CTR Library Services FAQ

Reference Services

Are staff available to help with reference questions?

Yes. Due to the sometimes heavy volume or in-depth nature of the questions, please allow for a reasonable amount of time for a response. Our goal is to answer questions within the same day.

See http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/about.html for more information.

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Borrowing Library Materials

What types of materials do you have?

We have copies of all reports generated by the Center for Transportation Research--both in print and as digitized copies.

We have a complete set of materials from the Transportation Research Board, documents from the Federal Highway Administration and other U.S. agencies, research from other states' departments of transportation, and a small reference collection of industry standards.

The CTR library is an official repository for the TxDOT research program, including TxDOT-funded research reports from TTI, TechMRT, UTEP, and other universities.

See our Stacks Guide for a closer look at our special collection.

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What if the library doesn't own what I'm looking for?

We welcome your suggestions for books, CDs, or journals that the library should purchase for a well-rounded research collection.

If you are looking for an electronic copy of an item that we have in print, we may be able to scan it for you if the request is allowed per copyright laws.

We may also be able to help you obtain items through Interlibrary Loan.

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Who may check out Library materials?

Faculty, staff, and students at The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Department of Transportation staff, and CAMPO staff may borrow materials. We can even send the items to your office by Interdepartmental mail.

We keep spare copies of CTR, TxDOT, and some TRB reports so these items can be available for unaffiliated patrons to take. We have comfortable seats for in-library reading.

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How long can I keep borrowed library materials? Can I renew past the intial loan period?

The Loan Period for all eligible borrowers is semester-long. Please return materials at the end of the semester or renew the loan by phone, e-mail, IM, or in-person.

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Do I have to go to the library to retrieve or return print materials?

If you have an office at TxDOT or on UT Campus, we can send materials to you via state inter-agency mail or UT campus mail. You may also return materials this way (please use an Interdepartmental envelope & send to the attention of "CTR Library").

Please don't return CTR Library materials to another library on campus. The CTR Library is not connected to The University of Texas Libraries or other departmental libraries on campus. We have separate catalogs, book returns, staff, and service areas. If you return our items elsewhere, they may be sent to Lost & Found instead and lost to us forever.

If you do want to return materials in person while the library is closed, there is a box in the CTR mailroom for the Library.

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What are the policies regarding overdue fines?

We use the honor system. There are no fines for overdue materials at the CTR library.

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Online Services

Can I download copies of research reports?

Yes. Most CTR and other university/TxDOT research reports are available as PDFs (download the latest version of Adobe's free PDF Reader here). Links to the PDF files are provided in our catalog.

We have on-going projects to increase the online availability of all public domain materials that are in our collection. For items that are not yet available online, please contact us. We work in accordance with national copyright law and guidelines.

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Can I use computers in the Library?

Yes. We have one public access computer in the library. TxDOT and other visitors can gain Guest access by creating a Guest UT EID (electronic identification) account. Please speak with CTR Administration if you are unable to create an EID before arriving.

Free Wi-Fi is readily available for UT faculty, staff, students, and guests who have already created a UT EID.

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Can I find your material through The UT Libraries catalog?

Not at this time. We are separate libraries with separate catalogs. Our materials can be found using our online catalog.

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Will my search of your online catalog find words within the full text of reports?

No. Your search of the CTR Library Catalog will only search the material's bibliographic information, which include's subject terms, abstract, and Table-of-Contents when available. For most topics this narrower focus is preferred so that only the most relevant documents are found. If you are having trouble finding useful materials on a topic, try using the Transportation Research Thesaurus to find commonly-accepted terminology.

However, if your are only interested in reports published by the Center, you can also try the CTR website's Google Custom Search. This will search the full-text of CTR Reports that were "born digital" or were OCR digitized (Optical Character Recognition). OCR technology on scanned documents is not perfect -- a failed search for a word within the document does not necessarily mean that it is not there. Note: Not all digitized reports have been OCRed, so the full-text of those cannot be searched via computer.

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General Questions

What are my public transit or parking options when visiting?

Several CapMetro buses stop within one or two blocks of the building (southbound bus stops on Guadalupe Street and Nueces, northbound bus stops on Lavaca and Nueces). The Lake Austin UT Shuttle (LA) and CARTS also both stop within a block.

Bicycle racks are located on the north side of the building.

UT "M" (Motorcycle) Permit parking is available in the lot at the corner of 16th and San Antonio. The UT Sharepass can be used for the Guadalupe Garage.

There are many city "pay-and-display" parking areas along the streets around the building; Car2Go vehicles park free in those spots.

We will validate parking for CTR Library visitors who park in the Guadalupe Garage.

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Is my use of the CTR Library subject to the Texas Public Records Act?

No. The Texas Public Records Act (amended, 1999) section 552.124 exempts library records from disclosure. The CTR Library does not release or share the names or e-mail addresses of individuals who have used library materials or services.