tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63594579368702268612024-03-14T00:57:39.865-07:00Primary Resources: The Metro Transportation Library BlogMetro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-71656041574821878492011-04-07T00:13:00.000-07:002011-04-07T20:09:32.363-07:00We've moved!<span class="Apple-style-span">Visit us at <a href="http://metroprimaryresources.info/">http://metroprimaryresources.info</a> and update your links. After 5 seconds, you will be automatically redirected.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-46817542821920735602010-12-22T14:32:00.000-08:002010-12-27T11:20:31.742-08:00Recent Research: Urban Congestion Trends, High-Speed Rail Lessons & Travel Assistance Device Deployment<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TRKD5QxfaSI/AAAAAAAAAms/gOV0U8Q2M1w/s1600/20101222_hsr_cropped.JPG"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm670251088.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TRKCO_B0y4I/AAAAAAAAAmk/R4ATRMTv9b0/s400/20101222_urbancongestion_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553644484450110338" border="0" /></a><div>Is traffic congestion getting better or worse? The Federal Highway Administration collects various statistics each year to help us understand whether traffic is improving or increasing.</div><div><br /></div><div>We wanted to take a closer look at a document titled <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm670251088.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">2009 Urban Congestion Trends: How Operations Is Solving Congestion Problems</span></a> (8p. PDF).</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, we need to understand what we're looking at. Congestion is defined as the amount of time when freeways operate below 50mph. The FHA statistics show that "whatever the day of the week, whatever the time of day, mobility has improved -- almost across the board." When looking at the three primary performance measures,, improvement can be seen in at least one of them in 20 of 23 monitored regions.</div><div><br /></div><div>But...how much? And why?</div><div><br /></div><div>First off, there is less traffic on the road. Whether people are using public transit, telecommuting, combining trips, spending more time with family, consciously lowering their fuel consumption or are simply out of work, we see fewer cars on the roads travelling shorter distances.</div><div><br /></div><div>Additionally, the economic downtown of the past few years has also played a role in congestion reduction in the United States.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, traffic operations are playing a role in congestion management. The document contains a number of success stories detailing how state and local agencies reduced the effects of congestion in their locales. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm682224672.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 381px; height: 251px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TRjh7aoriKI/AAAAAAAAAng/9EPihRBCtlw/s400/20101222_hsr_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555438551239985314" border="0" /></a>As America moves toward construction of new high-speed rail networks in regions throughout the country, we have much to learn from experiences abroad.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><span><span>In <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm682224672.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Track Record Of Success: High-Speed Rail Around The World And Its Promise For America</span></a> (53p. PDF), the U.S. PIRG Educational Fund reports on the wealth of information about what the United States can expect from high-speed rail and how we can receive the greatest possible benefits from our investment.<br /><br />They base their report on </span></span><span><span>the track record of high-speed rail lines that have operated for more than 45 years in Japan and for three decades in Europe -- with some exciting conclusions.<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span>Indeed, the experience of high-speed rail lines abroad, as well as America’s limited experience with high-speed rail on the East Coast, suggests that the United States can expect great benefits from investing in a high-speed passenger rail system, particularly if it makes steady commitments to rail improvements and designs the system wisely. </span></span></div><div><span><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span>High-speed rail systems in other nations have been able to dramatically reduce the volume of short-haul flights between nearby cities and significantly reduce inter-city car travel.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span><span></span></span>Some particularly interested examples include:</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>The number of air passengers between London and Paris has been cut in half since high-speed rail service was introduced.</div><div><br /></div><div>High-Speed rail service between Madrid and Seville reduced the share of car travel between the two cities from 60% to 34%, and service between Madrid and Barcelona, once the world's busiest passenger air route, has been cut by one-third.</div></blockquote><div></div><div><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm671237858.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 176px; height: 279px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TRjiGrLLbEI/AAAAAAAAAno/FFb6PHKOdI4/s400/20101222_transitdevices_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555438744658209858" border="0" /></a><div>The ability to travel where and when one desires is a basic requirement for independent living that most people take for<br />granted.<br /><br />To travel independently, a transit rider practices at least 23 skills including finding the route, arriving at the correct stop on time, and determining when to exit at destination.<br /><br />The University of South Florida's National Center for Transit Research has published <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm671237858.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Travel Assistance Device Deployment To Transit Agencies</span></a> (103p. PDF) which discusses the successful deployment of devices assisting those with cognitive challenges in these tasks.<br /><br />Travel trainers who provide one-on-one instruction on public<br />transportation, report that recognizing a landmark near the desired bus stop, requesting a stop at the proper time, and exiting the bus at the destination stop are among the most challenging skills to master for individuals with cognitive disabilities.<br /><br />Parents/guardians are often reluctant to encourage the use of fixed-route transit due to their own hesitations about a person's abilities and well being.<br /><br />Prior studies by the research team developed the Travel Assistance Device (TAD)<br />mobile phone software application that addresses these challenges and supplements the trainer’s instruction.<br /><br />TAD provides various informational prompts including the audio messages “Get ready” and “Pull the cord now!” and vibrates to alert the rider to pull the stop cord. These prompts are delivered to the rider in real-time as he or she rides the bus using the embedded global positioning system (GPS) technology in off-the-shelf cell phones.<br /><br />TAD’s real-time location of the rider can be viewed by the travel trainer or family member through a Web page.<br /><br />This document reviews how the TAD application has been successfully deployed in the Hillsborough (FL) Area Regional Transit (HART) bus system.<br /></div></div></div>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-9761020160791785022010-12-13T15:52:00.001-08:002010-12-13T16:16:45.582-08:00New And Notable: Oil On The Brain, Transport Geographies & Early Downtown Los Angeles<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0767916972"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 176px; height: 258px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TQayK40tMVI/AAAAAAAAAmM/R8McUBOvONg/s400/20101213_oilonthebrain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550319490902602066" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0767916972"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oil On The Brain: Petroleum's Long, Strange Trip To Your Tank</span></a> is a smart, surprisingly funny account of the oil industry — the people, economies, and pipelines that bring us petroleum, brilliantly illuminating a world we encounter every day.<br /><br />Americans buy ten thousand gallons of gasoline a second, without giving it much of a thought. Where does all this gas come from?<br /><br />Author Lisa Margonelli’s desire to learn took her on a one-hundred thousand mile journey from her local gas station to oil fields half a world away.<br /><br />In search of the truth behind the myths, she wriggled her way into some of the most off-limits places on earth: the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the New York Mercantile Exchange’s crude oil market, oil fields from Venezuela, to Texas, to Chad, and even an Iranian oil platform where the United States fought a forgotten one-day battle.<br /><br />In a story by turns surreal and alarming, Margonelli meets lonely workers on a Texas drilling rig, an oil analyst who almost gave birth on the NYMEX trading floor, Chadian villagers who are said to wander the oil fields in the guise of lions, a Nigerian warlord who changed the world price of oil with a single cell phone call, and Shanghai bureaucrats who dream of creating a new Detroit.<br /><br />Deftly piecing together the mammoth economy of oil, Margonelli finds a series of stark warning signs for American drivers. Rave reviews for Oil On The Brain include:<br /><br /><blockquote>“If you drive a car, you must read this book.” —Mary Roach, author of <i>Stiff</i><br /><br />“By giving voice to the people who are the links in the global oil chain, Margonelli invites us to leapfrog all the rhetoric, dry statistics, and dire pronouncements about oil in order to truly understand it.” —<i>Fast Company<br /></i><br />“Hugely enjoyable, compulsively readable, and brilliantly reported.” —Po Bronson, author of <i>What Should I Do with My Life?<br /></i></blockquote><br />The PBS Newshour conducted an extensive interview with the author, which can be found <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june08/crude_04-10.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">here</span></a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1405153237"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 250px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TQa0e0MatYI/AAAAAAAAAmU/xcH7Ll5jxhg/s400/20101213_transportgeographies_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550322032280515970" border="0" /></a><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1405153237"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transport Geographies: Mobilities, Flows And Spaces</span></a> brings together a formidable range of expert insight to introduce the key ideas, concepts and themes of transport geography.<br /><br />Using an issues-based, qualitative approach, the contributors feature a wide range of case-study material.<br /><br />This work explores the relationship between transport geography and wider geographical concerns, as well as connections to other areas of study -- economics, engineering, environmental studies, political science, psychology, spatial planning, sociology and transport studies.<br /><br />The book highlights the role of transport geography in globalization, and its interplay with economic, social and environmental geographies at a range of spatial scales. It reviews contemporary policy and the role transport geographers can play in policy debates.<br /><br />Both empirically informed and theoretically robust, this compelling text shows the significance of transport in terms of the needs and demands of future travel.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0738570036"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 180px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TQa19WOX6BI/AAAAAAAAAmc/73WQtNY_Ltc/s400/20101213_earlydowntownlosangeles.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550323656323229714" border="0" /></a>Growing south from the plaza where the city of Los Angeles was founded as a tiny pueblo in 1781, the area now known as downtown L.A. was first developed in the late 1800s as a residential neighborhood, complete with churches and schools.<br /><br />As the population surged at the turn of the 20th century, the downtown area was transformed into a busy business and entertainment center of shops, banks, hotels, and theaters.<br /><br />The explosion of the postcard craze in the early 1900s coincided with this period of downtown's tremendous growth toward a formidable metropolis.<br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0738570036"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Early Downtown Los Angeles</span></a> is a collection of vintage postcard images offers a glimpse into the changing city through the 1940s. Transportation is afforded its own chapter. <br /><br />It includes rarely seen images of La Grande Station, the passenger terminal constructed by the Santa Fe Railroad in 1893. Santa Fe and Southern Pacific's competitive rail pricing fueled the real estate boom and unprecedented population growth throughout the region in the late 1800s and early 1900s. <br /><br />Early interior images of Union Station, Angels Flight, and other rail lines are of particular topical interest.Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-33288379793896050852010-12-06T17:13:00.001-08:002010-12-07T14:54:39.975-08:00Resources To Know: California Transit Association & Its Annual Legislative Summary<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TP65xWRUIYI/AAAAAAAAAls/8t_H5cPAY8Q/s1600/20101206_cta1_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 303px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TP65xWRUIYI/AAAAAAAAAls/8t_H5cPAY8Q/s400/20101206_cta1_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548076048409960834" border="0" /></a>Since its founding in 1965, the <a href="http://www.caltransit.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">California Transit Association</span></a> (CTA) has been a primary advocate for public transportation in the state.<br /><br />The Association's team of legislative advocates works to promote multi-year transit funding and to represent transit's interests before the California State Legislature, the Governor and regulatory agencies on the local, state and federal levels.<br /><br />CTA is dedicated to a collaborative approach to advocating for improved transit operations throughout California. Key to that approach is engaging our members in the advocacy process.<br /><br />Members are frequently updated on policy developments through a variety of communications processes, and their participation is enlisted in numerous outreach efforts, including personal visits with elected officials, testifying before legislative committees and regulatory agencies, and conducting media relations campaigns.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TP659PqS44I/AAAAAAAAAmE/5mBwJwrSEf8/s1600/20101206_cta5_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 230px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TP659PqS44I/AAAAAAAAAmE/5mBwJwrSEf8/s400/20101206_cta5_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548076252794119042" border="0" /></a>To cultivate support and increased member activity, the Association strives to strategically mobilize members in key political districts and to build statewide coalitions to focus pressure on policy development.<br /><br />Of increasing importance is the mobilization of organizations other than transit providers in the<br />cause.<br /><br />CTA's partnership with such "non-traditional" transit advocates has supplemented the advocacy effort and has helped members to forge relationships with and utilize the resources of everything from nationwide public interest organizations to local ridership groups.<br /><br />With support and active engagement from member organizations and other community interests, CTA is focused on implementing transit-friendly policy, a balanced transportation system, and increased transit funding.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TP655kTWurI/AAAAAAAAAl8/W7vxNRRC2us/s1600/20101206_cta3_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 377px; height: 294px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TP655kTWurI/AAAAAAAAAl8/W7vxNRRC2us/s400/20101206_cta3_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548076189615569586" border="0" /></a>Each year, CTA publishes a Legislative Summary that provides a synopsis and analysis of state legislation affecting public transportation and the transit-relevant components of the state budget process.<br /><br />Compiled by the Association's team of legislative advocates, the annual publication is a great reference tool for those seeking information about statewide transit and transportation legislation.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.caltransit.org/files/resources/Leg%20SummaryFinalv1.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">report for the 2010 legislative session</span></a> (31p. PDF) is divided into three catagories:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Significant Transit Legislation</span>: identifying and describing high-priority legislation supported by the Association, pending the Governor's signature in 2010<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2010-2011 State Budget</span>: describing the budget's impact on public transportation and the State Transit Assistance (STA) Program, and Proposition 1B allocations<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Matrix Of Significant Transit-Related Legislation</span>: Identifying the most significant transit-related legislation considered by the Association's Legislative Committee during the 2010 Legislative Session, whether enacted or not.</blockquote><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TP6515sIX9I/AAAAAAAAAl0/Und_NKHSjlc/s1600/20101206_cta2_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 395px; height: 226px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TP6515sIX9I/AAAAAAAAAl0/Und_NKHSjlc/s400/20101206_cta2_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548076126637154258" border="0" /></a>Once an information-seeker has located legislation of interest, they can visit the <a href="http://www.caltransit.org/node/12"><span style="font-weight: bold;">CTA's Advocacy webpage</span></a> to search for the full-text of bills (as well as fact sheets, links to other reports, etc.)<br /><br />The CTA website also features Legislative Bulletin Resources for recently passed legislation, and an Advocacy Archive featuring resources such as a Summary Of Provisions And Impact Of The Gas Tax Swap, as proposed earlier this year.Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-54088671462901061552010-12-01T17:19:00.000-08:002010-12-01T18:38:48.424-08:00New And Notable: Smart Growth Manual, "Unplanning," & Asphalt And Politics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0071376755"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPb2zq9u5BI/AAAAAAAAAkk/e73RZ7ffeQQ/s400/20101201_smartgrowth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545891358720320530" border="0" /></a>Everyone is calling for smart growth...but what exactly is it?<br /><br />In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0071376755"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Smart Growth Manual</span></a> (New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2009), two leading city planners provide a thorough answer. From the expanse of the metropolis to the detail of the window box, they address the pressing challenges of urban development with easy-to-follow advice and broad array of best practices.<br /><br />With their landmark book Suburban Nation, Andres Duany and Jeff Speck "set forth more clearly than anyone has done in our time the elements of good town planning" (The New Yorker).<br /><br />In this long-awaited companion volume, the authors have organized the latest contributions of new urbanism, green design, and healthy communities into a comprehensive handbook, fully illustrated with the built work of the nation's leading practitioners.<br /><br />This work also features a valuable Smart Growth Directory, with contact information for national, regional and state organizations.