Volume 4, Issue 1

Library News

DOT LIBRARY LOSES DIRECTOR

The Department of Transportation Library has made many advancements in providing access to information and assistance with research using an increasing variety of print and electronic resources available through the DOT Library. Standing at the vanguard of the library's evolution was the DOT Library Director, Clara Mae Smith, who passed away in April 2002.

Clara was the fourth child born to the family of Tommie and Rosie Lee Smith in Flint Michigan, where she attended and graduated from Northwestern High School. She continued her education at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti where she earned her Bachelor's degree in Western European History. She continued her education at the University of Michigan where she earned Master's degrees in History and in Library Science. After earning her Juris Doctorate at the University of Toledo College of Law, she was admitted to the Bars in Ohio and the District of Columbia.

When she began work at the DOT Library in 1992 as the Nassif branch Law Librarian, this student of history, lawyer and librarian had acquired a variety of experiences in libraries beginning with the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and the Law Libraries at the University of Toledo and Howard University before moving into federal service at the Department of Energy Library. By 1998 she had become the Public Services Branch Chief and was finally promoted to the new position of Library Director in 2000. Among her accomplishments were the design and renovation of the Nassif Branch Library, her leadership in the transition to desktop services and, most recently, the development and establishment of Online Digital Special Collections database.

Clara's work was recognized by DOT with the presentation of Performance Awards in November 1995 and August 2000, Special Act awards in August 1999, December 1998 and Superior Achievement Awards along with other honors. Under her leadership the Library's On-Line Information Team received the Secretary's Team Award in November 1999, and the Training Team received the TASC Special Recognition Award in April 2002.

Clara represented the Transportation community on a national level as an elected member of the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) Executive Board, the appointed DOT representative to FLICC, and as Chairperson of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Library and Information Science in Transportation Committee. She had been a long-time member of the Special Libraries Association's Transportation and Library Management Divisions, D.C. Chapter of SLA and the American Association of Law Libraries.

The achievements and accomplishments of Clara Mae Smith have brought the Department of Transportation Library to a position of prominence as a gateway to information, both nationally and internationally. The entire library staff celebrates her life as we mourn her passing.

Thank you Clara.

DOT ATTORNEY IS HONORED

Congratulations to David Tochen, the 2002 recipient of the Federal Bar Association's Transportation Law Section's "Transportation Lawyer of the Year Award". Mr. Tochen is the Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Environmental, Civil Rights, and General Law in the Office of the General Counsel. Mr. Tochen has also served as the Vice Chair of the DOT Law Library Advisory Group since 1992. A Counsel's Reception was held in honor of David Tochen and the DOT General Counsel and Chief Counsels on June 6, 2002 in the Rayburn House Office Building.

COAST GUARD GETS NEW LAW LIBRARIAN

Anne Foley, who recently completed a seven-month internship at the FAA Law Library has accepted the position of Law Librarian at the USCG Law Library at Transpoint. Anne brings a wealth of legal research and writing experience to her new position. Ms. Foley completed her MSLS at Catholic University of America in May of 2002 and holds a J.D. from Tulane Law School and a B.A. from Mt. Holyoke College. Anne is a member of the Pennsylvania and District of Columbia Bars.

Selected Law Library Acquisitions

Headquarters:

Beyond the Physical: Accommodating Employees' Mental Disabilities Under the ADA (2000). T. D'Agostino & D.R. Kinsley (Eds.) Horsham, PA: LRP Publications. [LAW KF 3469.Z9 B48]

The Developing Labor Law: The Board, the Courts, and the National Labor Relations Act, 4th Ed. (2002). P. Hardin et al (Ed.). Washington, DC: BNA Books. [LAW KF 3369 .D48]

Equal Employment Law Update (2000). R.T. Seymour & J.F. Aslin. Washington, DC: BNA Books. [LAW KF 3319.S48]

Federal Administrative Procedure Sourcebook (2000). W.F. Funk, J.S. Lubbers & C. Pou, Jr., (Eds.). Chicago: American Bar Association. [LAW KF 5406.A3]

The Federal EEO Practitioner's Dictionary (2000). L.A. Riley. Horsham, PA: LRP Publications. [LAW KF 3464.A1 R4]

International Instruments Related to the Prevention and Suppression of International Terrorism (2001). New York: United Nations. [LAW K 5256.A35 I576]

