Thea Evenstad LI813XP Reference and User Services Emporia State University, Spring 2011 Collection Development Proposal

4/23/11 Five Resources to Support Sustainable Urban Transportation Research

Our four-year university is known for its innovative research and excellence in teaching and learning. As a well-known and internationally recognized urban university, students may choose from many undergraduate and graduate programs that approach the geographic, sociological, and environmental aspects of the future of our cities. While the library has an excellent reference collection that supports faculty and student researchers, I propose that we could expand on our offerings in the interdisciplinary field of urban studies, with a particular focus on sustainable urban transportation. Many of our university programs produce forward-thinking research regarding the future of urban transportation. The research done at this university leads the nation in moving away from automobile dependence and toward better planning for alternative transportation (especially cycling). I highly recommend the resources below in support of this essential goal: that our reference collection provide access to comprehensive, critical, and current reference resources for students and faculty studying sustainable urban transportation.

Evert, K-J. (Ed.). (2010). Encyclopedic dictionary of landscape and urban planning: Multilingual reference book in English, Spanish, French and German. Berlin: Springer.

The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Landscape and Urban Planning includes definitions for key terms and phrases used in many urban planning contexts. The Dictionary organizes entries alphabetically by the key term in English, and includes the definition of the term as well as a translation and definition of the term in Spanish, French, and German. This resource would be especially useful when reading documents

or plans that use terminology that is unfamiliar to the user, especially if the sources are produced internationally. While the scope of this resource extends far beyond the discipline of sustainable urban transportation, researchers may find many uses for this reference within this particular field. For example, the Dictionary provides a definition for bike lane and differentiates this term from bikeway. This entry also includes the terms used to describe this particular bike facility in the UKcycleway. If one were to look up cycleway, the entry directs the user to see bikeway. The Dictionary provides many useful comparisons and cross-references that are particularly relevant to researchers studying plans and case studies from cities worldwide. Since there is a wealth of sustainable urban transportation research from Europe, this multilingual resource would be especially useful. The Dictionary provides an index in each of the four languages included as well as a preface that provides a readers guide to the organization of each entry. This source includes entries from over 10,500 terms in each language and the publisher asserts that as often as possible, various interpretations of the term at the planning, legal, or technical level are provided, which make its meaning more precise and its usage clearer (Springer, 2011). John Goodier recommends this work as one of the best he has ever reviewed in terms of its coverage and usability; he writes that the book is well constructed and edited and presents a lot of information in an efficient and usable manner (Reference Reviews, 2011). I highly recommend that our library purchase this print resource with accompanying eReference for $689.00. The eReference will provide additional access to this valuable and up-to-date resource.

Hutchison, R. (Ed.). (2010). Encyclopedia of urban studies. Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

The Encyclopedia of Urban Studies provides information about cities, suburbs, and other urban areas. As a reference source, the encyclopedia includes entries relevant to the disciplines of economics, sociology, urban planning, urban design, architecture, geography, public policy and management, and political science. Students of urban studies will find this resource has a broad scope, addressing both the specific and local

(biographies of authors and scholars, articles on key 21st-century cities) and the general and global (important practices, policies, and theories) (CHOICE review, July 2010). Users specifically interested in sustainable urban transportation will be interested in the Encyclopedias treatment of urban transportation as an important theme as well as its broad overview of current research in the field of urban studies and suggestions for further reading. All articles provide the authors name and a bibliography and recommended reading list. Table of contents, readers guide, a list of contributors, and an index provide further access points for researchers. One limitation to consider is the lack of maps, diagrams, and visualsthe Encyclopedia includes only sparse black-and-white photographs. However, the Encyclopedia is well-recommended and is considered a trailblazing book that fills a gap in the reference shelf and sets new standards as well as a benchmark publication in a field that will grow in importance in the twenty-first century as the world becomes more urbanized from one of the best-known scholars in the field (ARBAonline, 2011). This resource costs $325.00 and is well worth the investment to support students and faculty requiring background research and overviews as they study sustainable urban transportation.

Kenworthy, J. R., Laube, F. B. & Newman, P. (1999). An international sourcebook of automobile dependence in cities, 1960-1990. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.