<br /><br />Lieutenant Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom, writing as Mayor of San Francisco, touted The Smart Growth Manual as "an indispensable guide to city planning. This kind of progressive development is the only way to full restore our economic strength and create new jobs, new industries, and a renewed ability to compete in the first rank of world economies."<br /><br />An <a href="http://dirt.asla.org/2010/04/06/interview-with-jeff-speck-honorary-asla-co-author-of-the-smart-growth-manual/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">extensive interview with the authors</span></a> is featured on the American Society of Landscape Architects "The Dirt" blog.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0978872851"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 361px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPb-SKTfNVI/AAAAAAAAAk0/s-QxMPlmecI/s400/20101201_unplanning.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545899579110536530" border="0" /></a>The conventional wisdom says that we need strict planning to build walkable neighborhoods around transit stations - even though these neighborhoods are like the streetcar suburbs that were common in America before anyone heard of city planning. <p>In reality, many of our greatest successes in urban design have occurred when we treated the issues as political questions - not as technical problems that the planners should solve for us.<br /></p><p>According to <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0978872851"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Unplanning: Livable Cities And Political Choices</span></a> (Berkeley, Calif.: Preservation Institute, 2010), the anti-freeway movement of the 1960s and 1970s and the anti-sprawl movement of recent decades were both political movements, and citizen-activists often had to work against projects that planners proposed and approved. </p><p>This book uses an intriguing thought experiment to show that, in order to build livable cities, we should go further than the anti-freeway and anti-sprawl movements by putting direct political limits on urban growth. </p><p>Political choices about how we want to live can transform our cities more effectively than planning.</p><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0786442824"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPb-3f-HqYI/AAAAAAAAAk8/RpIsA03JFW4/s400/20101201_asphaltandpolitics_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545900220581652866" border="0" /></a>From animal paths to superhighways, transportation has been the backbone of American expansion and growth.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0786442824"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Asphalt And Politics: A History Of The American Highway System</span></a> (New York: McFarland, 2009) examines the interstate highway system in the United States, and the forces that shaped it, includes the introduction of the automobile, the Good Roads Movement, and the Lincoln Highway Association.<br /><br />The book offers an analysis of state and federal road funding, modern road-building options, and the successes and failures of the current highway system.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0978872851"><br /></a>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-56932759228644601182010-12-01T15:13:00.000-08:002010-12-02T02:43:47.129-08:00Resources To Know: The MUTCD -- A Book In The News This Week You May Never Have Heard Of That Impacts You Every Day<a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPbtC9_g2zI/AAAAAAAAAjs/LYkX-OSqXn8/s1600/20101201_mutcd1_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 319px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPbtC9_g2zI/AAAAAAAAAjs/LYkX-OSqXn8/s400/20101201_mutcd1_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545880626409823026" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">A relatively obscure book is receiving its 15 minutes (or more) of fame this week, The <span style="font-weight: bold;">Manual On Uniform Traffic Control Devices</span> (MUTCD). </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;">This set of federal standards for traffic signs, road surface markings, and signals is a primary resource to know about, so we wanted to take a closer look – especially since it is in the news right now.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;">New MUTCD standards announced recently require compliance over the next several years, depending on what type of changes are required.</p><p class="MsoNormal">For example, states, counties, cities and towns across America will need to increase the size of letters on street signs for roads with speed limits over 25 mph from 4 inches to 6 inches by January, 2012.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Street signs requiring new reflective lettering which is more visible at night must be installed by January, 2018.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">These required changes will affect both large cities and small jurisdictions across the country.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/local-governments-told-buy-street-signs/story?id=12256322"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ABC News reported on some sample impacts this week</span></a>:</p><blockquote style="font-family:verdana;">“In Milwaukee, this will cost the cash-strapped city nearly $2 million, double the city’s entire annual for traffic control.<span style=""> </span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family:verdana;"><span style=""></span>In Dinwiddie County, Virginia – with lots of roads but not many people – the cost comes to about $10 for every man, woman and child.”</blockquote><span style="font-family:verdana;">So where did these regulations, which some may consider to be overly-bureaucratic, come from?<br /><br /></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPbtpWde4PI/AAAAAAAAAkU/Yjyt_LEQTlI/s1600/20101201_mutcd3_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 177px; height: 243px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPbtpWde4PI/AAAAAAAAAkU/Yjyt_LEQTlI/s400/20101201_mutcd3_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545881285813002482" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">In the early 20<sup>th</sup> Century, roads were promoted and maintained by automobile clubs of private individuals.<span style=""> </span>Each road and highway had its own type of signage, without regard for directional assistance or safety promotion.<br /><br />By 1927, the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO - the predecessor to today's AASHTO) published the first standards, titled the <b>Manual And Specifications For The Manufacture, Display, And Erection Of U.S. Standard Road Markers And Signs</b>, a precursor to the MUTCD that is still in use today.</span><p class="MsoNormal">The first MUTCD was released in 1935, setting standards for both road signs and pavement markings.<span style=""> </span>Since then, eight more editions have been published with numerous updates that include changes in usage as well as technological improvements over the years.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Some of these changes are particularly noteworthy.<span style=""> </span>It wasn’t until 1971 that all center lines were to be painted in yellow (as opposed to white) and all highway signs were required to be in white on a green background.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">The <a href="http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2009/mutcd2009edition.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">most recent edition (2009)</span></a> weighs in at 864 pages, dictating required standards for everything from simple items like <i><b>street names</b></i> and <i><b>route signs</b></i> to more complex topics, such as how to designate <i><b>Bicycle Lane Treatment At A Parking Lane Into A Right Turn Only Lane</b></i> and <i><b>Examples Of Light Rail Transit Vehicle Dynamic Envelope Markings For Mixed-Use Alignments</b></i>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPbtXOMxQ_I/AAAAAAAAAkE/VaXE5_MoJsY/s1600/20101201_mutcd4_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 261px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPbtXOMxQ_I/AAAAAAAAAkE/VaXE5_MoJsY/s400/20101201_mutcd4_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545880974357775346" border="0" /></a>Additions and revisions are recommended to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) by the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD), a private, non-profit organization, which is made up of twenty-one sponsoring organizations comprised of transportation and engineering industry groups, safety-oriented organizations, and others such as the American Automobile Association.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">This takes us back to this week’s controversy.<span style=""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style=""></span>Federal standards promote safety and recognizable meanings, but when those standards are changed there will be ripple effects across local jurisdictions with limited resources to comply.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">In places like Dinwiddie County, Virginia, citizens may argue that standards compliance could take funds away from education or public safety.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">The Federal Highway Association says the new regulations, written under the Bush Administration, are designed to be easily read by America’s aging population.<span style=""> </span>However, the FHWA announced this week a 45-day period for public comment on the new rules, “a step that could lead to easing on the guidelines,” <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/local-governments-told-buy-street-signs/story?id=12256322&page=2"><span style="font-weight: bold;">according to ABC News</span></a>.</p> <span style="font-family:verdana;">U.S. Secretary of Transportation took matters a step further today, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20024269-503544.html">stating</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>“I believe this regulation makes no sense.<span style=""> </span>It does not property take into account the high costs that local governments would have to bear.<span style=""> </span>States, cities, and towns should not be required to spend money that they don’t have to replace perfectly good traffic signs.”</blockquote><br /></span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPbzEJ7eimI/AAAAAAAAAkc/VhuL_zF9YnE/s1600/20101201_mutcd6.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 259px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPbzEJ7eimI/AAAAAAAAAkc/VhuL_zF9YnE/s400/20101201_mutcd6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545887243863755362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">LaHood tried to put a balanced spin on the controversy by <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/30/AR2010113006438.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">summing up</span></a>, "Safety is our priority, but so is good government."</span><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal">Additional resources:</p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/ghawkins/MUTCD-History_files/ITE-MUTCD-History-1.pre-MUTCD.pdf">Evolution Of The MUTCD, Part I: Early Standards For Traffic Control Devices</a>, ITE Journal, July 1992</p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/ghawkins/MUTCD-History_files/ITE-MUTCD-History-2.1935-1942.pdf">Evolution Of The MUTCD, Part II: Early Editions Of The MUTCD</a>, ITE Journal, August 1992</p><p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/ghawkins/MUTCD-History.htm">Evolution Of The MUTCD, Part III: The MUTCD Since World War II</a>, ITE Journal, November 1992<a style="font-weight: bold;" href="https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/ghawkins/MUTCD-History.htm"><br /></a></p><p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/ghawkins/MUTCD-History.htm">An MUTCD history</a>.</p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/ghawkins/MUTCD-History_files/MUTCD%20history.2010%20ATSSA.pdf">The MUTCD: Where It’s Been And Where It’s Going</a>. </p></div>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-54393295138245556682010-11-29T14:51:00.001-08:002010-11-29T16:09:25.293-08:00New And Notable: Los Angeles From The Air Then And Now, Makeshift Metropolis & Down The Asphalt Path<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1607101289"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 219px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPQ3PS3BnNI/AAAAAAAAAjM/c_uM7xzV_Aw/s400/20101129_losangelesfromtheair_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545117777100119250" border="0" /></a>Avid readers of local history are usually intrigued by photos of historic sites juxtaposed against contemporary images. This format of visual history has a particularly strong impact when the subject is Los Angeles: a city that grew up -- and outward -- so quickly.<br /><br />Those seeking pictorial overviews will likely have checked out aerial photography books as well.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1607101289"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Los Angeles From The Air: Then And Now</span></a> (San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 2010) is a hybrid of these two types of pictorial books. It presents decades-old photographs of both familiar and lesser-known landmarks along side more current ones.<br /><br />This takes the reader on a trip through Los Angeles like never before, featuring inspiring, sky-high then-and-now images of some of LA's most famous locations.<br /><br />Some of the landmarks' origins are well-known, but the authors provide context for both familiar and hidden pieces of Los Angeles history.<br /><br />Many of the photos feature snow-capped peaks in the distance -- a testament to our clear Winter days being the best for photography.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the work falls flat in its description of transportation in downtown Los Angeles. The authors write:<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;">"Metrolink [sic] provides service to Union Station in the form of three rail lines -- Red, Purple, Gold..."</blockquote><br />While Metro and Metrolink may sound similar to those outside of Los Angeles (the book is, after all, published in San Diego), it gives one pause that other information found here may not be entirely accurate. Ultimately, one can ignore the text entirely, as these beautiful photos speak for themselves.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1416561250"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 276px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPQ3XZ2gw-I/AAAAAAAAAjU/VNEkl6jrCag/s400/20101129_makeshiftmetropolis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545117916415968226" border="0" /></a>In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1416561250"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Makeshift Metropolis: Ideas About Cities</span></a> (New York: Scribner, 2010), noted architecture writer Witold Rybczynski offers a glimpse of an urban future that might very well serve as a template for cities around the world.<br /><br />Rybczynski integrates history and prediction of the development of the American city in a brisk look back that takes us from colonial town planning to the Garden City and City Beautiful initiatives of the early 20th century and on to the "Big Box Era."<br /><br />He also examines how contemporary urban designers and planners are revisiting and refreshing older urban ideas, such as bringing gardens to a blighted Brooklyn waterfront.<br /><br />Rybczynski's study is kept relevant by his focus on what the past can teach us about creating the "cities we want" and "cities we need." <br /><br />The prose is instructive and always engaging, and the author's enthusiasm for the future of cities and his enduring love of urban settings of all kinds is evident.<br /><br />He not only writes about what people want from their cities, he inspires the reader to imagine the possibilities.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=9780231083904"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 154px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TPQ3cTIGNbI/AAAAAAAAAjc/QM29AJ4DAyU/s400/20101129_downtheasphaltpath.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545118000510023090" border="0" /></a>In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=9780231083904"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Down The Asphalt Path: The Automobile And The American City</span></a>, author Clay McShane examines the uniquely American relationship between "automobility" and urbanization.<br /><br />Writing at the cutting edge of urban and technological history, he depicts how new technology, namely the private automobile, and the modernization of the American city redefined each other. <br /><br />The author motors us across the country -- from Boston to New York, from Milwaukee to Los Angeles and the suburbs in between -- chronicling the urban embrace of the automobile.<br /><br />The New York Times calls this work "A treat to read, loaded with interesting facts...a notable book about urban transportation."<br /><br />Barron's wrote that "this fascinating, well-researched history of the automobile industry...is written from a social and cultural perspective rarely included in traditional books about the business."<br /><br />The Whole Earth Review claims "this fascinating treatise is the most credible look yet at how automobiles have changed American society for better or worse."Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-77502843450979812032010-11-23T15:51:00.000-08:002010-11-23T22:31:20.831-08:00New And Notable: Sprawl Repair Manual, Republic Of Drivers & Urban Mass Transit's Life Story<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1597267325"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 250px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOxYnFlx2cI/AAAAAAAAAis/APkqI5VvST0/s400/20101123_sprawlrepair_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542902669925013954" border="0" /></a>There is a wealth of research and literature explaining suburban sprawl and the urgent need to retrofit suburbia. However, until now there has been no single guide that directly explains <i>how<b> </b></i>to repair typical sprawl elements. <i><br /></i><div><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1597267325"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sprawl Repair Manual</span></a> demonstrates a step-by-step design process<i> </i>for the re-balancing and re-urbanization of suburbia into more sustainable, economical, energy- and resource-efficient patterns, from the region and the community to the block and the individual building. (Even more information can be found at the <a href="http://www.sprawlrepair.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sprawl Repair Manual website</span></a>).</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Author Galina Tachieva asserts in this exceptionally useful (and exceptionaly handsome) book that sprawl repair will require a proactive and aggressive approach, focused on<b> </b>design, regulation and incentives<i>.</i><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">The work provides much-needed, single-volume reference for fixing sprawl, incorporating changes into the regulatory system, and implementing repairs through incentives and permitting strategies. It <span style="font-style: italic;"></span><i></i> draws on more than two decades of practical experience in the field of repairing and building communities to analyze the current pattern of sprawl development, disassemble it into its elemental components, and present a process for transforming them into human-scale, sustainable elements.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">The techniques are illustrated both two- and three-dimensionally, providing users with clear methodologies for the sprawl repair interventions, some of which are radical, but all of which will produce positive results.