The New Wigmore: A Treatise On Evidence: Evidentiary Privileges (2002). E.J. Imwinkelried; R.D. Friedman (Eds.) New York: Aspen Law and Business. [LAW KF 8958.I49]

The New Wigmore: A Treatise On Evidence: Selected Rules of Limited Admissibility: Regulation of Evidence to Promote Extrinsic Policies and Values (2002). D.P. Leonard; R.D. Friedman (Eds.). New York: Aspen Law and Business. [LAW KF 8935.L46]

The Oxford Companion to American Law (2002). K.L. Hall (Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. [LAW REF KF 154.O94]

Representing Agencies and Complainants before the EEOC (2000). E.C. Hadley, E. Laws& L.Riley. Arlington, VA: Dewey Publications. [LAW KF 3464.15 .H33]

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Law and Practice (2000). A. Conte. Gaithersburg, MD: Panel Publishers. [LAW KF 3467 .C66]

FAA:

Administrative Law Treatise, 4th Ed. (2002). Richard J. Pierce, Jr. New York: Aspen Law & Business. [LAW KF 5402 .D32 2002]
Federal Rules of Evidence Manual, 8th Ed. (2002), Saltzburg, Martin & Capra. Newark: LexisNexis. [LAW KF 8935 .S2 2002]

Web Site to Watch

Preview of BNA Web Page

Negotiations with BNA representatives continue in an effort to construct a BNA web page that will serve the diverse needs of the employees at DOT. The BNA prototype, which is located at http://www.bna.com/special/dot/ is divided into three sections. On the left is Transportation News, a column that will provide the latest developments within the various modes (Aviation, Coast Guard/Customs, Highway Safety, etc.) of transportation on a weekly basis. In the middle is Transportation News Today, a daily update of the impact of legislative, executive and judicial branch actions on transportation issues as well as other major transportation news stories. No username or password is required for access to the full text of the articles highlighted in the left and middle columns. The column on the right contains BNA publications in the areas of Labor, Environment and Federal Contracts. A user name and password is required to access any of these publications. During the period of this prototype, the username and password will be displayed in the upper right hand corner of the web page.

The DOT Library welcomes any suggestions from persons who see themselves as potential users of this web page. If there are BNA publications that you believe should be added to the column on the right or if there is any website that you would like to be able to access from the BNA web page please forward your suggestion(s) to: terry.dempsey@tasc.dot.gov .

Research and Reference Corner

Mergent Financial Information Services Online

Mergent Financial Information Services Online (formerly a division of Moody's Investor's Service) is an online database of global business and financial information. Mergent provides stock information, financial statements, company histories, annual reports, and much more on thousands of publicly traded companies. Mergent provides information about over 10,000 U.S. public companies, 17,000 non U.S. public companies and 18,000 municipal entities, as well as extensive corporate and municipal bond, UIT, and dividend information.

Mergent allows you to search for company information such as highlights, history, business information, subsidiaries, directors, officers, long term debt, news headlines, earnings estimates, EDGAR filings, news reports, and much more.

Mergent offers technical support as well as telephone and email support for data-related questions.

Access to Mergent FIS Online is available at the DOT Libraries or at your desktop (through the RIDER database system). To obtain a password for desktop access, contact Dave Jones at 366-0766.

How to Access:

• From the DOT Library homepage (http://dotlibrary.dot.gov) , click "RIDER databases"
• Click Research and Reference Databases
• Select the folder labeled "Business"
• In the RIDER system, select "Mergent Financial Information Services Online"
• After entering your login information (your email address), click "Run Application"

Database Training On Transportation Security Topics

Reference Librarians from the Headquarters Library at Nassif and the Technical and Law Libraries at FAA gave presentations at Nassif, Transpoint and the Federal Railroad Administration during the first two weeks of June. The presentations featured databases from the DOT Library's RIDER desktop system as well as web sites that provide a range of legal and technical information on security. Ann Sullivan, the Manager of the TASC Libraries at the FAA, conducted a presentation on Airport Security on May 29th at Bldg. 10A. Rosalind Romain, the Law Librarian at the DOT Headquarters Library conducted a presentation on port/motor Carrier Security at Nassif on June 5th, Terry Dempsey, the Law Librarian at the FAA did a presentation on Port Security at Transpoint. David Jones, a Reference Librarian at the DOT Headquarters Library will make a presentation on Railroad System Security at the FRA in September.