Acquiring Highway Transportation Information from Abroad: Handbook FHWA International Technology Scanning Program Publication No. FHWA-PL-95-011 (B) November 1994

Library and Information Centers

The prime sources available that should be used by the highway transportation community in identifying and obtaining domestic and foreign material are academic, government, and other libraries and information centers that specialize in the field. An excellent source of information about transportation libraries and information centers is the Directory of Transportation Libraries and Information Centers in North America, 6th edition, June 1993 (Renée E. McHenry and Catherine Cortelyou). More than 120 transportation libraries and information centers are described in the directory, which covers name, address, telephone and electronic mail numbers, collection size and description, subject strengths, special collections, hours of operation, interlibrary loan policy and fees, other fees, database systems, staff, and library publications. The directory includes the libraries and information centers that have specialized collections on the topic of roads, highways, traffic engineering, and safety.

In addition, there are more than 200 transportation libraries and information centers in the United States and Canada; and more than 20 of these libraries and information centers specialize in highway, traffic engineering, and safety.

There are three transportation libraries that have a large collection of foreign documents in highway transportation. They are the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and University of California (Berkeley).

Plate 1: Highway Transportation Libraries and Information Centers in the United States and Canada

Alaska Transportation Technology Transfer Program Library
2301 Peger Road M/S 2552
Fairbanks, AK 99709-5316

Phone: (907) 474-2484
Fax: (907) 474-2446

Collection Description: Collection deals mostly with subjects related to transportation, which includes design, construction and maintenance of gravel, asphalt, and concrete roads. Includes operation and maintenance of equipment used for transportation systems. Also includes publications dealing with hazardous materials, and commercial driver's licenses.

Alberta Transportation and Utilities Library
1st Floor, Twin Atria Building
4999 - 98 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta CANADA T6B 2X3

Phone: (403) 427-8802
Fax: (403) 468-2473; (403) 468-3134

Collection Description: Planning, construction, maintenance, materials and structures, engineering, management and operations, economics, environment, and safety, with modal emphasis on rural, urban and intercity road transportation with some material on air, rail and pipelines. Area of technology covered in-depth; area of history covered selectively. Holdings include Canadian, U.S., and international publications. Collection supports the work of the Department of Alberta Transportation and Utilities.

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials AASHTO Information Center
444 N. Capitol St., NW, Suite 249
Washington, DC 20001-1512

Phone: (202) 624-8918
Fax: (202) 624-5806

Collection Description: AASHTO publications and reports. Current directories, statistical reports, GAO material on transportation. Annual reports from State Departments of Transportation and other federal agencies and private associations. International material includes proceedings of PIARC, IRF, TAC; and ARRB reports.

Arizona Transportation Research Center Library
Arizona Department of Transportation
206 S. 17th Ave., #075R
Phoenix. AZ 85007

Phone: (602) 965-2372
Fax: (602) 965-9267

Collection Description: State Department of Transportation Library includes federal reports, out-of-state reports; Transportation Research Board publications; Asphalt Institute, Portland Cement Association, and American Concrete Institute publications.

Asphalt Institute Library
Research Park Drive, P.O. Box 14052
Executive Offices & Research Center
Lexington, KY 40512-4052

Phone: (606) 288-4960
Fax: (606) 288-4999
Collection Description: Collection deals exclusively with the subjects of transportation and engineering as applied to road construction and asphalt.

Automobile Club of Southern California
Engineering Library/Technical Information Center
TIC-H207
2601 S. Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Phone: (213) 741-4611
Fax: (213) 741-4670

Collection Description: Modal emphasis-highway (auto, public transit) Aspect emphasis-highway operations, traffic management, traffic safety, transportation planning, automotive engineering, driver education. Special emphasis-urban, intercity General collection-computer science, library science

California Department of Transportation
Transportation Library
1120 N. Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 654-4601
Fax: (916) 654-6011

Collection Description: Traffic operations; design, construction, and maintenance of roads and bridges; transportation planning; rail and transit planning and operations; California highway history; business management.

Delaware Department of Transportation Library
Rt. 113, Transportation Administration Bldg.
Dover, DE 19901

Phone: (303) 739-4157
Fax: (303) 739-6119

Collection Description: Highway socioeconomic impacts, transportation planning, traffic management, work zone safety, roadway design, and transit studies.