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0226745643"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOxatgRwy_I/AAAAAAAAAi8/QHAw0oNkfBU/s400/20101123_republicofdrivers_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542904979191286770" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Rising gas prices, sprawl and congestion, global warming, even obesity—driving is a factor in many of the most contentious issues of our time. So how did we get here? How did automobile use become so vital to the identity of Americans? <i><br /></i></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0226745643"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Republic Of Drivers: A Cultural History Of Automobility In America</span></a> looks back at the period between 1895 and 1961—from the founding of the first automobile factory in America to the creation of the Interstate Highway System—to find out how driving evolved into a crucial symbol of freedom and agency.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Author Cotten Seiler combs through a vast number of historical, social scientific, philosophical, and literary sources to illustrate the importance of driving to modern American conceptions of the self and the social and political order.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">He finds that as the figure of the driver blurred into the figure of the citizen, automobility became a powerful resource for women, African Americans, and others seeking entry into the public sphere.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">And yet, he argues, the individualistic but anonymous act of driving has also monopolized our thinking about freedom and democracy, discouraging the crafting of a more sustainable way of life.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">As our fantasies of the open road turn into fears of a looming energy crisis, Seiler shows us just how we ended up a republic of drivers—and where we might be headed.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0801893151"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 268px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOxeygHgsqI/AAAAAAAAAjE/WOdIFrgysNc/s400/20101123_urbanmasstransit_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542909463094145698" border="0" /></a>In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0801893151"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Urban Mass Transit: The Life Story Of A Technology</span></a>, the history of mass transit is vividly illustrated as the technological and social struggles that have accompanied urbanization and the need for an efficient and cost-effective means of transportation in cities.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">From the omnibus and horsecar in the 1830s to the renaissance of urban mass transit at the turn of the 21st century, author Robert C. Post depicts mass transit as a technological system that provided an essential complement to industrialization, urbanization and, ultimately, to the rise of consumer culture.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">At the heart of the story is the streetcar, a conveyance that played a central role in the development of U.S. cities and towns. Once dominating the urban landscape, the streetcar has all but disappeared. Post traces its evolution and demise, debunking the urban myth that the downfall of the electric streetcar was directly attributable to the corporate malfeasance of General Motors and others from the automotive world.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Post concludes with a meditation on the prospects for mass transit in a postmodern society that must face up to the contradictions of privatized mobility and the reality of dwindling natural resources.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-86567193999889391202010-11-22T13:12:00.000-08:002010-11-22T14:58:55.269-08:00Digitization And Transportation: Northwestern University's Google Books Project<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOrxBIKDP5I/AAAAAAAAAiU/J2pIAiTWdIw/s1600/20101122_northwestern2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 215px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOrxBIKDP5I/AAAAAAAAAiU/J2pIAiTWdIw/s400/20101122_northwestern2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542507293104619410" border="0" /></a>Beginning today, <a href="http://www.library.northwestern.edu/libraries-collections/evanston-campus/transportation-library"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Northwestern University's Transportation Library</span></a> begins its <a href="http://www.library.northwestern.edu/about/library-administration/nul-google-books-project"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Google Books Digitization Project</span></a>.<br /><br />The University Libraries and Google are partnering to digitize hundreds of thousands of print volumes from their collections, rendering the contents readily available to scholars and researchers worldwide.<br /><br />This is no small undertaking. The Transportation Library alone is one of the most extensive in the United States, containing over 500,000 items. <br /><br />The <a href="http://www.cic.net/Home.aspx"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Committee on Institutional Cooperation</span></a>, a consortium of the Midwest's Big Ten Schools' plus the University of Chicago, signed on to digitize their libraries in June, 2007 but the process is just getting underway this Fall.<br /><br />The project is expected to take several years, but the Transportation Library is one of the first campus libraries to send library items to Google for digitization. Google covers the transportation and digitization costs and Northwestern has received a generous donation from the Office of the Provost to help cover other technical costs.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOrxYtxVJsI/AAAAAAAAAic/0eBd0rfEUSk/s1600/20101122_googlebooks_cropped.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 78px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOrxYtxVJsI/AAAAAAAAAic/0eBd0rfEUSk/s400/20101122_googlebooks_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542507698338473666" border="0" /></a>We are told that books sent to Google for digitization may be off the shelves for up to three months. Once everything eligible for converting into electronic format has been digitized, those searching the library catalog will have the choice of borrowing the original print item or accessing the full-text document online.<br /><br />Results from Google Book Search show up in both <a href="http://www.google.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">general Google searches</span></a> as well as through the dedicated <a href="http://books.google.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Google Books site</span></a>.<br /><br />The entire Google Books project has been a source of controversy over the last decade. Some hail the initiative's capacity to provide "anytime, anywhere" access to all of human knowledge. Others question the application of copyright laws for works published in one place but accessed around the world.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOrzmqBzmdI/AAAAAAAAAik/iw8SpzOv4kU/s1600/20101122_northwestern.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 183px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOrzmqBzmdI/AAAAAAAAAik/iw8SpzOv4kU/s400/20101122_northwestern.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542510136875260370" border="0" /></a>The Google Books enterprise is a complicated endeavor. While access to the ever-increasing (and increasingly digitized) world of knowledge is great, how can Google maintain a high-level of retrievability from a growing pool of millions of items? A <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/11/inside-the-google-books-algorithm/65422/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">recent article in The Atlantic</span></a> highlights this challenge, with a concise overview of "Rich Results," Google's latest search algorithm that helps users find what they're looking for...even when they don't specifically ask for it.<br /><br />Last month, <a href="http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-future-of-books.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Google speculated that it had scanned more than 15 million books from more than 100 countries in over 400 languages since 2004</span></a>. Google Books' Engineering Director James Crawford went on to state:<br /><br /><blockquote>"Our shared vision of bringing all the incredible content stored in the world's books online depends on working with libraries, publishers, authors and book lovers.<br /><br />The greater the diversity of content on the web, the more useful it becomes. And the more people who can access the information cataloged in books, the more enlightening those works become."</blockquote><br />Our goals are the same. Here at Metro's Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library & Archive, we have embarked on a digitization project of our own (sans Google) <a href="http://metrotransportationlibrary.blogspot.com/2010/10/metro-librarys-digital-documents.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">as outlined here</span></a>. We want to provide greater access to our rich collections, make items more easily findable and retrievable, and preserve information and knowledge for generations to come.Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-84297993007362434232010-11-18T16:22:00.000-08:002010-11-19T08:41:52.722-08:00Los Angeles In Maps & The Curious Case Of Miss Laura J. Whitlock<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0847833917"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 350px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOXKbOx6r8I/AAAAAAAAAh0/G74hVmDzot0/s400/20101118_la_maps_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541057485722005442" border="0" /></a>One the most exciting new books in a long time has been released this month: Glen Creason's <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0847833917"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Los Angeles In Maps</span></a> (New York: Rizzoli, 2010).<br /><br />Creason is the Map Libraran at Los Angeles Public Library and co-curated the landmark 2008-2009 exhibition <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">L.A. Unfolded: Maps From The Los Angeles Public Library</span>.<br /><br />This new work guides the reader through the variety of maps created for Los Angeles, from the 1849 <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Plan De La Ciudad De Los Angeles</span> ("Ord's Survey") to modern day interactive maps.<br /><br />The book works on a number of levels: as history lesson, as a beautiful coffee table book with intriguing graphics, as a thought-provoking work showing how spatial depictions have changed over the past century and a half, and how Los Angeles can be viewed in historical context in ways other than chronological.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOXT2ml-9KI/AAAAAAAAAiE/6DDRpdC5s3w/s1600/20101118_la_unfolded_cropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 133px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOXT2ml-9KI/AAAAAAAAAiE/6DDRpdC5s3w/s400/20101118_la_unfolded_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541067851575522466" border="0" /></a>It is organized into chapters that tell the various stories of Los Angeles, such as Early Growth, Social Life, Water, Age of the Automobile, Tourism, etc.<br /><br />Fortunately for us, there is a Transportation section, where we learn the story of Laura J. Whitlock, official mapmaker of Los Angeles County - and the only female map publisher in the United States when she was working in the early 20th century.<br /><br />Pirated copies of her work were widely distributed without her consent, and she filed suit for copyright infringement. We'll leave it to you to discover what happened with this landmark case, but it did set a precedent for map copyright -- an important contribution to American map history made here in Los Angeles.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOXTWUa1VcI/AAAAAAAAAh8/8dpClyp1dT8/s1600/20101118_la_maps3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 219px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOXTWUa1VcI/AAAAAAAAAh8/8dpClyp1dT8/s400/20101118_la_maps3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541067296941102530" border="0" /></a>The rest of the transportation maps and information are equally interesting, as are the other subject areas covered, but you'll have to read the book yourself to find out more. <div><br /></div><div>It suffices to say that the highly-readable nature of <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0847833917"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Los Angeles In Maps</span></a> makes it an instant classic for those interested not just in maps, but the history and growth of the city as well.<br /><br />We had hoped to find the same maps featured in the book on the Los Angeles Public Library website. Unfortunately, the L.A. Unfolded exhibit is not listed on the LAPL <a href="http://www.lapl.org/virgal/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Past Exhibits webpage</span></a>, but <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://digital.lapl.org/Browse.aspx?s=2">some of their 100,000 maps can be found in their digital collection online</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/maps/1925_pacific_electric.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 247px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOXVLayLTMI/AAAAAAAAAiM/SHzu3Zfutvs/s400/1925_pacific_electric.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541069308694318274" border="0" /></a>We, however, maintain an online map collection titled <a href="http://www.metro.net/about/library/archives/visions-studies/mass-rapid-transit-concept-maps/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Past Visions Of L.A.'s Transportation Future: Mass Rapid Transit Concept Maps</span></a>.<br /><br />Here you will find an online gallery from 1925 to present-day, focusing on proposed rail and rapid transit plans over the years.<br /><br />We are hoping to bring more map resources online as time permits.<br /><br />(Above: 1925 Pacific Electric Route Map, <span style="font-weight: bold;">click to enlarge. </span>These old maps are full of intriguing tidbits, like Sunset Boulevard being the original Beverly Boulevard - as noted here).<br /><div><br /></div><div> Readers are also invited to explore our full-text digital collection of <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.metro.net/about/library/archives/visions-studies/los-angeles-transit-and-transportation-studies/">Los Angeles Transit And Transportation Studies, 1911-1957</a>.</span> These documents also include rare maps and other illustrative material from L.A.'s transit and transportation history.</div></div>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-52871516063255638822010-11-16T14:42:00.000-08:002010-11-16T21:51:39.964-08:00Light Rail On Wilshire? Why, That Would Be Illegal!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOMcKESWD5I/AAAAAAAAAhU/q52-oAsBqP8/s1600/20101116_wilshire5_cropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOMcKESWD5I/AAAAAAAAAhU/q52-oAsBqP8/s400/20101116_wilshire5_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540302925870796690" border="0" /></a>The recent selection of a route alignment for the <a href="http://www.metro.net/projects/westside/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Westside Subway Extension</span></a>, as well as the release of the<a href="http://www.metro.net/projects/wilshire/wilshire-brt-final-eirea-november-2010/"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Wilshire Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit</span></a> final environmental impact report started us thinking about something we read aways back regarding Wilshire Boulevard.<br /><br />It was in Kevin Roderick's <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1883318556"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse Of Los Angeles</span></a> (Santa Monica: Angel City Press, 2005). The author briefly mentions (on page 20):<br /><br /><blockquote>"New subdivisions around the periphery of Los Angeles were not unusual in the mid-1890s, but the Wilshires had grander ambitions. Across the center of their land, they promised to grade a generous, one-hundred-twenty-foot-wide graveled boulevard.<br /><br />It would stretch just four blocks between the two parks, but the brothers believed that even a short stub of remarkable avenue would attract lot buyers.<br /><br />To spur sales, <span style="font-weight: bold;">they lobbied to encircle the tract with special streetcar lines, but insisted that the city council forbid the laying of tracks - forever - on their boulevard.</span>"<br /></blockquote><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOMcafrZiAI/AAAAAAAAAhc/qfo90XWXiK0/s1600/20101116_wilshire4_cropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOMcafrZiAI/AAAAAAAAAhc/qfo90XWXiK0/s400/20101116_wilshire4_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540303208101545986" border="0" /></a>Forbid the laying of tracks?<br /><br />Forever?<br /><br />Really?<br /><br />We had to determine if this had actually been codified, and turned to the <a href="http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=amlegal:lamc_ca"><span style="font-weight: bold;">City of Los Angeles Municipal Code</span></a> to investigate.<br /><br />Sure enough, we discovered in <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEC. 62.129. PUBLIC BOULEVARDS - USE OF</span>:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">That the following regulations shall apply to those certain streets in this City, known as Wilshire Boulevard, from Park View Avenue to the west City limits</span>; Adams Street from Grand Avenue to Hoover Street; Boyle Avenue from Whittier Boulevard to First Street; Alvarado Street from Seventh Street to Hoover Street; and Occidental Boulevard from First Street to Sixth Street; which have been heretofore dedicated as open, public boulevards: <p class="L2"> (a) <span style="font-weight: bold;">No railroad or pipe line franchise shall ever be granted, and no railroad track or pipe line shall ever be laid or constructed</span>, except water pipes, sewers, gas mains and conduits for telephone and electric wires, for service of the property fronting on said boulevards and house connections and connections of water, sewers, and gas pipe lines, or conduits for telephone and electric wires on intersecting streets.</p></blockquote><p class="L2"></p><p class="L2">The early developers of Wilshire were successful in banishing rail lines from the Boulevard forever. Despite having the greatest urban rail system in the world in its heyday, no streetcars ever rumbled down Los Angeles' grandest street.<br /></p><p class="L2">This <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/maps/1925_city_county_comprehensive_rapid_transit_plan_kelker_deleuw_urban.jpg"><span style="font-weight: bold;">1925 Kelker DeLeuw City/County Comprehensive Rapid Transit Plan Urban Map</span></a> shows nothing on Wilshire - cross-town streetcars were designated for Pico Boulevard, 3rd Street, and Hollywood Boulevard.</p><p class="L2">A <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/maps/1938_lary.jpg"><span style="font-weight: bold;">1938 Los Angeles Railway map</span></a> depicts cross-town streetcars on several east-west lines: 3rd Street (R), 10th Street / Olympic Boulevard (L), Pico "Street" (P), Washington Boulevard (W), and Jefferson Boulevard (J). Only motor coaches served Wilshire Boulevard.<br /></p><p class="L2">Wilshire still became the city's grandest boulevard despite its lack of "rapid transit" - or perhaps because of it - and Rodericks' book is a fascinating account of Los Angeles' iconic boulevard and how one street can influence such a large city.<br /></p><p class="L2"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOMXWKy_J_I/AAAAAAAAAhE/qbvlayGgPwk/s1600/20100824_monorail_fairfax_wilshire_cropped.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 260px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TOMXWKy_J_I/AAAAAAAAAhE/qbvlayGgPwk/s400/20100824_monorail_fairfax_wilshire_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540297636218611698" border="0" /></a></p><p class="L2">We can't know how the street or city would have developed had streetcars run along it, but Wilshire Boulevard never got stuck with overhead transit either.</p><p class="L2">We might be thankful we didn't end up with a Wilshire monorail, as one proposal depicted the intersection of Wilshire & Fairfax here.<br /></p><p class="L2">Meanwhile, this Saturday marks the annual <a href="http://www.greatlawalk.