This report, The Value of Information and Information Services, documents how information services help transportation agencies to operate more efficiently and effectively. It shows that the value of information can be measured in terms of reduced costs for research, development, and operations; time savings and quicker implementation of innovations; more effective decision making; and the satisfaction of management and users.

However, while information services are valuable to transportation agencies, this report also identifies a number of areas where existing information sources need to be improved. It recommends that FHWA and its partners 1) take the lead in building consensus on information issues and developing a national policy on transportation information; 2) develop a national marketing plan to raise awareness of the value of information, educate management on the need for information services, and promote information programs in transportation agencies; and 3) develop a comprehensive model of transportation information resources and programs. This appendix outlines an approach for the second recommendation, the development of a national information marketing plan. With the assistance of the technical panel, and in consultation with its partners, FHWA will employ this approach in developing appropriate tools to promote information services in transportation organizations.

Within the transportation community, there are a number of different customers for information services. For the purposes of this report, there are four target audiences for a marketing strategy: administrative management, research and development management, professional staff, and information specialists. In marketing to each audience, there are two major themes: 1) the value of information and 2) the value of information programs and services.

Administrative Management

Senior-level decision makers are largely concerned with the overall viability of their organizations and with their organizations' strategic goals. They are the chief administrative officers of State and local agencies and the directors and executives of transportation associations. The first group is account able to taxpayers, legislators, and their staffs; the second, to their memberships and boards of directors. Overall interests of both groups include regulatory requirements; impacts of local, State, and national political decisions; and, possibly, new business opportunities.

VALUE OF INFORMATION
For top managers, information holds tremendous value in terms of:

• More Effective Decision Making: Senior managers need access to quality, timely information to make complex decisions; to be innovative; and to enhance their effectiveness. The types of information required at this level include analyses of current political agendas in Washington, DC, the statehouse, and local arenas, and knowledge of how counterparts address similar issues.

• Meeting Strategic Goals: An information strategy plays a key role in an organization's overall mission. For instance, the R&D agenda at Minnesota DOT is linked to its strategic mission. Knowledge of successful benchmarks could be critical in implementing an information strategy to meet an agency's strategic goals.

• Avoiding the Consequences of Not Knowing: Transportation organizations at all levels are under pressure to maximize use of limited resources. Not knowing about the latest research and technology has economic consequences. Professional staffs need timely access to new practices and ideas.

VALUE OF INFORMATION SERVICES
Regarding the value of information services, the following messages apply to senior managers:

• Supporting National Programs: Transportation information should be easily available and kept up to date. Currently, TRIS is the primary resource for identifying transportation information in the United States; however, gaps in this service exist and require adequate funds to ameliorate. Top management should recognize these gaps and support national efforts to address them.

• Funding New Reference Services: The World Wide Web and other electronic services facilitate information delivery. In particular, fee-based services hold tremendous potential. Management should adjust agencies' budgets to accommodate these products and support continuous improvements in information services.

• Training: Training on information literacy increases the efficiency of information programs. Management should make such training available to all transportation professionals and should ensure that information specialists are trained to make effective use of the World Wide Web and other new information resources.

• Facilitating Internal Information Transfer: Information programs can make information accessible to all staff. Managers should promote services such as databases of in-house experts, catalogs of unpublished staff findings or technical reports, ongoing databases of current research projects, and Intranets.

• Outsourcing or Downsizing: Research shows that, although cost savings is the primary motive for outsourcing or downsizing a library, the savings are offset by shifting costs to other areas of an agency. For example, transportation researchers may spend many hours on unproductive information searches, removing them from their real work responsibilities. Reports show that organizations without libraries pay 2 to 4 times more to obtain information than those with libraries. Management should be aware that issues of quality, efficiency, and prompt service delivery are obscured by a "bottom-line" mentality.

Research and Development Management

• R&D managers need to be aware of recent scientific and engineering developments and technical information. They initiate their agencies' research agendas and determine staff allocations for research assignments. To achieve their research goals, these managers must be knowledgeable about the information services available both within and outside their organizations and be champions for such services. Typically, they will lobby for adequate information services budgets.

