By Bob Sweet, UMTRI

February 17, 2005

What’s new for the Midwest Transportation Knowledge Network (MTKN)? We held our fourth annual meeting, October 22-23, 2004, in happy, hospitable Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Much of the meeting had us discussing ways to formalize MTKN and what we’d like to accomplish in the coming year.

I’ll just list, in bulleted form, some of the highlights of the meeting, milestones since the 2003 meeting, and what’s keeping us busy these days.

• The MTKN Web site (www.mtkn.org) was launched in March 2004. This coincided with the unveiling of TLCat. (see the TLCat link on the MTKN home page).
• “Working Smarter,” an online tutorial was developed and presented several times in 2004 in conjunction with the National Transportation Library (NTL) and the National Highway Institute.
• MTKN was instrumental in strengthening libraries at the state DOTs of Kansas, Michigan, and Missouri. We’re in the process of lobbying the Illinois DOT to keep its library.
• We have been supporting and promoting the Transportation Library Connectivity pooled fund study, led by Wisconsin DOT. So far, Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, and Ohio are participating. The project is seeking additional participants, and we encourage transportation librarians to recommend the project to their organizations.
• We are incorporated! And we approved (and improved) our bylaws and an ILL agreement.
• One of our aims is to help develop networks in other regions. Jerry Baldwin of the Minnesota DOT is the MTKN contact for AASHTO’s west region, Marie Manthe of the Kansas DOT is the one to call if you’re in the northeast region, and Bob Sweet of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute is covering the south.
• Developing marketing and training tools is an ongoing endeavor. See Janet Bix's TLCat presentation, which can be customized for your library.
• Mentoring librarians new to the profession or to the transportation field is another way we aim to add value.
• We’re continuing to look for opportunities to develop partnerships with other transportation organizations, such as FHWA’s Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), AASHTO, and others.
• We will play a part in planning the second International Technology Transfer Conference, which will be held in the summer of 2006.

That’s it in a nutshell or two. If you have any questions about what I’ve only skimpily sketched out here, contact any MTKN member.