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Los Angeles Walk</span></a>, which goes back to its roots this year.<br /></p><p class="L2"> The day-long trek will take participants 15.6 miles along the entire length of Wilshire Boulevard, from Pershing Square downtown to its west end at the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica.<br /></p><p class="L2">The <a href="http://www.laconservancy.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">L.A. Conservancy</span></a> has a <a href="http://www.curatingthecity.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">wonderful interactive website</span></a> that helps visitors create their own <a href="http://www.curatingthecity.org/map.jsp"><span style="font-weight: bold;">customized tours of Wilshire Boulevard's past and present</span></a>.<br /></p><p class="L2"><br /></p>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-30058060156948152812010-11-08T16:29:00.000-08:002010-11-08T17:05:40.474-08:00New & Notable: America's Failing Infrastructure, "Climatopolis," & Why Do Shepherds Need A Bush?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0984497803"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 250px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNiXFOYJFtI/AAAAAAAAAgY/cDnzunoTWRM/s400/20101108_toobig_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537341857866520274" border="0" /></a>In August 2007, the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis, MN, collapsed, killing 13 and injuring 145 others. Investigations following the tragedy revealed that it could have been prevented. The grave reality is that it is a tragedy that threatens to be repeated at many of the thousands of bridges located across the nation. <p class="style5">In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0984497803"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Too Big To Fall: America's Failing Infrastructure And The Way Forward</span></a> (New York: Foster, 2010), <a href="http://www.toobigtofall.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">aut</span><em style="font-weight: bold;"></em><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">hor Barry LePatner</span></a> chronicles the problems that led to the I-35W catastrophe — poor bridge design,shoddy maintenance, ignored expert repair recommendations, and misallocated funding — and digs through the National Transportation Safety Board’s report on the tragedy, which failed to present the full story. </p> <p class="style5">From there LePatner evaluates what the I-35W Bridge collapse means for the country as a whole — outlining the possibility of a nationwide infrastructure breakdown.<br /></p><p class="style5">He exposes government failure on a national as well as state level, explains why we must maintain an effective infrastructure system — including how it plays a central role in supporting both our nation’s economic strength and our national security — and rounds out the book by providing his own well-researched solutions.</p> <em></em><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0984497803"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Too Big to Fall</span></a> presents an eye-opening critique of a bureaucratic system that has allowed political best interests to trump those of the American people. It contains special comments by James Oberstar, the outgoing Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure.<br /><br />Cities are the engines of the economic growth and the foundation of our prosperity. But what will become of them as our world gets hotter?<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0465019269"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 304px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNibvV5c6XI/AAAAAAAAAgg/f6QmOfBpB-U/s400/20101108_climatopolis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537346979486296434" border="0" /></a>In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0465019269"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive In The Hotter Future</span></a> (New York: Basic, 2010), Matthew Kahn, one of the world's foremost experts on the economics of the environment and of cities, argues that our future lies in our ability to adapt. Cities and regions will slowly transform as we change our behaviors and our surroundings in response to the changing climate. Kahn - professor at the <a href="http://www.ioe.ucla.edu/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability</span></a>, the <a href="http://www.spa.ucla.edu/dept.cfm?d=ps&s=home&f=psintrohome.cfm"><span style="font-weight: bold;">UCLA School of Public Affairs' Department of Public Policy</span></a>, and a research associate at the <a href="http://www.nber.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">National Bureau of Economic Research</span></a> - shows us how this will happen.<br /><br />The author is optimistic about the quality of our lives in the cities of the future, despite a high chance of less hospitable climate conditions than we face today. At the heart of his conviction in a bright future is our individual freedom of choice. This personal freedom will reveal pathways that will greatly help urbanites cope with climate change.<br /><br />Taking the reader on a tour of the world's cities - from New York to Los Angeles, Beijing to Mumbai - Kahn's clear-eyed, engaging, and optomistic messages presents a positive yet realistic picture of what our urban future will look like.<br /><br />An entire chapter is devoted to Los Angeles, including sub-sections titled "Los Angeles Has A Subway?" and "Could Public Transit Become Hip In Los Angeles?"<br /><br /><div><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0752455265"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNidXCnpVVI/AAAAAAAAAg4/glx_uCGPQow/s400/20101108_whydo_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537348761017734482" border="0" /></a>The names of the 300 or so London underground stations are often quite unusual, yet so familiar that Tube riders take them for granted.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">We hardly ever question their meanings or origins—yet these well-known names are almost always linked with fascinating stories of bygone times.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0752455265"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why Do Shepherds Need A Bush?: London's Underground History Of Tube Station Names</span></a> (Stroud, Eng.: History Press, 2010), author David Hilliam not only uncovers the little-known history behind the station stops below ground, but also explores the eccentric etymology of some of London's landmarks, offering trivia boxes that will surely amuse.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Until the mid-19th century, London was almost unbelievably rural, with names belonging to a countryside we could never recognize or imagine today.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Who in the 21st century, thinks of a real flesh-and-blood shepherd lolling back on a specially-trimmed hawthorn bush, when traveling through Shepherd's Bush underground station?<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">And who, traveling through Totteridge and Whetstone on the Northern Line, imagines medieval soldiers sharpening their swords and daggers at the aptly named Whetstone just before engaging in the appallingly bloody battle of Barnet? </p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">This entertaining book will ensure that readers never view their normal Tube journey the same way again. </p></div>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-37448995447210966242010-11-03T19:17:00.000-07:002010-11-04T09:22:21.306-07:002010 Transportation Ballot Measures: An Examination Of Key Trends And Results<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNI1-lvAF4I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/Ze72Je5_1q4/s1600/infrastructure1_cropped.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535546241389172610" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNI1-lvAF4I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/Ze72Je5_1q4/s400/infrastructure1_cropped.jpg" /></a>Election Day has come and gone. Yesterday, our daily<span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"> </span></span><b><a href="http://losangelestransportation.blogspot.com/">Transportation Headlines</a></b> highlighted the <b><a href="http://www.cfte.org/default.asp">Center For Transportation Excellence</a></b>'s state-by-state <b><a href="http://www.cfte.org/success/2010BallotMeasures.asp">results of all transportation ballot measures in 2010</a></b>.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.cfte.org/2010%20Post-Election%20Press%20Release.pdf">43 of 56 measures passed: a 77% success rate</a></b>. <div><br /></div><div>But what does it mean for local and national transportation issues? The pundits, planners, pollsters and prognosticators have only just begun reading the tea leaves as well as the writing on the wall.</div><div><br /></div>This Friday, <b><a href="https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/963750850">CFTE will host a webinar</a></b> recapping the outcomes of this year's transportation measures across the country and take a look at key trends from other recent elections. <div><br /></div><div>This is a great opportunity to learn how communities are using ballot measures to improve their transportation systems, so we wanted to share more information about it:<br /><b></b></div><blockquote><div><b>Free Webinar: Trends And Results From 2010 Transportation Ballot Measures (<a href="https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/963750850">Register Here</a>)<br /></b></div><blockquote><div></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><div><b>Hosted by the Center for Transportation Excellence, <a href="http://www.napta.net/">NAPTA</a> and <a href="http://www.apta.com/Pages/default.aspx">APTA</a> State Transit Association Leaders</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Fri, Nov 5, 2010 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM PST</b></div></blockquote><div>In advance of the webinar, the following resources might be worth reviewing:</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="http://www.cfte.org/success/2010BallotMeasures.asp"></a></b></div><blockquote><div>CFTE's <a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold" href="http://www.cfte.org/success/2010BallotMeasures.asp">State-By-State 2010 Transportation Ballot Measures results</a></div><div><br /></div><div>CFTE's report: <b><a href="http://www.cfte.org/CFTE%20Election%20Trends%20Report.pdf">Transportation Finance At The Ballot Box: Voters Support Increased Investment & Choice</a></b> (34p. PDF)</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="http://t4america.org/">Transportation For America</a></b>'s <b><a href="http://t4america.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/031010-Future-of-Transportation-Poll-Summary.pdf">Future Of Transportation Nation Survey</a></b> (26p. PDF : March, 2010), for which <b><a href="http://t4america.org/resources/2010survey/">a summary of survey findings can be found here</a></b>.</div></blockquote><div></div><div>In other post-election news, Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Chair of the <b><a href="http://transportation.house.gov/">House Transportation And Infrastructure Committee</a></b>, was defeated after 18 terms in the House of Representatives. <b><a href="http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/singlepages.aspx/803">John Mica (R-FL)</a></b>, the Committee's Republican leader, <b><a href="http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1006">said in a statement today</a></b>:</div><div><br /><span id="ArticleDetailsCtrl_LongVersionLabel"><p></p><blockquote><p>“Among my top legislative priorities will be passing a long-term federal highways and transit reauthorization, a long-overdue Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, a new water resources measure, and a long-term Coast Guard reauthorization.</p><p>“I will also focus on major initiatives to find ways within the Committee’s jurisdiction to save taxpayer dollars. That includes better management and utilization of federal assets, including real property, and more efficient, cost effective passenger rail transportation, including a better directed high-speed rail program.”</p></blockquote><p></p></span><br /></div><div>We also wanted to share more information about CFTE, which does an excellent job rounding up information about transportation measures and election results. They also serve as a "clearinghouse for information in support of quality transportation choices. "</div><div><br /></div><div>CFTE is committed to two main objectives: (1) responding to transit’s critics and (2) equipping local leaders with the information they need to be successful with their public transportation initiatives and ballot measures.</div><div><br /></div><div>How does CFTE accomplish its mission? Their goal is to deliver the message of sensible transportation choice by:</div><div><ul><li>Creating case studies that illustrate the power of effective public transportation</li><li>Developing “tool kits” that aid local leaders in communicating the benefits of their programs</li><li>Maintaining an interactive website that provides clear information on effective public transportation development</li><li>Reaching out to media sources with the arguments in support of sensible transportation choice</li><li>Mobilizing in response to media coverage of the opposition with Letters to the Editor, Op/Ed submissions, editorial board meetings, etc.</li><li>Tracking legislative efforts and ballot measures and reporting on the outcomes and trendsTracking research outcomes and publicizing research results to the media, stakeholders, and local leaders</li></ul></div><div><br />Now more than ever, as state governments struggle with massive budget deficits, and communities suffer under burgeoning traffic, support for sensible transportation solutions is in peril. Opponents using erroneous arguments and fomenting fear are eroding the great strides made over the past decade. </div><div><br /></div><div>Supporters of balanced, practical transportation development look to CFTE for assistance with:<br /><ul><li>Distributing information that proves the effectiveness of public transportation</li><li>Engaging the opposition wherever and whenever they appear</li><li>Coaching community leaders in techniques for engaging the opposition in their own communities</li><li>Promoting transportation victories at the local, state, and national levels</li></ul><span style="font-size:78%;">Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2942952271/in/photostream/">Flickr</a></span> </div>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-14188805080790783152010-11-03T16:02:00.000-07:002010-11-03T22:57:52.284-07:00Our National Archives At Risk: What The Government Accountability Office Has Found<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNHvfEiO0fI/AAAAAAAAAfI/_i9zgLRCqcM/s1600/20101103_nationalarchives.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 263px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 192px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535468734087352818" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNHvfEiO0fI/AAAAAAAAAfI/_i9zgLRCqcM/s400/20101103_nationalarchives.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="312033218-02112010"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We wanted to share important (and frankly, frightening) news with you regarding the findings released last week of </span><a href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1120.pdf"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:verdana;">an audit</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> of the </span><a href="http://www.archives.gov/"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:verdana;">National Archives and Records Administration</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> (NARA).</span></span></span></span> <p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="312033218-02112010">The </span><a href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1120.pdf"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">audit</span></a> (42p. PDF) <span class="312033218-02112010">was </span>prompted in part by the loss of the Wright Brothers' original patent and maps for atomic bomb missions in Japan. </span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">These losses led investigators to discover that some of the nation's prized historical documents are in danger of being lost for good. It follows a <a href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1115.pdf"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">previous audit</span></a> (66p. PDF) earlier in October highlighting oversight and management improvements, but pointing out that more action was needed.<br /><span class="312033218-02112010"></span></span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="312033218-02112010">The Government Accountability Office has also released a <a href="http://gao.gov/products/GAO-11-20"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Summary Of Audit Findings</span></a> as well as a <a href="http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1120high.pdf"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Highlights</span></a> page. The NARA website has posted a <a href="http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2011/nr11-13.html"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Statement</span></a> in response to the audit findings from Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero.<br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNHvwx_MPxI/AAAAAAAAAfg/awezHXUx0bg/s1600/20101103_nationalarchives4.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 259px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 194px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535469038346190610" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNHvwx_MPxI/AAAAAAAAAfg/awezHXUx0bg/s400/20101103_nationalarchives4.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Nearly 80 percent of U.S. government agencies are at risk of illegally destroying public records and the National Archives is backlogged with hefty volumes of records needing preservation care, the audit by the Government Accountability Office found.</span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The report by the watchdog arm of Congress, completed this month after a year's work, also found many U.S. agencies do not follow proper procedures for disposing of public records.</span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The report comes more than a year after news reports of key items missing at the nation's record-keeping agency. Some of the items have been missing for decades but their absence only became widely known in recent years.</span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The patent file for the Wright Brothers flying machine was last seen in 1980 after passing around multiple Archives offices, the Patents and Trademarks Office and the National Air and Space Museum.</span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">As for maps for the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, military representatives checked them out in 1962, and they've been missing ever since.</span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNHv1F41yiI/AAAAAAAAAfo/Di8j9Lnyjik/s1600/20101103_nationalarchives5_cropped.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 280px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535469112407738914" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNHv1F41yiI/AAAAAAAAAfo/Di8j9Lnyjik/s400/20101103_nationalarchives5_cropped.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The GAO report did not specifically mention those or other examples of missing items including Civil War telegrams from Abraham Lincoln, Eli Whitney's cotton gin patent and some NASA photographs on the moon.</span></p><p ><span style="font-size:85%;">Meanwhile, some documents face the threat of deterioration even though they're already at the Archives. Figures from 2009 show 65 percent of its holdings need preservation steps. In some cases, a document's condition already is so poor, it can't be read – a backlog amounting to more than 2 million cubic feet of records.</span></p><p ><span style="font-size:85%;">The National Archives and Records Administration has 44 facilities in 20 states, including 13 presidential libraries, funded by about $470 million this year from Congress.