VALUE OF INFORMATION
The message to R&D managers is similar to that for senior management, but the focus should be on program implementation and supporting the information needs of R&D staff. Key themes include:

• More Effective Decision Making: To make informed decisions, transportation researchers must have access to all relevant technical and scientific information. Although this information is often published in technical journals or reports, it is not always easily accessed.

• Reducing Costs: Failure to keep up to date with innovative techniques can cost an agency, and the public, money. Implementation of innovations can reduce costs for research, mainte nance, and operations--freeing resources for new transportation services.

VALUE OF INFORMATION SERVICES
Benefits of information services that are particularly relevant to R&D managers include:

• Eliminating Duplication of Effort: Access to research results allows agencies to benefit from the experiences of others and avoids costly duplicative research. Thus, R&D managers should ensure that their agencies' research in progress is submitted to TRIS in a timely manner.

• Providing an Information "Filter": Information services and programs can alleviate the problems of insufficient information or information overload. R&D managers should promote the use of information professionals to filter information that is most relevant to transportation projects.

• Promoting the Benefits of Transportation R&D: Information specialists can document successful research projects for State legislatures and senior managers and assist with electronic publication of research results. R&D management needs to encourage the use of information experts for this purpose.

• Assisting with R&D Projects: When included on a project team or task force, an information specialist can anticipate and document the information gathered. R&D managers need to promote the use of information specialists on project teams from initiation to implementation.

Professional Staff

Composed of transportation researchers and other technical professionals, this group is primarily interested in project-related information that is narrowly focused on their area of expertise.

VALUE OF INFORMATION

• More Effective Decision Making: Transportation professionals need access to timely and com-prehensive information to make effective project-related decisions. They may be unaware of the latest information sources or may be struggling to master others, such as the Internet, without benefit of proper training.

VALUE OF INFORMATION SERVICES

• Providing Access to a Range of Information Sources: Electronic delivery options enhance reference services for transportation professionals. New fee-based information services may be particularly valuable. Transportation professionals should make optimum use of the full range of information services and products.

• Assisting with Project Management: As members of a project team, information specialists assist transportation professionals with accessing and organizing project-related information, documenting project activities, and reporting research in progress. Transportation professionals need to make full use of information specialists in this important role.

• Making Efficient Use of the Internet: Although the Internet is a desktop tool, researchers need not perform all searches. Transportation professionals should call on information experts for assistance with the more complicated searches and queries.

Information Specialists

Although information specialists recognize the value of information, they may need training in implementing and marketing the latest information resources. Budget constraints or reduced staff levels often impact the services that they provide. Information professionals need to acknowledge the value of obtaining feedback from customers and to learn how to implement changes based upon these inputs.

VALUE OF INFORMATION

• Meeting Organizational Objectives: Quality information is essential to fulfilling an agency's mission and to meeting its strategic goals.

VALUE OF INFORMATION SERVICES

Information professionals can enhance the value of information services to their organizations by:

• Being Proactive: Information specialists need to take a proactive role in the collection, organization, analysis, and distribution of information in their organizations.

• Being Cost-Efficient: Information programs compete with other departments for limited resources. Information specialists should provide managers and transportation professionals with filtered, quality information.

• Quantifying the Value of Information Services: Information experts should implement valid methods for measuring their effectiveness and their contributions to agency goals.

• Educating Management and Staff: It is important to educate management and staff on the value of information services. Information specialists should teach managers to appreciate the investment required for high-quality information and to use this investment effectively.

• Expanding Traditional Services: Information specialists should disseminate new products and services that provide staff with relevant information and improve decision making, for example, by providing desktop access to internal technical and reference databases.

• Harnessing Internal Information: Now perceived as keepers of external information, information specialists must convince management of their value in collecting and organizing internal information assets.

• Volunteering for Special Projects or Task Force Assignments: Information professionals should volunteer for special assignments that enhance the visibility of and appreciation for an organization's information programs.

• Offering Internet Training: As teachers and experts, information professionals should encourage staff to defer to them their complicated Internet searches.

• Continuing Training and Education: Information professionals should keep up with new technologies and best practices through ongoing education and training.

Electronic version of Publication No. FHWA-SA-99-038
This page last updated August 18, 1999