Florida Department of Transportation
Research Center Library
605 Swannee St. MS-30
Burns Building, Rm. 249
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0450

Phone: (904) 488-8572
Fax: (904) 487-3403

Collection Description: Transportation, traffic studies, highway construction

Michigan Department of Transportation
Resource Center
P.O. Box 30050
425 W. Ottawa
Lansing, Ml 48909

Phone: (517) 373-1545
Fax: (517) 373-0168

Collection Description: Civil engineering; transportation planning; transportation; public transit; management; computers; Transportation Research Board publications; American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials publications.

Mississippi State Highway Department
Research and Development Division Library
501 North West St.
Jackson. MS 39215-1350

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1850, etc.

Phone: (601) 359-1174
Fax: (601) 359-2233

Collection Size: 10,000

Collection Description: TRB publications, FHWA publications, other state DOT publications, magazines, videos, Federal Register, Cement/Concrete Handbook.

National Safety Council Library
1121 Spring Lake Drive
Itasca, IL 60143-0429

Phone: (708) 285-1121, X2199
Fax: (708) 285-1315

Collection Description: Library collects and disseminates information on accident prevention, safety, and health. About 40% of the collection deals with traffic and transportation safety.

Nebraska Department of Roads Technical Research Library
1500 Nebraska Hwy 2
P.O. Box 94759
Lincoln, NE 68509-4659

Phone: (402) 479-4316
Fax: (402) 479-3989

Collection Description: Transportation, mainly highway related, U.S. and some international publications; some rail and freight materials.

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Research Library
Swan St. Building
E.S.P., Room 418
Albany, NY 12228

Phone: (518) 473-5467
Fax: (518) 474-6898

Collection Description: A collection of reports produced by NYS DMV, US DOT, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand reports and selected states such as California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Texas, on topics of motor vehicle and traffic safety. Some materials on management.

Northwestern University Transportation Library
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208-2300

Phone: (847) 491-5273
Fax: (847) 491-8601

Collection Description: Current transportation socioeconomics, particularly management, operations, finance, planning, regulation & safety for all modes--air, rail, water, highway, and pipeline. Areas of technology & history covered selectively. Collect both U.S. & international publications. Law enforcement collection covers police administration and training and traffic law enforcement. Collection supports curriculum of Transportation Center and Traffic Institute at Northwestern.

Ohio Department of Transportation Library
15 S. Front St.
Columbus. OH 43215

Phone: (614) 466-7680

Collection Description: Transportation highway transportation prominent; increasing collection in areas of management and computers.

Ontario Ministry of Transportation Library and Information Centre
1201 Wilson Avenue
Central Building
Downsview, Ontario
CANADA M3M 1J8

Phone: (416) 235-4546
Fax: (416) 235-4915

Collection Description: Highway engineering, transportation, with a new interest in rail, marine, and air (including materials testing, construction, geology, management). one-third of collection is textbooks.

Oregon Department of Transportation
TranSearch Library
522 Transportation Building
Salem, OR 97310

Phone: (503) 378-6268
Fax: (503) 378-7376

Collection Description: Transportation, civil engineering, management, computer technology, Oregon Laws, Revised Statutes, and Administrative Rules.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Transportation Employees Library
903 T&S Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Phone: (717) 787-6527
Fax: (717) 787-7971

Collection Description: Concentrates on transportation materials, but is strongest in roads and highway engineering.

Portland Cement Association
Library Services
5420 Old Orchard Road
Skokie. IL 60077

Phone: (847) 966-6200 x534,x536; (847) 965-7500 x534,x536
Fax: (847) 965-6541; (847) 866-9781

Collection Description: Basically cement and concrete technology, including cement chemistry. Now branching out to include all materials in the construction industry. Extensive transportation-related materials, research and testing facilities data. Materials on roads and pavements. airport runways, railroad ties and soils/foundations.

Quebec Ministere des Transports
Centre de Documentation
700, boul. St-Cyrille Est
11 e etage
Quebec, Quebec
CANADA G1R 5H1

Phone: (418) 643-3578
Fax: (418) 643-1269

Collection Description: Transportation (all modes): air, rail, water, highway. Other subjects: civil engineering, environment, law, management, road safety.

Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation Library
1855 Victoria Avenue
Regina, Saskatchewan
CANADA S4P 3V5

Phone: (306) 787-4778
Fax: (306) 787-3963

Collection Description: Emphasis on highways, engineering, inland and air transportation, administration. Contains all publications of SASK highways and transportation.