<br /></span></p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana"><span class="312033218-02112010"><span style="font-size:85%;">NARA also maintains a "<a href="http://www.archives.gov/research/recover/"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Help The National Archives Recover Lost And Stolen Documents</span></a>" website. </span></span></p><a style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNHvnBWNDeI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/ahoofdYOMes/s1600/20101103_nationalarchives2_cropped.jpg.png"><br /></a>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-91474771151646928572010-11-02T15:04:00.000-07:002010-11-02T16:01:37.039-07:00Research Roundup: Social Media For Public Transportation, Funding The Needs Of An Aging Population & An Overview Of U.S. Parking Management Strategies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm575817696.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 92px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNCNn_KOXcI/AAAAAAAAAeI/JhZEGDYsxqA/s400/20101102_social_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535079660147072450" border="0" /></a>Each and every day, social media tools change the way that organizations<br />interact with their users.<br /><br />A recent report from the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.cutr.usf.edu/index.shtml">Center For Urban Transportation Research</a> at University of South Florida titled <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm575817696.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Routes To New Networks: A Guide To Social Media For The Public Transportation Industry</span></a> (66p. PDF) explains how these new platforms offer not only more personal one-on-one interaction than traditional media, but also represent the essence of niche marketing.<br /><br />It is undeniable that social media is all the buzz. For some, utilizing new media tools may come as second nature. For others, however, entering the world of social media means taking a giant leap into the world of online communications.<br /><br /><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm575817696.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 182px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNCWBhdN1II/AAAAAAAAAeo/fv-yRWQXRZk/s400/20101102_social2_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535088894943286402" border="0" /></a>One thing is certain – social media platforms are allowing a new opportunity for transportation providers to directly communicate with their target audiences. Communication is moving in this direction – with or without your organization.<br /><br />The report analyzes the usefulness of and applications for social networks, written blogs, audio/video blogs, microblogs (e.g. Twitter), photo sharing, video sharing, user-generated content and mobile web content.<br /><br />The report states that key points to consider when determining which tool(s) to use are:<br /><blockquote>1) Who is my target audience and what tools are they using?<br />2) What type of information do I want to communicate?<br /></blockquote>Content must always resonate with your audience. What can you provide that would be of value?<br /><br /><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm427915575.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 120px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNCSnEQ-79I/AAAAAAAAAeQ/K3Dn1BWrwUA/s400/20101102_funding_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535085141895868370" border="0" /></a>Earlier this year, the <a href="http://www.apta.com/Pages/default.aspx"><span style="font-weight: bold;">American Public Transportation Association</span></a> (APTA) published <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm427915575.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Funding The Public Transportation Needs Of An Aging Population</span></a> (57p. PDF).<br /><br />It explains how rapid growth in the number of older people in the United States during the coming decades will lead to greatly increased needs for expanded and enhanced public transportation services. This report:<blockquote> a) identifies the range of actions that will be needed to expand mobility options for older people, including accessible public transportation services;<br />b) quantifies the demand for these public transportation services; and<br />c) estimates the funding that will be needed to provide them.</blockquote>Needed actions have been identified by means of a review of the extensive literature on this<br />subject. The actions needed to expand mobility options for older people include:<br /><blockquote><ul><li>Enhancements to fixed-route public transportation operations and planning such as additional bus operator training, incorporating travel needs of older people in route planning and stop placement, and coordination with other agencies and transportation providers</li><li>Enhancements to public transportation vehicles such as low-floor buses, kneeling buses, improved interior circulation, additional stanchions and grab bars, ergonomic seating designed for older riders, and accessibility features either required or encouraged by ADA like lifts and ramps, larger letters on head signs, and stop announcements</li><li>Actions to help older people take advantage of existing services, like presenting information in ways that are easy to read and as clear as possible, information and assistance programs to connect older people with appropriate services, and outreach and training programs</li><li>Expansion of supplementary services including flexible route and community transportation services, ADA complementary paratransit, non-ADA demand-responsive services, taxi subsidy programs, and volunteer driver programs</li><li>Application of universal design strategies at transit facilities, bus stops, and on streets and sidewalks in the immediate vicinity of transit facilities and stops</li></ul></blockquote><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm427915575.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 191px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNCWzfmgHeI/AAAAAAAAAfA/B5QjNd2sIHo/s400/20101102_funding2_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535089753438821858" border="0" /></a>These are the actions of greatest concern to public transportation agencies, but they are not the<br />only actions needed.<br /><br />Other important actions include assuring supportive services to caregivers<br />who provide transportation, encouraging further development of unsubsidized private<br />transportation services, increasing the availability of accessible taxicabs, coordinating with non-emergency medical transportation provided under Medicaid and Medicare, and supporting<br />modifications to automobiles and roadways to increase the safety of older drivers.<br /><br /><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm530294738.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 206px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNCTTtWSoYI/AAAAAAAAAeY/7bEMxhSeG6A/s400/20101102_parking_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535085908838228354" border="0" /></a>Finally, we wanted to take a closer look at <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm530294738.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">U.S. Parking Policies: An Overview Of Management Strategies</span></a> put out by the <a href="http://www.itdp.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Institute For Transportation And Development Policy</span></a> in New York.<br /><br />This report highlights best practices in parking management in the United States.<br /><br />In the last decade, some municipalities have reconsidered poorly conceived parking policies to address a host of negative impacts resulting from private automobile use such as traffic congestion and climate change. Unchecked, these policies have proven to be a major barrier to establishing a balanced urban transportation network.<br /><br /><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm530294738.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 197px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TNCWaaHW--I/AAAAAAAAAe4/LNtyHX4OAc4/s400/20101102_parking2_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535089322469293026" border="0" /></a>Many aspects of current parking management in the United States do not work reliably or efficiently for anyone: Motorists find themselves circling for long periods in search of a place to park; retail employees take choice parking locations away from potential customers; developers are compelled to provide more parking than the market requires; and traffic managers encounter difficulty handling traffic generated by new parking as there is often no link between parking price, supply and the amount of available road space.<br /><br />Finally, the old parking paradigm doesn’t work for the environment, as hidden subsidies encourage over reliance on private car use — a major, growing contributor to global warming and air pollution.<br /><br />This report identifies core sustainable parking principles and illustrates how smarter parking management can benefit consumers and businesses in time and money savings, while also leading to more livable, attractive communities.Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-26223563809012842632010-10-28T15:20:00.000-07:002010-10-28T23:17:23.408-07:00New & Notable: Inventing L.A.'s Autopia, Rival Trancontinental Rails, Rules For Sustainable Communities & Transportation Privatization<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0520252853"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 152px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMn6alP8O0I/AAAAAAAAAdo/huAYAtUvr0k/s400/20101028_inventingautopia_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533228951783881538" border="0" /></a>In 1920, as its population began to explode, Los Angeles was a largely pastoral city of bungalows and palm trees. Thirty years later, choked with smog and traffic, the city had become synonymous with urban sprawl and unplanned growth.<br /><br />Yet Los Angeles was anything but unplanned, as Jeremiah B.C. Axelrod reveals in this compelling, visually oriented history of the metropolis during its formative years. In a deft mix of cultural and intellectual history that brilliantly illuminates the profound relationship between imagination and place, <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0520252853"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inventing Autopia: Dreams And Visions Of The Modern Metropolis In Jazz Age Los Angeles</span></a> (Berkeley: University Of California Press, 2009) shows how the clash of irreconcilable utopian visions and dreams resulted in the invention of an unforeseen new form of urbanism--sprawling, illegible, fractured--that would reshape not only Southern California but much of the nation in the years to come.<br /><br />At 401 pages, it could seem like a daunting read, but those interested in Los Angeles history, urbanization, or the rise of the automobile will find this enjoyable. It's a great compliment to the <a href="http://www.metro.net/about/library/archives/visions-studies/los-angeles-transit-and-transportation-studies/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Library's historic transit and transportation studies collection</span></a>. Many of these documents, which date back to 1911, have been digitized and are available <a href="http://www.metro.net/about/library/archives/visions-studies/los-angeles-transit-and-transportation-studies/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">on our website</span></a> in full-text PDF.<br /><br />Axelrod focuses on the 1920s when Los Angeles was growing at a fast clip. <a href="http://metrotransportationlibrary.blogspot.com/2010/07/1922-los-angeles-unprecedented-growth.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">As we noted back in July</span></a>, the number of automobile registrations in Los Angeles County quadrupled between 1914 and 1922 - making it very clear that the city's embrace of the auto would set the stage for decades of congestion and other issues.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1400065615"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 149px; height: 225px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMn6hT7bIhI/AAAAAAAAAdw/WPS_MOh_3og/s400/20101028_rivalrails_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533229067393507858" border="0" /></a>Going back further in history is another equally seminal story about transportation in the West. Acclaimed historian Walter R. Borneman has written a dazzling account of the battle to build the first transportation system across America.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1400065615"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rival Rails: The Race To Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad</span></a> (New York: Random House, 2010) is an action-packed epic of how an empire was born—and the remarkable men who made it happen.<br /><br />After the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the rest of the country was up for grabs, and the race was on. The prize: a better, shorter, less snowy route through the corridors of the American Southwest, linking Los Angeles to Chicago.<br /><br />Borneman lays out in compelling detail the sectional rivalries, contested routes, political posturing, and ambitious business dealings that unfolded as an increasing number of lines pushed their way across the country.<br /><br />The author brings to life the legendary business geniuses and so-called robber barons who made millions and fought the elements—and one another—to move America, including:<br /><br /><blockquote>William Jackson Palmer, whose leadership of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad relied on innovative narrow gauge trains that could climb steeper grades and take tighter curves;<br /><br />Collis P. Huntington of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific lines, a magnate insatiably obsessed with trains—and who was not above bribing congressmen to satisfy his passion;<br /><br />Edward Payson Ripley, visionary president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, whose fiscal conservatism and smarts brought the industry back from the brink; and<br /><br />Jay Gould, ultrasecretive, strong-armer and one-man powerhouse.</blockquote><br />In addition, Borneman captures the herculean efforts required to construct these roads—the laborers who did the back-breaking work, boring tunnels through mountains and throwing bridges across unruly rivers, the brakemen who ran atop moving cars, the tracklayers crushed and killed by runaway trains.<br /><br />From backroom deals in Washington, D.C., to armed robberies of trains in the wild deserts, from glorified cattle cars to streamliners and Super Chiefs, all the great incidents and innovations of a mighty American era are re-created with unprecedented power in this new work destined to be a classic.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1597266655"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMn6nRpA8DI/AAAAAAAAAd4/S84DgQ2-9ms/s400/20101028_sevenrules_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533229169858637874" border="0" /></a>Turning now to urban planning, author Patrick Condon discusses transportation, housing equity, job distribution, economic development, and ecological systems issues and synthesizes his knowledge and research into a simple-to-understand set of urban design rules that can, if followed, help save the planet. <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1597266655"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></a></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1597266655"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Seven Rules For Sustainable Communities: Design Strategies For The Post Carbon World</span></a> (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2010) clearly connects the form of our cities to their ecological, economic, and social consequences. This book takes on a wide range of complex and contentious issues and distills them down to convincing and practical solutions.<br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Of particular importance is how city form affects the production of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The author explains this relationship in an accessible way, and goes on to show how conforming to seven simple rules for community design could literally do a world of good. Each chapter in the book explains one rule in depth, adding a wealth of research to support each claim. If widely used, Condon argues, these rules would lead to a much more livable world for future generations—a world that is not unlike the better parts of our own.</p><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0815704739"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 149px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMn7kfhAgRI/AAAAAAAAAeA/v0--aEfFD48/s400/20101028_last+exit_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533230221555171602" border="0" /></a>In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0815704739"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Last Exit: Privatization And Deregulation Of The U.S. Transportation System</span></a> (Washington, D.C.: Brookings, 2010), Clifford Winston reminds us that transportation services and infrastructure in the United States were originally introduced by private firms.<br /><br />The case for subsequent public ownership and management of the system was weak, in his view, and here he assesses the case for privatization and deregulation to greatly improve Americans satisfaction with their transportation systems. How can this be done?<br /><br />Writing in the <a href="http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/right-turn-signal-privatizing-our-way-out-of-traffic/?hp"><span style="font-weight: bold;">New York Times</span></a>, Harvard University economics professor Edward L. Glaeser points out that:<br /><br /><p></p><blockquote><p>Because the public sector controls almost all roads, airports and urban transit, we see the downsides of public control on a daily basis, but we don’t experience the social costs that could accompany privatization. A private airport operator might try to exploit its monopoly power over a particular market or cut costs in a way that increases the probability of very costly, but rare, disaster.</p> <p>The complexity and risks of switching to private provision means that Mr. Winston is wise to call for experimentation rather than wholesale privatization. An incremental process of trying things out will provide information and build public support.</p> <p>Yet many of Mr. Winston’s recommendations are incremental and can be done without privatization or much risk.</p></blockquote><p></p>The book covers privatization and deregulation of roads, airports, air traffic control, mass transit, intercity buses and railway networks.Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-29164746478863346262010-10-27T15:36:00.000-07:002010-10-27T17:59:09.019-07:00Research Roundup: Spawl Crawl And Rethinking Peak Hour Commutes, The New Sharing Economy & Smart Mobility For The 21st Century<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm671663641.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 327px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMivwF3FohI/AAAAAAAAAdA/hMZHkDH2hqU/s400/20101027_ceosforcities_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532865382966469138" border="0" /></a>The organization <a href="http://www.ceosforcities.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">CEOs For Cities</span></a> released a widely-cited report last month titled <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm671663641.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Measuring Urban Transportation Performance: A Critique Of Mobility Measures And Synthesis</span></a> (71p. PDF). Their research finds that the secret to reducing the amount of time Americans spend in peak hour traffic has more to do with how we build our cities than how we build our roads.<br /><br />The report explains how the cities studied have managed to achieve shorter travel times and actually reduce the peak hour travel times. Some metropolitan areas have land use patterns and transportation systems that enable their residents to take shorter trips and minimize the burden of peak hour travel.