Library Quarterly Report FY24 Q2: October-December 2023

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his quarter we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of VTRC. VDOT unveiled a redesigned VTRC Web site on November 1st, which was promoted by VDOT Communications through social media posts and news releases that gained national attention. On December 12th VDOT unveiled a redesigned VDOT Web site, an even larger and more complex project that had been in the works many years. That site was last redesigned 15 years ago in 2008 and both projects had been in the works for several years, hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to having new look and feel, both Web sites work better from mobile devices and are more compliant with 508 Amendment of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. The new VDOT site explains its improved approach to accessibility. Finally, both the VTRC and the VDOT sites changed their URLs to be more in-line with Commonwealth policy and to create a more intuitive address for users. 

• VTRC: From 2006-2023 was at https://vtrc.virginiadot.org. The new URL is: https://vtrc.virginia.gov
• VDOT: From 2008-2023 was at https://virginiadot.org. The new location: https://vdot.virginia.gov

While both Web sites will "redirect" traffic for several months, the library's Web site is suddenly out of alignment with both VTRC and VDOT.  In 2016 we created the first public-facing library Web page and placed it in the VDOT "sub-domain" at https://library.virginiadot.org, to make our connection clear. We will need to change that, most likely to: https://library.vdot.virginia.gov. Our goal is to perform the domain name change quickly since we receive the majority of our patron interactions through the library Web site, with 1,780 page views a month (3-year combined average).

In support of VTRC's anniversary, Gil Kenner unveiled a new collection of VTRC Historical Photos 1948-2023 in the library's digital collections platform. We were pleased to see that the new VTRC Web site has prominent links to the library and library staff and resources, and that the new VDOT site has prominent links to the library's Digital Collections, including the historical state map dating back to 1922, which Kenner helped to curate.