Collection development policy statement
This collection development policy is meant to serve as a living document to give our patrons a better understanding of our purpose, goals, and processes of collection assessment, acquisitions, and the preservation of materials.
Mission Statement
The Oklahoma Transportation Library (OTL) seeks to operate a sound, progressive, and flexible transportation which is available to Oklahoma Transportation (OT), as well as local, regional, and national users. The OTL’s primary mission is to keep OT staff and their stakeholders informed of recent developments and innovations in transportation technologies, methodologies, and programs, while acting as a resource hub and clearinghouse for transportation related literature and information. We also seek to be an information resource hub for students, faculty, and staff on the University of Oklahoma campus.
Vision statement
Within the changing landscape of free information access, the OTL aspires to be a major center of transportation research for Oklahoma Transportation as well as the national transportation research community. Through collaboration with partners both locally and nationwide, the library will provide a dynamic and welcoming environment for patrons to learn about and engage with a variety of transportation resources using both physical and virtual mediums.
Funding
Funding for the OTL is generously provided by Oklahoma Transportation.
Scope and types of materials
The Oklahoma Transportation Library houses a diverse collection of many thousands of materials covering transportation and related topics in both physical and digital formats.
Types of materials:
State reports
County maps
National reports
Journal articles
Historic transportation materials
FE and PE exam materials
Standards and specifications
Audio/visual media
Preservation
The OTL is dedicated to preserving its collection following best practices related to maintenance of materials. Physical items in need of repair will be identified, evaluated, and triaged on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Older or more historical items are kept in acid-free archival storage when appropriate and in a climate-controlled environment. Digital items will be saved in several locations including a network-based shared drive and portable hard drive. Digital items include PDFs which are made accessible through Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and JPG or PNG file types. The OTL generally follows the Recommended Formats Statement from the U.S. Library of Congress for digital files.
Deselection
OTL staff are constantly evaluating the collection to ensure its quality and accuracy. At times, OTL staff may remove duplicate copies of items. Beyond this, any removal of an item must be approved by the OTL Advisory Committee.
Acquisitions
Although a majority of OTL’s materials are provided by Oklahoma Transportation, the library maintains a small acquisitions budget for items including select publications such as standards and specifications and PE/FE exam materials.
Version history
Version 1.0, finalized and published on December 13, 2021