<br /><br />This runs counter to the conclusions of the <a href="http://tti.tamu.edu/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Texas Transportation Institute</span></a>'s <a href="http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Urban Mobility Report</span></a> year after year. The CEO For Cities document explains that the UMR approach has completely overlooked the role that variations in travel distances play in driving urban transportation problems.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ceosforcities.org/pagefiles/DrivenApartXSFINAL.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 170px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMiykat2nsI/AAAAAAAAAdI/KmlCPOQBS2s/s400/20101027_ceosforcities2_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532868480941334210" border="0" /></a>In the best performing cities -- those that have achieved the shortest peak hour travel distances -- such as Chicago, Portland and Sacramento, the typical traveler spends 40 fewer hours per year in peak hour travel than the average American. Because of smart land use planning and investment in alternative transportation, Portland has seen its average trip lengths decline by 20%.<br /><br />In contrast, in the most sprawling metropolitan areas, such as Nashville, Indianapolis and Raleigh, the average resident spends as much as 240 hours per year in peak period travel because travel distances are so much greater. The report's 20-page <a href="http://www.ceosforcities.org/pagefiles/DrivenApartXSFINAL.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Executive Summary</span></a> is titled <a href="http://www.ceosforcities.org/pagefiles/DrivenApartXSFINAL.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Driven Apart: How Sprawl Is Lengthening Our Commutes And Why Misleading Mobility Measures Are Making Things Worse</span></a>.<br /><br />In <a href="http://latdsurvey.net/pdf/Sharing.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The New Sharing Economy</span></a>, a study by <a href="http://www.latd.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Latitude</span></a> in collaboration with <a href="http://shareable.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shareable Magazine</span></a>, the authors look at new opportunities for sharing.<br /><br /><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20101027_sharing_graph.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMi15CMYzrI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Q7h32CU_phg/s400/20101027_sharing_graph_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532872133670653618" border="0" /></a>An interesting graph (<span style="font-weight: bold;">click to enlarge</span>) plots various endeavors on a market saturation and latent demand scale. The resulting plot points fall into four quandrants, labeled:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Low Interest and Low Prior Success</span> (e.g. bike, outdoor sporting goods)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Done Well Already</span> (e.g. work space, storage space, food co-op)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Opportunities Still Remain</span> (e.g. physical media, digital media)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Best New Opportunities</span> (automobile, time/responsibilities, money lending/borrowing)<br /><br />This last category, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Best New Opportunities</span>, provides the launch point for discussion of car sharing. The report notes that there's still a large amount of unfulfilled demand for car-sharing. More than half of all participants surveyed either shared vehicles casually or weren't sharing currently but expressed interest in doing so. For people who share in an organized fashion, cars and bikes were popular for sharing amongst family and close friends but weren't commonly shared outside this immediate network, relative to other categories of goods.<br /><br />This intriguing and visually appealing report goes on to point out the new sharing takeaways for non-sharing businesses, including "we-based brands," the value in social and alternative currencies, and the "contagiousness" of sharing.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMjEcbDKGFI/AAAAAAAAAdY/nXuEILHFsRo/s1600/20101027_smartmobility_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 163px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMjEcbDKGFI/AAAAAAAAAdY/nXuEILHFsRo/s400/20101027_smartmobility_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532888134801037394" border="0" /></a>Finally, <a href="http://t4america.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transportation For America</span></a> recently released a White Paper titled <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/harvested/ocm669833123.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Smart Mobility For A 21st Century America: Strategies For Maximizing Technology To Minimize Congestion, Reduce Emissions And Increase Efficiency</span></a> (39p. PDF).<br /><br />It proposes that improving transportation efficiency through operational innovation is critical as our population grows and ages, budgets tighten and consumer preferences shift.<br /><br />As Congress prepares to review and reauthorize the nation’s transportation program, an array of innovations that were either overlooked or did not exist at the time of previous authorizations can be incentivized.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMjH7-7ZYQI/AAAAAAAAAdg/3nXIpxUlyj8/s1600/20101027_smartmobility_rainbow_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMjH7-7ZYQI/AAAAAAAAAdg/3nXIpxUlyj8/s400/20101027_smartmobility_rainbow_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532891975542989058" border="0" /></a>Just as the Internet, smart phones and social media changed they way we acquire news, listen to music or connect with friends and family, these same innovations have implications for how we move around. While high-tech gadgets can be a problem when they distract motorists from driving, they open up a whole new world for people using other modes.<br /><br />But what if we could manage traffic to help drivers avoid congestion before they get stuck in it? What if you always knew when the next bus was going to arrive, the closest parking space or which train car had a seat available for you? The innovative technologies and strategies outlined in the White Paper include:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Making transportation systems more efficient</span> (e.g. ramp meters, highway advisory radio)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Providing more travel options</span> (e.g. online databases to match up vanpool riders, car-sharing services)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Providing travelers with better, more accurate, and more connected information</span> (e.g. computerized vehicle tracking)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Making pricing and payments more convenient and efficient</span> (e.g. EZ passes, electronic benefits)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reducing trips and traffic</span> (flex-time, consolidating services online)</blockquote>The report goes on to discuss changes in demographics and make recommendations for federal transportation policy, as well as highlight several intriguing "smart mobility case studies."Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-45165570230741604642010-10-26T13:06:00.001-07:002010-10-27T09:22:46.509-07:00Metro Library's Digital Documents Collection: What You Need To Know About "Anytime, Anywhere" Access<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc2M_eztOI/AAAAAAAAAbY/bdZiYkaGnok/s1600/library_C.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 100px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532450264074925282" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc2M_eztOI/AAAAAAAAAbY/bdZiYkaGnok/s400/library_C.jpg" /></a>The <a href="http://www.metro.net/about/library"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Metro Transportation Library</span></a> has begun collecting, cataloging and providing access to “digital” documents via <a href="http://librarycat.metro.net/"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">our online catalog</span></a>. These important resources have been produced and disseminated in electronic format – rather than being released “on paper.”<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc6M4wC0uI/AAAAAAAAAbg/uj2tt97J2mg/s1600/20101026_doc1_cropped1.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 182px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 284px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532454660314682082" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc6M4wC0uI/AAAAAAAAAbg/uj2tt97J2mg/s400/20101026_doc1_cropped1.JPG" /></a>Up until now, we had been providing access to plenty of <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">digitized</span> documents - those which were scanned to provide electronic portability for resource sharing.<br /><br />Some of our print documents (books, reports, etc.) had digital versions published along with print copies, and we had linked to those in <a href="http://librarycat.metro.net/"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">our online catalog</span></a>. Other items that were published in print were scanned to create a PDF document, allowing them to be emailed or easily accessed in other ways. For example, <a href="http://www.metro.net/about/library/archives/visions-studies/los-angeles-transit-and-transportation-studies/"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">our collection of historic L.A. transit plans offers numerous full-text digital documents</span></a>.<br /><br />In both cases, the digital documents supplemented the original print versions. They appear in<a href="http://librarycat.metro.net/"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"> our online catalog</span></a> just as a book does, but with links to a URL that opens the PDF document for that title.<br /><br />However, more and more information is being “born digital” -- published electronically, as opposed to in print format. Rather than printing these items out to add to our collection, we are cataloging the electronic version to conserve resources and provide better access and more options for our users.<br /><br />We wanted to share with you some of the many benefits of growing our digital documents collection and why it is important to capture these “born digital” documents for posterity.<br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><br /></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc-yicqf1I/AAAAAAAAAcg/76gbZ8X8yfg/s1600/20101026_doc4_cropped.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 341px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 170px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532459705209356114" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc-yicqf1I/AAAAAAAAAcg/76gbZ8X8yfg/s400/20101026_doc4_cropped.JPG" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Digital documents do not take up valuable space.</span> We save paper (and time, and ink) by not printing out electronic documents. We save additional resources by not binding, labeling and barcoding printed documents, as well as other physical processing. Cataloging the electronic version provides all the content directly to our users in a direct, cost-efficient manner.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc--OiP2jI/AAAAAAAAAco/ZcvY5BfAf5E/s1600/20101026_doc3_cropped.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 330px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 161px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532459906022496818" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc--OiP2jI/AAAAAAAAAco/ZcvY5BfAf5E/s400/20101026_doc3_cropped.JPG" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Digital documents do not get lost or stolen.</span> The Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library & Archive has its own server space to host digital documents in our digital libraries. We have created organized directories to facilitate sharing resources in a timely manner. By storing the documents electronically on our own servers, they are easily located and safeguarded from disappearing from the collection. There are numerous ways books, reports and other print documents can disappear from a collection: theft, mis-shelving, loss, never returned after checkout, or sustaining damage that hinders their use. Electronic access does not pose these problems.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc7HIykcrI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/AxePcn49TZM/s1600/20101026_doc23_cropped.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 199px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 259px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532455661052654258" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc7HIykcrI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/AxePcn49TZM/s400/20101026_doc23_cropped.JPG" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Digital documents can serve multiple users simultaneously.</span> While there is something to be said for the experience of curling up in bed with a great book, that book can only be experienced by one person at a time. Libraries are embracing eBooks because they reduce or eliminate the wait time for popular titles.<br /><br />Likewise, our digital documents collection will accommodate multiple users at the same time. For example, when lengthy environmental impact reports (EIRs) are released to the public for review and comment, we now provide the user with the ability to consume this information at the same time as others, as well as at the time and place of his or her choosing.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc-gBWq3AI/AAAAAAAAAcY/yzxeZP-yobo/s1600/20101026_doc5_cropped.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 201px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 298px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532459387088198658" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc-gBWq3AI/AAAAAAAAAcY/yzxeZP-yobo/s400/20101026_doc5_cropped.JPG" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Digital documents are findable as well as searchable.</span> These resources are located the same way as other material formats in our collection. Our users will find relevant digital documents when searching the online catalog, although we do not currently have the ability to limit search results to only digital documents.<br /><br />However, once a digital document is found, the user can open the link to the PDF and execute a keyword search within the document for the information they want.<br /><br />Users can quickly locate specific data or text with a few keystrokes from home or their mobile device, as opposed to making a request of the Metro Library, having staff search for and locate a print document, scanning or sending the document to the user, and the user then searching through it for the information they need.<br /><br />Like online news stories that disappear all too quickly, some resources that should persist forever often go away before they can be accessed. References to them often last longer than the access provided by the producer, leading users to waste time trying to track down something that no longer exists.<br /><br />Transit advocacy groups go by the wayside, organizations merge with others, while other entities change their Internet domain names -- all these scenarios cause users to waste time searching for vanished resources, or search for URL links to desired documents that cannot be found.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMdBdtdtgkI/AAAAAAAAAcw/ufZE7hZ9UqU/s1600/20101026_doc6_cropped.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 353px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 188px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532462645924168258" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMdBdtdtgkI/AAAAAAAAAcw/ufZE7hZ9UqU/s400/20101026_doc6_cropped.JPG" /></a>Creating a lasting home for these items and making them permanently accessible meets these challenges. By cataloging electronic resources that fit our collection profile, we not only provide access to them, but preserve them as well.<br /><br />As one of the premier transportation research collections in the country, we want to grow our collection to remain responsive to Metro’s ambitious mobility agenda moving forward. We can achieve this without using up more physical space or many of the costs associated with print documents.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMdBrlKN_9I/AAAAAAAAAc4/INxdOn6W-yI/s1600/20101026_doc7_cropped.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 135px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532462884213096402" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMdBrlKN_9I/AAAAAAAAAc4/INxdOn6W-yI/s400/20101026_doc7_cropped.JPG" /></a>Finally, we are mindful that more and more users will be accessing our collection via mobile devices in the coming years. New smartphones, e-readers and iPads allow students, researchers, historians, and anyone interested in transportation information the ability to access us however they like.<br /><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><br /></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc6VfcTVaI/AAAAAAAAAbo/wmHwgyr73DM/s1600/20101026_doc2_cropped2.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 181px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 155px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532454808139814306" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TMc6VfcTVaI/AAAAAAAAAbo/wmHwgyr73DM/s400/20101026_doc2_cropped2.JPG" /></a>These devices will continue to provide users with greater amounts of information, more quickly, and in more customizable fashion, where they want and need it. Our growing digital documents collection helps us prepare for these for 24/7 access needs: anytime, anywhere. <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></p>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-18258976630120629872010-10-18T14:33:00.000-07:002010-10-18T15:08:21.337-07:00New And Notable: Transport For Suburbia, ArcGIS & High Speed Passenger Rail<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1844077403"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 149px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TLzCdUg_E0I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/1PtOOlTLD1I/s400/20101018_transport_suburbia_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529508251483181890" border="0" /></a>The need for effective public transport is greater than ever in the 21st century. With countries like China and India moving towards mass-automobility, we face the prospects of an environmental and urban health disaster unless alternatives are found--it is time to move beyond the automobile age.<br /><br />But while public transport has worked well in the dense cores of some big cities, the problem is that most residents of developed countries now live in dispersed suburbs and smaller cities and towns. These places usually have little or no public transport, and most transport commentators have given up on the task of changing this: it all seems too hard.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1844077403"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transport For Suburbia: Beyond The Automobile Age</span></a> (London: Earthscan, 2010) argues that the secret of European-style public transport lies in a generalizable model of network planning that has worked in places as diverse as rural Switzerland, the Brazilian city of Curitiba and the Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver. It shows how this model can be adapted to suburban, exurban and even rural areas to provide a genuine alternative to the car, and outlines the governance, funding and service planning policies that underpin the success of the world's best public transport systems. <br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1589482603"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 154px; height: 185px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TLzCFlfA0PI/AAAAAAAAAbA/EEgEU9DFeLc/s400/20101018_arcgis_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529507843721449714" border="0" /></a><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1589482603"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Getting To Know ArcGIS Desktop</span></a> (Redlands, Calif.: ESRI Press, 2010) introduces principles of GIS as it teaches the mechanics of using ESRI’s leading technology.