I propose including An International Sourcebook of Automobile Dependence in Cities, 1960-1990 in this collection because it contains a wealth of time series data about transportation in cities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Full color maps show the boundaries, extent of urbanization, and rail, busway, and freeway systems for each city included. This important source of geographical and statistical information will provide researchers of sustainable urban transportation with a look at thirty years of historical data and analysis regarding automobile dependence. Users may use this data as a reference source documenting past realities with which to compare future transportation models. The Sourcebook aims to provide an international overview of transportation in

cities worldwide, but the work only includes 46 cities total. While this is one limitation of the reference, the Sourcebook also provides methodology for where and how its data were compiled, as well as how best to approximate analyses for other cities. The Sourcebook is divided by chapter, with chapters 1 and 2 introducing the work and the methodology, chapter 3 providing primary data and maps, chapter 4 featuring standardized data, chapter 5 analyzing the results of these comparisons regarding automobile dependence, chapter 6 analyzing the economic and environmental implications, and chapter 7 summarizing the findings and concluding. Access points include the table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, references, and appendices that detail the data sources. A total of 731 libraries in WorldCat carry this reference work, including many libraries of universities of similar size and with programs that focus on transportation and urban planning. An International Sourcebook of Automobile Dependence in Cities, 1960-1990 would provide essential statistical and geographical data to support the reference needs of users researching sustainable urban transportation for the relatively inexpensive cost of $125.00.

McClintock, H. (1993). Cycle planning: A comprehensive bibliography (Vols. 1-2). University Park, UK: University of Nottingham.

Cycle Planning: A Comprehensive Bibliography is a valuable two-volume work authored by a prominent British scholar in the field of sustainable urban transportation. This resource seeks to provide a comprehensive list of recommended resources from this discipline prior to the 1990s. The Bibliography will provide a wealth of information regarding the historical development of planning for cycling as a primary mode of travel. Researchers in the field of sustainable urban transportation will appreciate the international and historical perspective of this work. Volume one focuses on bicycle facilities planning and implementation in the UK, while volume two compiles a list of more than 3,000 references to reports, articles, and books on cycling worldwide, organized by topic and place. Contact names and information are provided for many of the scholars referenced in the work. Access points include a table of contents and an

index. This work is limited in that it focuses only cycling, rather than other modes of sustainable urban transportation. Additionally, this bibliography is limited to resources published prior to its publication in 1993. However, the International Bicycle Fund continues to feature this work on its recommended book list. The cost of the item is unknown, but I know that it would be a worthy addition to our collection in support of urban planning research.

Transportation Research Board. (2011). Transport research international documentation (TRID) [database]. Washington, D. C.: National Academy of the Sciences. Retrieved from http://trid.trb.org.

The Transport Research International Documentation (TRID) database contains a wealth of research from disciplines and agencies concerned with transportation. This online index would serve as a powerful reference tool for seeking the most up-to-date research about sustainable urban transportation. Since TRID combines records from the Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database and the Joint Transport Research Centres International Transport Research Documentation (ITRD) Database, it provides access to over 900,000 records of transportation research worldwide. This online index has an easy-to-use interface and powerful search features, including an intuitive advanced search as well as tabs for recently published and recently added resources. Researchers in the discipline of sustainable urban transportation would be able to use this reference tool as the gateway to an incredible amount of reports, plans, and resources from around the world while still enabling searches that would connect user to only the most relevant results. The scope of this database provides broad access to information from all facets of transportation research, but is easily searchable. Many research libraries serving universities of similar size and with similar programs in transportation or urban planning feature this index in their subject research guides or in their links to department-focused research tools. I highly recommend taking advantage of this free resource in support of students and faculty studying sustainable urban transportation.

Reflection:

I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to develop a collection that supported a specific user group. I never realized how difficult collection developmentespecially collection development for reference sourcescould be! I really liked trying to contemplate what sources my users would be most excited to find in the reference section of their library. I enjoyed the exercise of becoming familiar with CHOICE reviews, ARBAonline reviews, and Emeralds Reference Reviews. I will certainly rely on these important resources in the future. I also became much more familiar with the power of WorldCat and all that the union catalog has to offer in terms of its reference and collection development capabilities. I think this assignment might have been better if we had had dates along the way to check in about resources we had found so far. I think I spent too much time looking at non-reference sources before I saw the discussion about what exactly constitutes a reference source on Blackboard. I did, however, appreciate the Blackboard forum immensely. I found that as I completed my assignment, if I had any question I could turn to the forum, and most of the time the answer would be there. Thank you, Bob, for constructing such a thoughtful and interesting assignment. I really enjoyed it!