69 SPEC Kit 355: Campus-wide Entrepreneurship
Outreach librarians are regularly meeting with the iZone director to knit entrepreneurial thinking and
work into courses, assignments, etc. Also, the iZone director meets with the Academic Engagement
Team, regularly, connecting them to the front-facing support services across the library system.
Some background on entrepreneurship programs here: the first program was an interdisciplinary
minor in entrepreneurship. Next came a graduate certificate program. In fall of 2016, the College of
Business added a Ph.D. program in entrepreneurship. A B.S. in Entrepreneurship was approved in July
2016 and is included in the 2017–18 catalog.
The College of Business has not had permanent leadership in the dean’s office for at least three years so
it has been difficult to establish relationships that might lead to a greater understanding of the needs for
new resources/services and potential financial support from them.
The Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic receives the same amount of support as all our other programs
and all our other patrons. They have access to all the libraries, resources, materials, and services. We
hope to strengthen our connection with them via more sessions teaching them about these services
soon. The Business Library has assisted various campus entrepreneurial groups and individuals for
over 20 years.
The library provides a lot of support through reference and instruction activities, but there are few
services dedicated only to entrepreneurship needs.
The support for entrepreneurship has grown out of an awareness of the entrepreneurial climate at the
university. No one told me to go out and make contacts, see what was happening. I initially was invited
by a management professor to participate in a grant-seeking process and from there realized how much
the libraries could offer. I find that if I talk to people, most are enthusiastic to learn how the libraries
can support them. It takes a lot of outreach, sometimes after 5:00 p.m., to get this to grow.
This is a year of transition regarding the involvement of the library in entrepreneurship, which is a
priority for the university, and consequently for the library.
Very large and dispersed campus (3 campuses, 44 libraries, 88,000FTE). Very collaborative working
style within library and among librarians. Interdisciplinary audience, relatively new central office and
more established accelerators and other players on campus. Coordination, lack of branding/awareness
about entrepreneurship on campus.
We are just starting to discuss entrepreneurship program.
We support prototyping by providing supplies, but not full production.
With respect to staffing, things have evolved a bit here. The entrepreneurship librarian is firmly
embedded in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, but his role has changed over time and now includes
coordination of the library’s maker space. Many of the same stakeholders across campus have
an interest in both entrepreneurship and the innovative activities supported by a maker space.
Furthermore, a range of newly hired librarians have been helpful in supporting research and reference
in this area although they were not specifically hired for that purpose. These include the GIS librarian
and the data services librarian. Also, with respect to electronic resources, the business library already
subscribed to most of what was needed for entrepreneurial students and faculty, although we did
pick up a couple of additional resources. Licensing and non-commercial use has been an issue that
business libraries have always grappled with and we are looking for ways to both meet the needs of
our users and respect the demands of the vendors. We have amended agreements to specifically allow
access for the technology transfer office, for example, and we may need to pursue more of these types
of arrangements in the future. Finally, with respect to who can use our resources, all members of our
community can use most of our electronic resources on a walk-in basis. This is consistent with our
principles as a land-grant university. Remote access, however, is only available to faculty, staff, and
currently enrolled students (not alumni or the general public).
Previous Page Next Page