<br /><br />Key concepts are combined with detailed illustrations and step-by-step exercises to acquaint readers with the building blocks of ArcGIS Desktop including ArcMap, for displaying and querying maps, ArcCatalog, for organizing geographic data, and ModelBuilder, for diagramming and processing solutions to complex spatial analysis problems.<br /><br />Its broad scope, simple style, and practical orientation make this book an ideal classroom text and an excellent resource for those learning GIS on their own.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1607419858"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 225px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TLzCQh3rsvI/AAAAAAAAAbI/Pmzv9N2W-Xo/s400/20101018_hsr_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529508031729742578" border="0" /></a>The factors affecting the economic viability of high speed rail lines include the level of expected riders, costs, and public benefits, which are influenced by a line's corridor and service characteristics.<br /><br />High speed rail tends to attract riders in dense, highly populated corridors, especially when there is congestion on existing transportation modes. <br /><br />Characteristics of the proposed service are also key considerations, as high speed rail attracts riders where it compares favorably to travel alternatives with regard to door-to-door trip times, prices, frequency of service, reliability and safety.<br /><br />In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1607419858"><span style="font-weight: bold;">High Speed Passenger Rail: Viability, Challenges And Federal Role</span></a> (New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2010), a strategic vision for high speed rail is offered, particularly in relation to the role that high speed rail can play in the national transportation system, clearly identifying potential objectives and goals for high speed rail systems and the roles that federal and other stakeholders should play in achieving each objective and goal.<br /><br />The recently enacted Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 will likely increase the federal role in the development of high speed rail, as will the newly enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. <br /><br />This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-56685418141006773182010-09-29T16:49:00.000-07:002010-09-29T17:40:31.220-07:00The 24-Hour City: 104 Years Of Owl Transit Service In Los Angeles<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TKPSTh7CDLI/AAAAAAAAAag/7FKK0WS1xOI/s1600/20100929_lamta.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TKPSTh7CDLI/AAAAAAAAAag/7FKK0WS1xOI/s400/20100929_lamta.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522488801051675826" border="0" /></a>-- By Matt Barrett<br /><br />Los Angeles has been a 24-hour city for much longer that most would imagine, and transit service has played an important role in keeping the city moving overnight for over 100 years.<br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >(LAMTA Car 3022 trundles down the R Line tracks on owl service in 1963. Photo courtesy of Alan Weeks)</span><br /><br /><br />According to the September 11, 1906 edition of the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper, in a brief article entitled “Owl Cars Are Run on Principal Lines”:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">The “owl” car service began last night. Cars on the principal lines left First and Spring streets at 1 and 2 o’clock. They were well patronized. The lines included are Boyle Heights, Grand Avenue, Vernon Avenue, University, Main Street, and Pico Heights.</span></blockquote><br />At the time service began, these lines linked Downtown with what were then LA’s most populated neighborhoods around 6th and Rampart, Central and Slauson, Boyle Heights, 46th and Wesley, Vermont and 54th, and Pico and Wilton.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TKPU7OqekII/AAAAAAAAAao/wX-bIZN3QNc/s1600/20100929_owlbrochure.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 393px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TKPU7OqekII/AAAAAAAAAao/wX-bIZN3QNc/s400/20100929_owlbrochure.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522491682099990658" border="0" /></a>Owl service continued in operation as the fledgling <a href="http://www.metro.net/about_us/library/images/1911GreatMergerLinked.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">network of streetcar lines, buses and interurban rail lines was purchased in 1911</span></a> and organized into two main transit companies: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolibraryarchive/sets/72157617136781505/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pacific Electric</span></a>, for long-distance interurban service, and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolibraryarchive/sets/72157617531268917/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Los Angeles Railway</span></a> serving urban inner-city Los Angeles.<br /><br />As Los Angeles grew outward, so did the length of the lines offering owl service. Special owl service guides were published and system maps included extensive owl service information for passengers.<br /><br />Even as streetcar service slowly began the conversion to bus service, beginning as early as 1925 and continuing until the last rail line was shut down in 1963, owl service remained a part of the transit system – as it does today.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />(This 1947 brochure advertised <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolibraryarchive/sets/72157616643413950/">LAMTA</a>'s Owl Service)</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.metro.net/around/timetables/24-hour/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Currently, Metro has 59 buses running on 26 lines during its overnight owl service</span></a>, roughly midnight to 5 a.m., connecting Downtown to points north to the San Fernando Valley, south to Long Beach, east to El Monte and west to Santa Monica and Venice.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TKPVjAr5fyI/AAAAAAAAAaw/I59XS0FdtzY/s1600/20100929_metrobusnight.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 170px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TKPVjAr5fyI/AAAAAAAAAaw/I59XS0FdtzY/s400/20100929_metrobusnight.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522492365542620962" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;color:black;" ></span></p>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-56098564147299937722010-09-28T16:49:00.000-07:002010-09-28T17:11:41.559-07:00New And Notable: Strategic Collaboration In Public & Non-Profit, Managing Public Sector Projects, Government Contracting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1420088750"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TKKCUJjExqI/AAAAAAAAAaI/QfTypPnHEH4/s400/20100928_strategiccollaboration_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522119375781676706" border="0" /></a>This week, we highlight three new titles from the ASPA Series in Public Administration and Public Policy.<br /><br />Market disruptions, climate change, and health pandemics lead the growing list of challenges faced by today’s leaders. These issues, along with countless others that do not make the daily news, require novel thinking and collaborative action to find workable solutions. However, many administrators stumble into collaboration without a strategic orientation.<br /><br />Using a practitioner-oriented style, <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1420088750"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Strategic Collaboration In Public And Non-Profit Administration: A Practice-Based Approach To Solving Shared Problems</span></a> provides guidance on how to collaborate more effectively, with less frustration and better results.<br /><br />Linking collaboration theory to effective practice, this book offers essential advice that fosters shared understanding, creative answers, and transformation results through strategic collaborative action. With an emphasis on application, it uses scenarios, real-world cases, tables, figures, tools, and checklists to highlight key points.<br /><br />The appendix includes supplemental resources such as collaboration operating guidelines, a meeting checklist, and a collaboration literature review to help public and nonprofit managers successfully convene, administer, and lead collaboration. The book presents a framework for engaging in collaboration in a way that stretches current thinking and advances public service practice.<br /><br /><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1420085654"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TKKCk0cTbYI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/BI1EgFnhXJg/s400/20100928_governmentcontracting_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522119662173908354" border="0" /></a>A guidebook through the minefield of government contracting and procurement, <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1420085654"><strong>Government Contracting: Promises and Perils</strong></a> describes the dangerous practices commonly applied in the development and management of government contracts and provides advice for avoiding the sort of errors that might compromise their ability to protect the public interest.<br /><br />It includes strategies for increasing profits for government contractors, rather than incurring burdensome costs, through compliance with government mandated subcontracting and financial management systems. <p>Drawing from his in-depth investigation of government agencies across the country, the author examines present-day scenarios that regularly lead public servants and government committees to manage contracts with tools that are less than optimal and to select contractors that may not be the best qualified. He then delineates practical processes, contracting documents, and contract management tools to mitigate detrimental outcomes and alternative approaches to supplant the imperfect methodologies. </p> <p>The author includes a CD-ROM with the book that provides a number of practical tools that you can apply as well as examples of contracts and templates that are the best he discovered during his research. The book also outlines an approach for performing advance contract planning, conducting contract negotiations, and administering contracts useful when planning for the management of the contracting process throughout the contracting cycle, negotiating a contract that protects the interest of all contracting parties, and ensuring successful contractor performance. </p><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1420088734"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 151px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TKKD6GvZtRI/AAAAAAAAAaY/eOcbU0bJfW8/s400/20100928_managingpublic_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522121127374730514" border="0" /></a><p>Filling a gap in project management literature, <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=1420088734"><strong>Managing Public Sector Projects: A Strategic Framework for Success in an Era of Downsized Government</strong></a> supplies managers and administrators—at all levels of government—with expert guidance on all aspects of public sector project management.<br /></p><p>From properly allocating risks in drafting contracts to dealing with downsized staffs and privatized services, this book clearly explains the technical concepts and the political issues involved. </p> <p>In line with the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) and the PMBOK<sup>®</sup> (Project Management Body of Knowledge), David S. Kassel establishes a framework those in the public sector can follow to ensure the success of their public projects and programs. He supplies more than 30 real-life examples to illustrate the concepts behind the framework—including reconstruction projects in Iraq, the Big Dig project in Boston, local sewer system and library construction projects, and software technology. </p> <p>This authoritative resource provides strategic recommendations for effective planning, execution, and maintenance of public projects. It also:</p> <ul><p> </p><li>Highlights the differences between managing projects in the public sector versus the private sector</li><li>Explains how to scrutinize costs, performance claims, and the backgrounds of prospective contractors</li><li>Presents key safeguards that should be included in all contracts with contractors, consultants, suppliers, and other service providers</li><li>Details the basics of project cost estimation, design and scheduling, and how to hold contractors responsible for meeting established project standards</li></ul> <p>In an age of downsized government and in the face of a general distrust of public service, this book is a dependable guide for avoiding management practices that are common to projects that fail and for adopting the practices common to projects that succeed in terms of cost, schedule, and quality.</p>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-25549147304683160712010-09-20T17:34:00.000-07:002010-09-20T18:04:22.847-07:00New And Notable: Cities For People, Transportation Infrastructure Security, Railway Noise And Vibration<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=159726573X"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJf9w_58LKI/AAAAAAAAAZY/NBvBf8vmNCM/s400/20100920_citiesforpeople2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519158886595832994" border="0" /></a>For more than forty years <a href="http://www.gehlarchitects.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jan Gehl</span></a> has helped to transform urban environments around the world based on his research into the ways people actually use — or could use — the spaces where they live and work.<br /><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">In <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=159726573X"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cities For People</span></a> (Washington : Island Press, 2010), his revolutionary new book, Gehl presents his latest work creating (or recreating) cityscapes on a human scale. He clearly explains the methods and tools he uses to reconfigure unworkable cityscapes into the landscapes he believes they should be: cities for people.</p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Taking into account changing demographics and changing lifestyles, Gehl explains how to develop cities that are lively, safe, sustainable, and healthy. </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div> <div>“Jan Gehl is our greatest observer of urban quality and an indispensable philosopher of cities as solutions to the environmental and health crises that we face. With over half the world’s population now in urban areas, the entire planet needs to learn the lessons he offers in Cities for People.” --Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation </div></div><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">The book is extensively illustrated with over 700 photos and drawings of examples from Gehl’s work around the globe. Jan Gehl is based in Copenhagen.<br /></p><p></p><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0470286296"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJf_SO5ff_I/AAAAAAAAAZg/UcKCW0jp7aY/s400/20100920_transportationinfrastructuresecurity.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519160557067796466" border="0" /></a>Intelligent Transportation Systems, or ITS, integrates different computing, control, and communication technologies to help monitor and manage traffic management that helps reduce congestion while saving lives, time, and money.<br /><br />While mobility and safety are the primary objectives of any good transportation system, security has also become an equally important consideration in their design and operation.<br /><br />This new work, <a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0470286296"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transportation Infrastructure Security Utilizing Intelligent Transportation Systems</span></a> (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2008), provides a comprehensive treatment of techniques to leverage ITS in support of security and safety for surface transportation infrastructure.<br /><br />Through the book's multidisciplinary approach, readers gain a comprehensive introduction to the diverse aspects of transportation infrastructure security as well as how ITS can reduce risks and be protected from threats with such topics as computer systems, risk analysis, and multi-modal transportation systems.<br /><br />This book, which will serve as a textbook and guide, provides: <br /><br /><ul><li>Current ITS approaches to security issues such as freight security, disaster and evacuation response, HAZMAT incidents, rail security, and ITS Wide Area Alerts </li><li> Guidance on the development of a regional transportation security plan </li><li> Securing ITS itself and privacy issues involved in any collection and use of personally identifiable tracking data </li><li>Exercises, question-and-answer sections, and other helpful review tools for the reader </li></ul>Filling a gap in the practical application of security, this book offers both students and transportation professionals valuable insights into the new security challenges encountered and how to manage these challenges with the use of computerized transportation systems. <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0080451470"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJgB0xPvtbI/AAAAAAAAAZo/uvC4KFDm7t8/s400/20100920_railwaynoisevibration.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519163349426746802" border="0" /></a>Railways are an environmentally friendly means of transport well suited to modern society.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">However, noise and vibration are key obstacles to further development of the railway networks for high-speed intercity traffic, for freight and for suburban metros and light-rail.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://maple.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/cgi-bin/CyberHTML?MTADLINK+ISBN=0080451470"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Railway Noise And Vibration: Mechanisms, Modelling And Means Of Control</span></a> (Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2009) brings together coverage of the theory of railway noise and vibration with practical applications of noise control technology at source to solve noise and vibration problems from railways.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Each source of noise and vibration is described in a systematic way: rolling noise, curve squeal, bridge noise, aerodynamic noise, ground vibration and ground-borne noise, and vehicle interior noise.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">This work also discusses in full the theoretical background and practical workings of railway noise, including the latest research findings, and forms an extended case study in the application of noise control techniques.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">Author David Thompson is Professor of Railway Noise and Vibration at the <a href="http://www.isvr.soton.ac.uk/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton</span></a> (U.K.). </p>Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-41238545876622963812010-09-20T14:56:00.000-07:002010-09-20T15:26:16.499-07:00This Is Social Media Week In Los Angeles!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJfaM3cllEI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/QzWip_QErZ4/s1600/20100920_socialmediaweek.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 251px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJfaM3cllEI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/QzWip_QErZ4/s400/20100920_socialmediaweek.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519119782942970946" border="0" /></a>It's <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/losangeles/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Social Media Week here in Los Angeles</span></a>.<br /><br />This global platform for conversation, collaboration and learning connects hundreds of thousands of people in different cities around the world in hopes of raising consciousness about social media's role in society.