Tennessee Department of Transportation Library
James K. Polk Bldg.
Suite 300
505 Deaderick Street
Nashville, TN 37243-0345

Phone: (615) 741-2330
Fax: (615) 741-2508

Collection Description: Strength in highway engineering, road construction and maintenance, traffic engineering. Comprehensive files of TRB reports; local planning reports.

Texas Transportation Institute
Library Research Program
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77943-3135

Phone: (409) 845-1636
Fax: (409) 845-9848

Collection Description: Texas Transportation Institute and TRB publications. Rely on the extensive holdings of the Sterling C. Evans Library at Texas A&M University to meet many information needs.

Transport Canada Transportation Development Centre Library
200 Rene Levesque Blvd. W
Suite 601, West Tower
Montreal, Quebec
CANADA H2Z 1X4

Phone: (514) 283-0007
Fax: (514) 283-7158

Collection Description: All major modes of transportation, with emphasis on technological development, safety, and accessibility. Aim to support current research.

Transportation Research Board Library
National Research Council (U.S.)
2001 Wisconsin Ave. GR 314
Washington, DC 20007

Mailing Address:
2101 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20418

Phone: (202) 334-2989
Fax: (202) 334-2527

Collection Size: 18,000 books and technical reports 370 periodical titles

Collection Description: Collection focuses primarily on highway engineering and transportation. Some emphasis on other modes, including transit. rail, maritime, and aviation.

U.S. Department of Transportation
Library and Distribution Services Division, M-49
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590

Phone: (202) 366-0747
Fax: (202) 366-

Collection Size: 356,600 bound volumes of books and periodicals. 500,000 microforms

Collection Description: Primary source for information concerning general transportation, surface and water transportation. Subject coverage includes bridges, driver studies, engineering, general transportation, highways, land utilization, mass transit, marine engineering, navigation, oceanography, pipelines, planning, railroads, ships and shipbuilding, statistics, traffic engineering, urban transportation, waterways, transportation safety, marine safety, highway planning and maintenance. traffic surveys and forecasts, and history of transportation.

University of California, Berkeley
Institute of Transportation Studies Library
412 McLaughlin Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720

Phone: (310) 642-3604
Fax: (310) 642-9180

Collection Description: International collection on all modes of transportation with emphasis on highway, rail, and air and urban transportation. Access to over 120,000 ITS bibliographic records through MELVYL online catalog.

University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute Library
2901 Baxter Road
Ann Arbor, Ml 48109

Phone: (313) 764-2171
Fax: (313) 764- 1081

Collection Description: Accident data and systems analysis; occupant injuries and protection; biomechanics; emergency medical services; alcohol and drugs; driver-vehicle systems; vehicle dynamics; transportation systems; shipbuilding and maritime transportation; automotive industry; intelligent-vehicle highway systems; driver behavior and information processing; vehicle lighting and displays.

University of North Carolina
Highway Safety Research Center Library
134 1/2 E. Franklin Street
Campus Box 3430
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3430

Phone: (919) 962-8701
Fax: (919) 962-8710

Collection Description: Current technical reports, conference and symposium papers, journal article reprints, and reference materials, in the areas of accident analysis; alcohol and highway safety; driver education and licensing; bicycle, moped, and motorcycle safety; restraint systems research; pedestrian research; truck and driver safety and roadway research.

Virginia Transportation Research Council Library
P.O. Box 3817
University Station
Charlottesville, VA 22903

Phone: (804) 293-1959
Fax: (804) 293-1990

Collection Description: Road and transportation technology; including construction and maintenance, management and economics, safety, materials and paving research. Also structural and underwater research.

Washington State Department of Transportation Library
P.O. Box 47425
Olympia, WA 98504-7425

Phone: (206) 753-2107
Fax: (206) 743-6218

Collection Description: Highway, marine, rail, air, and public transportation in the areas of planning, administration, design, construction, maintenance, research and testing, operations, safety, environmental impact, and public finance.

Western Highway Institute Research Library
1200 Bayhill Drive
Suite 112
San Bruno, CA 94066

Phone: (415) 952-4900
Fax: (415) 588-0424

Collection Description: Highway transportation.

Wisconsin Department of Transportation Library
4802 Sheboygan Ave., Rm. 901
P.O. Box 7913
Madison, Wl 53707

Phone: (603) 266-0724
Fax: (603) 267-0294

Collection Description: Focus is on transportation, particularly planning, finance, and safety for all modes-highway, rail, water, and air. Areas of technology and history covered selectively.