Lankes named to National Academy of Sciences’ committee on transportation information management

Lankes named to National Academy of Sciences’ committee on transportation information managementNovember 22, 2004Edward Byrnesedbyrnes@syr.edu

R. David Lankes, assistant professor in Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse (IIS), has accepted an invitation from the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academy of Sciences to be a provisional member of a TRB study into transportation information infrastructure.

The study, “Committee for a Future Strategy for Transportation Information Management,” will provide strategic advice to the federal government and the states regarding a sustainable administrative structure and funding mechanism for meeting the information services needs of the transportation sector. The committee will define the core services that need to be provided, identify how they should be provided and suggest options for funding.

The TRB is a division of the National Research Council, which serves as an independent adviser to the federal government and others on scientific and technical questions of national importance. The National Research Council is jointly administered by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine. The mission of the TRB-one of six major divisions of the National Research Council-is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research.

The TRB’s varied activities annually draw on more than 5,000 engineers, scientists and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest by participating on TRB committees, panels and task forces. Theprogram is supported by state transportation departments, the various administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation and other federal agencies, industry associations and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. For more information on the TRB, visit http://gulliver.trb.org/.

Lankes’ research is in education information and digital reference services. He has authored, co-authored or edited eight books, and written numerous book chapters and journal articles on the Internet and digital reference. He was a visiting scholar to Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and visiting fellow at the National Library of Canada. He speaks and consults nationally on Internet issues in education, libraries and business. He has worked closely with the National Library of Education, Library of Congress, Microsoft, American Association of School Librarians, AT&T, OCLC, NEA, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, MCI WorldCom and more.

Lankes co-founded the award winning AskERIC project in 1992 and founded the Virtual Reference Desk (VRD) project that is building a nationwide network of expertise for education. Lankes is also one of the architects of the Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM). GEM is a standards-based system for describing and finding educational materials on the Internet. The IIS houses the GEM, the VRD and is an active part of the National Science Foundation’s National Science Digital Library.

Lankes received his bachelor’s degree in multimedia design, master’s degree in telecommunications and his doctoral degree all from SU.