<br /><br />Participating cities this week include not only <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/losangeles/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Los Angeles</span></a>, but <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/bogota/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bogota</span></a>, <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/buenosaires/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Buenos Aires</span></a>, <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/mexicocity/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mexico City</span></a> and <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/milan/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Milan</span></a>.<br /><br />According to the organizers, programming and content are "designed to cover every emerging trend, technology area and industry sector." Events are primarily free to attend or significantly subsidized. By being both collaborative and co-curated, the event reflects the local market rather than one vision distributed throughout participating cities.<br /><br />The programming on deck in Los Angeles this week includes a <a href="http://www.cleantechlosangeles.org/socialmediaweek/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cleantech Social Media Panel</span></a> sponsored by <a href="http://www.cleantechlosangeles.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">CleanTech Los Angeles</span></a> at 2:00pm Tuesday afternoon, September 21. "Panelists range from established social media cleantech groups to new cleantech initiatives seeking to capitalize on social media techniques."<br /><br />Other events deal with <a href="http://losangeles.socialmediaweek.org/event/94cf60af1bc81b01f85b89a7242a08ca"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How Geolocation Technology Is Changing The World</span></a>, <a href="http://losangeles.socialmediaweek.org/event/93269bfea11c8f6c32c93d7b2c9b8dfb"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Listening And Engaging With The Public: Political Process In Social Media</span></a> and the convergence of <a href="http://losangeles.socialmediaweek.org/event/a6db05f6f9cbd86296b92b01b3c409fb"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Search Engine Optimization And Social Media</span></a>.<br /><br />Back in February, Social Media Week rolled into <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/berlin/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Berlin</span></a>, <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/london/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">London</span></a>, <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/newyork/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">New York</span></a>, <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/sanfrancisco/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">San Francisco</span></a>, <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/saopaulo/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sao Paulo</span></a> and <a href="http://socialmediaweek.org/toronto/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Toronto</span></a>. You can find more information on the Social Media Week website, as well as on <a href="http://twitter.com/socialmediaweek"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Twitter</span></a>, their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Social-Media-Week/203819169788"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Facebook page</span></a>, and on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=social+media+week&aq=f"><span style="font-weight: bold;">YouTube</span></a>.Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-25315337055918262782010-09-20T12:37:00.000-07:002010-09-20T14:27:01.248-07:00Research Roundup: More Transit = More Jobs, Congestion Trends & Statistics, Managing Increased Ridership<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.transportationequity.org/images/downloads/MoreTransit=MoreJobs-final.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 120px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJe6ahyTWRI/AAAAAAAAAYw/fvMUj-TtSmk/s400/20100920_moretransitmorejobs_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519084833274550546" border="0" /></a>The <a href="http://www.transportationequity.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transportation Equity Network</span></a> (TEN) has released <a href="http://www.transportationequity.org/images/downloads/MoreTransit=MoreJobs-final.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">More Transit = More Jobs: The Impact Of Increasing Funding For Public Transit</span></a> (31p. PDF). TEN is a coalition of more than 350 grassroots organizations in 41 states that has worked since 1997 to build a more just, prosperous, and connected America.<br /><br />This study asks two key questions:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">What would be the effect on jobs in each metropolitan area of shifting 50% of the money spent on highways to public transit?</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />How many jobs would be created in each metro area if we increased funding on public transit at the rate indicated by the Transportation For America proposal for the next transportation authorization act?</span></blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br />The report highlights several statistics in answering those questions based on data from Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPS) in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas. For example, 1,123,674 new transit jobs would be created over a 5-year period for a net gain of 180,150 jobs without a single dollar of new spending.<br /><br />However, if federal spending on transit increased as proposed by TEN and Transportation For America, an estimated 1.3 million jobs over the life of the law would be created, as well as almost 800,000 more jobs than under present federal transporation law (SAFETEA-LU).<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJfRCwo5sMI/AAAAAAAAAZI/lNkVV3ux65s/s1600/20100920_congestiontrends_cropped.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 372px; height: 294px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJfRCwo5sMI/AAAAAAAAAZI/lNkVV3ux65s/s400/20100920_congestiontrends_cropped.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519109713712230594" border="0" /></a>The <a href="http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Federal Highway Administration</span></a> published the <a href="http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop10032/fhwahop10032.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">2009 Urban Congestion Trends</span></a> (8p. PDF) document last week. This brief report utilizes a dashboard format to convey year-over-year changes in key traffic measures: daily hours of congestion, time penalty for eqach trip, worst-trip time penalty. Some key observations include:<br /><br /><blockquote><ul><li>Overall, congestion had declined in almost all monitored regions between 2008 and 2009 </li><li>Less wasted time and fewer hours of the day were devoted to stop-and-go traffic in 16 of the 23 monitored regions</li><li>At least one of the three measures improved in 20 of the 23 monitored regions</li><li>Congestion is lowest during the summer vacation season</li></ul></blockquote>The report goes on to explain how operational improvements can mitigate congestion and promote smooth, safe and consistent traffic flow.<br /><br />Examples provided from around the country include high-occupancy/toll lanes, freeway ramp metering, improved information coordination, work-zone management, and traffic signal system improvement programs.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJfBK3Db7CI/AAAAAAAAAY4/hJx3GhqATn4/s1600/20100920_buenosairestraffic_cropped.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TJfBK3Db7CI/AAAAAAAAAY4/hJx3GhqATn4/s400/20100920_buenosairestraffic_cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519092260687047714" border="0" /></a>In <a href="http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rrd_96.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Managing Increasing Ridership Demand</span></a> (32p. PDF), The FTA's <a href="http://www.tcrponline.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transit Cooperative Research Program</span></a> presents an overview of a study mission investigating how several transit operators and agencies in Latin America accomodate sudden and significant growth in the number of riders and increasing demand for service.<br /><br />Case studies from Guayaquil (Ecuador), Santiago (Chile), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Porto Alegre (Brazil) were selected because they have faced and successfully dealt with challenges similar to recent ridership grown in the United States.<br /><br />Each city's responses offer unique insight into managing increasing transit ridership and providing various perspectives on serving the mobility needs of their communities.<br /><br />Two <a href="http://www.tcrpstudymissions.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">International Transit Studies Program</span></a> study missions such as this are conducted each year. They have three objectives: To afford team members the opportunity to expand their network of domestic and international public transportation peers, to provide a forum for discussion of global initiatives and lessons learned in public transportation, and to facilitate idea sharing and the possible import of strategies for application to transportation communities in the United States.Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359457936870226861.post-83015606554727709682010-09-08T17:12:00.000-07:002010-09-08T19:07:36.924-07:005th Annual L.A. As Subject Archives Bazaar: Save The Date For L.A.'s Premiere Historical & Cultural Event On Oct. 23 (And It's Free!)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20100908_ab5_badge_full.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TIg0aWvdqoI/AAAAAAAAAXc/oQta2tuLHA4/s400/20100908_ab5_badge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514715371101072002" border="0" /></a>Southern California: Just thinking about our vast region (larger than many states), diverse population (numbering in the millions), and its unique role in the historical and cultural development of the state and nation boggles the mind.<br /><br />(<span style="font-weight: bold;">Click on all images to enlarge</span>)<br /><br />How the Los Angeles region became what it is today is a long and complex story. Much of our local history is preserved in libraries, museums, and other cultural institutions. Other valuable and unique collections - those that reveal the stories of neighborhoods, families, influential Angelenos - are scattered across the region, and are curated by smaller institutions and individual enthusiasts.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20100908_ab5_future_transport_full.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TIg0-OCXRHI/AAAAAAAAAYM/n85ClD5kUq0/s400/20100908_ab5_future_transport.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514715987239715954" border="0" /></a>Our own collections at <a href="http://www.metro.net/about/library/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro's Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive</span></a> are also an integral part of the history of the Los Angeles area. In order to promote the rich legacy of transportation history in Southern California, we play an active role in <a href="http://www.laassubject.org/index.php"><span style="font-weight: bold;">L.A. As Subject</span></a>, a research alliance of more than 250 separate collections dedicated to preserving and improving access to the unique history and culture of Los Angeles. L.A. As Subject is hosted by Unversity of Southern California, and has announced the program for its marquee event of the year.<br /><br />On Saturday, October 23, 2010 during <a href="http://www.archivists.org/archivesmonth/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">American Archives Month</span></a>, L.A. As Subject holds its <a href="http://www.laassubject.org/index.php/archives_bazaar"><span style="font-weight: bold;">5th Annual Archives Bazaar</span></a> in <a href="http://www.usc.edu/libraries/locations/doheny/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">USC's Doheny Memorial Library</span></a>.<br /><br />The event runs from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., features more than 70 historical collections and archives, and is <span style="font-weight: bold;">free of charge</span>.<br /><br />History comes alive at this wonderful event where you can browse rare collections, consult with experts, and learn about researching Los Angeles and Southern California history, online tools, how to preserve your own personal history collections and images, and many other topics.<br /><br /><a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20100908_ab5_program_full.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The full program for 2010 can be found here</span></a>. The Special Guest Speaker will be KPCC host and L.A. Times columnist <a href="http://pattmorrison.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Patt Morrison</span></a>, discussing how libraries and historical archives have informed her work. Morrison was a member of two Los Angeles Times reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of the 1992 riots and the city's 1994 Northridge earthquake.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20100908_ab5_freeway_full.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TIg0tXkjlgI/AAAAAAAAAX0/AbdEbrD_kfQ/s400/20100908_ab5_freeeway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514715697741272578" border="0" /></a>The Archives Bazaar is a great opportunity for the public to interact with these member institutions and individuals who bring their unique collections together in one place. This event allows scholars, researchers, archivists, librarians, students, history enthusiasts, documentary filmmakers and "L.A. Nerds" the opportunity to visit several institutions at once - to network, explore, ponder, and marvel at the many fascinating facets of Los Angeles and Southern California.<br /><br />Imagine all those fascinating libraries, archives, museums, historical societies and cultural institutions from throughout Southern California sharing their collections and stories in an "Antiques Road Show" type of setting. It would cost a small fortune in admission and transportation costs to visit just some of the <a href="http://www.laassubject.org/index.php/archives_bazaar"><span style="font-weight: bold;">more than 70 participating institutions</span></a> (including us) which have reserved their exhibit space so far. On October 23, they're all on display for you to peruse, ask questions, and explore...for free!<br /><br />Other <a href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20100908_ab5_program_full.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">programming for the 5th Annual Archives Bazaar</span></a> includes:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20100908_ab5_eagle_rock_full.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TIg0opkOghI/AAAAAAAAAXs/LwM0Ebs_XEU/s400/20100908_ab5_eagle_rock.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514715616672383506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">PANEL DISCUSSION: EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!</span><br />Today, the iconic newsboy hawking a newspaper on the street corner is only a memory. When will the newspaper and the newsstand also become memories? When will newspaper morgues become just that, or are they still a viable source for researchers? Join a panel of newspersons and newspaper archivists who will discuss the past, present, and future of the newspaper industry in Southern California.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PANEL DISCUSSION: BLOGGING L.A.</span><br />In recent years, blogs have become an indispensable source of news and information about the Los Angeles region. But what is their role in promoting Los Angeles history and investigating the city’s identity? Join three Southern California bloggers as they discuss how blogs can interpret the region’s past, present, and future.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20100908_ab5_sunset_venice_full.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TIg1O095H6I/AAAAAAAAAYU/RUZ8iLeY0hg/s400/20100908_ab5_sunset_venice.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514716272567852962" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">PANEL DISCUSSION: UNCOVERING THE LEGACY OF DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS</span><br />Join Luis C. Garza, Oliver Mayer, and moderator Liza Posas for a conversation about the ongoing legacy of Mexican mural artist David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896–1974). In 1932, Siqueiros traveled to Los Angeles and painted three murals, which were met with resistance—two were whitewashed shortly after their creation. Despite the efforts to censor his artistic vision, his work has inspired artists from the 1930s to the present day and contributed to the development of the modern mural movement in Los Angeles and beyond.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PANEL DISCUSSION: L.A. TAKES FLIGHT</span><br />From aviation pioneers to daring test pilots to space shuttle assembly plants, human flight has long played an important role in Southern California. Learn how Los Angeles took flight as panelists Kenneth E. Pauley, Linda McCann, and Michael Palmer share the hidden aviation stories they have discovered in the region’s libraries and archives.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20100908_ab5_citrus_show_full.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TIg0hLuf4yI/AAAAAAAAAXk/W8YRloyfk8g/s400/20100908_ab5_citrus_show.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514715488403317538" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">DOCUMENTARY FILM SCREENING: BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: TOM BRADLEY AND THE POLITICS OF RACE</span><br />This documentary is the first to tell the story of Tom Bradley, the first African-American elected mayor of a major U.S. city without a black majority. It is the story of an extraordinary multiracial coalition that transformed the city and in, the process, changed American politics. We will be screening a 20-minute trailer of this work-in-progress.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />DOCUMENTARY FILM SCREENING: THE LEGEND OF PANCHO BARNES</span><br />Florence “Pancho” Barnes was one of the most important women in twentieth century aviation. A tough and fearless aviatrix, Pancho opened a ranch near Edwards Air Force Base that became a famous—some would say notorious—hangout for test pilots and movie stars. Known as the Happy Bottom Riding Club, it became the epicenter of the aviation world during the early Jet Age. Since then, Pancho herself has become something of a legend, a fascinating yet enigmatic icon whose swagger is often celebrated, but whose story has been largely unknown—until now.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/chartsillustrationsimages/20100908_ab5_women_palm_full.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GhT_H049S1c/TIg1VhhDqEI/AAAAAAAAAYc/kbM1_sZXaQM/s400/20100908_ab5_women_palm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514716387605719106" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">EDUCATIONAL SESSION: PRIVATE PASSION — PUBLIC RESOURCE</span><br />A personal fascination and individual zeal can create a collection that has value to the wider world. Such focus can illuminate details and connections that more general collections might miss. Local collectors will share their personal insights into history, and how they have assembled materials that might otherwise be dispersed and potentially never available to researchers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">EDUCATIONAL SESSION: RESEARCHING LA 101</span><br />Ever wondered how to get started with your Los Angeles research, or research in general? This presentation will provide a detailed overview of how and where to start, including researching basics useful for anyone working with primary and secondary source material. Topics will include researching from home, visiting the archives, the ins and outs of reading rooms, and more.Metro Digital Resources Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249799193730721012noreply@blogger.com