The following is the draft
that I quickly wrote:
DRAFT ETKN E-Mail Invitation
Dear Transportation Practitioner:
We would like to extend an invitation for you to join the
Eastern Transportation Knowledge Network (ETKN)
We are a group of specialized libraries interested in the
coordination of transportation research. We have recently formed to
improve our libraries’ services.
ETKN was created to support our transportation
infrastructure. It is especially important now that preserve and access
this crucial information as the nation currently invests in our bridges,
highways, transit, and railroads and airports.
We hold bi-monthly meetings by telephone (no need for an
out-of state or out-of-office meeting.) We have found success in
gathering information and coordinating with fellow members and the National
Transportation Library.
Our newly created web-site at http://etkn.org
outlines the membership criteria. Essentially all you need to participate is a
transportation collection and a willingness to participate.
If you are considering joining, e-mail us back and we
will happily send you a
Transportation Librarian Toolkit, a resource book especially
designed for transportation collections.
Sincerely
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The following is the original
letter of request:
Ken Winter, MLIS
VDOT Research Library
530 Edgemont Road,
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Dear :
I am contacting you on behalf of members of the Eastern
Transportation Knowledge Network (ETKN), a network of transportation libraries
and information service providers located at state DOTs, universities,
associations and other transportation agencies.
ETKN formed on November 9, 2007,
at a meeting sponsored by the UNC Highway Safety Research Center in Chapel
Hill. At that meeting, 11 librarians representing transportation
organizations from the Eastern U.S. (AASHTO Regions I and II) came together as
charter members of the ETKN.
By collaborating as members of a
network, our vision is to increase the availability of our holdings, reduce
operating costs, improve the quality of our services, and leverage group access
to unique transportation knowledge and information needed by our patrons.
We hope that by forming productive relationships with each other and with other
library networks (namely the Midwest Transportation Knowledge Network and
Western Transportation Knowledge Network) we will realize that vision.
As you may be aware, a series of high-level initiatives over
the past five years has resulted in increased interest in the potential of
transportation libraries to improve research, business practices and day-to-day
decision making by practitioners. Many discussions have centered
transportation library networking activities, resulting in the following
documents:
“TRB Special Report 284:
Transportation Knowledge Networks: A Management Strategy for the 21st
Century” http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr284.pdf
“Transportation Knowledge
Networks: A Draft Business Plan” http://www.cts.umn.edu/Research/Featured/NCHRP20-75/documents/NCHRP20-75TKNBusinessPlanDRAFT.pdf
It pays to be in a TKN, and our members have identified you
and your library as important players in our region. With that in mind we
are inviting you to consider membership in the ETKN.
Membership is free of charge, is not legally binding, and we
believe it will result in increased visibility and support for your
library. In addition, the ETKN regional network is being structured to
incorporate “tiered membership” allowing you to decide the most
appropriate level of participation for your library.
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