute Course "Leap Not Creep: Accelerating Innovation" will be given by Joseph P. Conway, Federal Highway Administration.

Some of the innovation success stories will include:

• Finding the Spotlight by Ellen Oman, Washington State Department of Transportation
• Innovation Success Story: Creating and Sustaining Innovation Culture at Utah Department of Transportation by Committee member Rukhsana Kahn Lindsey, Utah Department of Transportation and Jim McMinimee, Utah Department of Transportation
• Moving from Research to Services for Traveling Public: Unique Public-Private Partnership Path by Thomas West, California Center for Innovative Transportation.

Great example of showcasing the value of research

Recently I attended a program at NASA. It was a pleasure to see government agency staff truly excited about their agency and its mission. But, the most exciting aspect of their presentation was an excellent sample of communicating the value of technology transfer. Take a look at their site, NASA @ Home and City, to see, hear and experience the results of NASA research. The site vividly showcases technologies developed by NASA that have been applied to technologies from cosmetics to wireless headsets to freeze-dried foods. The site also provides additional information on these technologies and you can truly see that “space is everywhere you look.”

Great example of showcasing the value of research

Recently I attended a program at NASA. It was a pleasure to see government agency staff truly excited about their agency and its mission. But, the most exciting aspect of their presentation was an excellent sample of communicating the value of technology transfer. Take a look at their site, NASA @ Home and City, to see, hear and experience the results of NASA research. The site vividly showcases technologies developed by NASA that have been applied to technologies from cosmetics to wireless headsets to freeze-dried foods. The site also provides additional information on these technologies and you can truly see that “space is everywhere you look.”

News from members

Steven Jones will be leaving Ireland and returning to the faculty of the University of Alabama (UA) in January 2010.

Jennifer Sheldon has resigned from the committee as she has accepted another position within the University of Washington and will be transitioning from the Transportation Northwest Center and transportation research to the medical research world. We wish her all the best.

Announcing the committee's new strategic plan

Since the committee’s summer meeting in Washington, DC members and friends have been busy updating the committee’s strategic plan and planning TRB annual meeting sessions for 2010. As usual, there was lots of energy at the end of September confirming speakers and refining descriptions. We have a terrific workshop on communicating the value of research planned. The workshop also incorporates the National Highway Institute course on technology transfer, “Leap, Not Creep: Accelerating Innovation Implementation.” We are also sponsoring a session on new media and what it means for transportation. The next blog will go into more depth on the workshop and sessions coming up. In the meanwhile, take a look at the committee’s strategic plan and give us a comment on two.

Gov 2.0

The federal government has a Facebook page. Mission: A Facebook page for information about how government can best use Facebook.

Committee member blogs for Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day in Kansas

People from various organizations will be blogging about ways to put the brakes on fatalities starting Monday, Sept. 14, on the Kansas Transportation Online Community (KTOC).

A total of 20 people will share experiences and information about improving safety on our roadways. Some of the bloggers will include KDOT Secretary Deb Miller, Trauma Coordinator at Stormont Vail HealthCare Darlene Whitlock, KHP Technical Trooper Tim McCool, Sgt. Lance Smith with the Reno County Sheriff’s Dept. and State Director of Safe Kids Kansas Cherie Sage.

This event is taking place as part of the national safety campaign Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day. Whether you are in a car or truck, on a bike or even walking, the goal is for everyone to safely get where they are going.

Blogs will be posted by 9 a.m. each work day. The last blog will be on Oct. 9 by Larry Emig, a KDOT retiree who began Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day in 2001. Oct. 10 is the official day celebrated as Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day though the safety messages are promoted all year long.

People are encouraged to sign up for KTOC and offer comments on the blogs. Anyone can read information on KTOC, but to offer comments you must log on as a member. KTOC can be seen at http://ktoc.net/Default.aspx.