This circular presents the results of a 2007 user satisfaction survey of the TRIS database, which had three objectives: to understand who uses the TRIS database and what they use it for; to determine user satisfaction; and to give users a way to recommend enhancements to TRIS. To administer this 20-question online survey, TRB sent a direct e-mail to all members of Division A Technical Activities Committees and student attendees of the 85th and 86th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, and the survey was posted on the TRANLIB and AASHTO RAC listservs for a total possible population of 7,717. There were 327 valid responses, a response rate of 4%. Respondents indicated high overall satisfaction with TRIS: 76% indicated high levels of satisfaction with TRIS’ ability to help them at work; 88% said they believed they made better decisions or were more effective because they used TRIS; and when asked if they would recommend TRIS to other transportation researchers, 96% of all respondents said yes. The most recommended change was the addition of more links to freely accessible full text content and better options for acquiring documents that could not be made accessible online. Respondents were generally unable to comment on TRIS’ citation coverage by mode or by function, but did mention a desire for better “international coverage.” Demographics revealed increasing levels of use by academicians, and decreasing use by state departments of transportation (DOTs) and federal agency employees relative to total use when compared to results of the last TRIS user survey conducted in 1976. While 91% of all respondents used the TRIS online version of the database, only 28% said they use TRANSPORT, and only 13% said they used File 63. In conclusion, the authors present nine opportunities for guiding TRIS into the future, noting that from the time the survey was conducted in 2007 to the time the circular was drafted in 2009, TRB had made progress on nearly half of these opportunities. The nine opportunities are as follows: 1. Develop a strategic plan for the management of TRIS; 2. Conduct periodic studies to better understand user needs; 3. Collect additional feedback from core users; 4. Explore mutually beneficial collaborative opportunities; 5. Address harvesting, digitizing, and deep archiving; 6. Consider developing enhanced versions of TRIS; 7. Reexamine existing relationships with commercial vendors; 8. Develop relationships with libraries to fill citation gaps; and 9. Complete the OCLC linking project for TRIS Online. (Author/publisher)
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