Engaging with entrepreneurs in academic and public libraries

TLDR: In this paper, the authors explore how academic and public libraries support entrepreneurial researchers and, in doing so, demonstrate impact and share best practices by revealing the main services they provide to this unique user group and presenting examples from their own institutions.

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how academic and public libraries support entrepreneurial researchers and, in doing so, demonstrate impact and share best practices. Design/methodology/approach – The authors discuss their own experiences as academic and public business librarians who support entrepreneurs. They do so by revealing the main services they provide to this unique user group and presenting examples from their own institutions. They also present what is done at other libraries by way of a literature review and an informal survey. Findings – After navigating the landscape of business librarian support of entrepreneurs, many commonalities were found among the types of support offered. Most libraries in this study collaborate with a business incubator, center for entrepreneurship, office of economic development or small business development center in some fashion. Numerous outreach and networking efforts were found that had positive effects on the local and national economies. Alth...

Full text

EngagingwithEntrepreneursinAcademicandPublicLibraries
JaredHoppenfeld,TexasA&MUniversity
ElizabethMalafi,MiddleCountryPublicLibrary

Introduction

Entrepreneurshiphasbeenanactivephenomenoninrecentyears,bothamongpracticing
entrepreneursandacademics.Bentonspoketothisasshesaid,“Withtheincreaseinthenumberof
startups
overthepastfiveyears,we’veenteredtheageofdemocratizedentrepreneurship.Justabout
anyonecanaffordtolaunchabusinessthesedays”(2014).Thisshouldhaveapositiveeffectonthe
economy;accordingtoWiensandJacksonfromtheKauffmanFoundation,“Newbusinessesaccountfor
nearlyallnetnewjob
creationandalmost20percentofgrossjobcreation”(Denning,2014).

Withanactiveentrepreneurialenvironment,nowisagoodtimetoreviewthelandscapeof
entrepreneurship,assessitseffectsontheeconomy,andinvestiga tehowlibraries arecurrently
supportingtheseeffortsandtheimpactstheseeffortsarehaving.

Thisarticlewillnavigatethelibraryservicesprovidedtoentrepreneursbynumerousacademicand
publiclibrarieswithafocus ontheTexasA&MUniversity’sWestCampus(Business)Library(WCL)and
theMiddleCountryPublicLibrary’s(MCPL)MillerBusinessResourceCenter.Thearticlewillinvestiga te
thepositiveimpactlibrarieshaveonentrepreneurship
throughacomprehensiveliteraturereview,an
informalsurveyofbusinesslibrarians,andthroughcasestudies.





LiteratureReview

Muchhasbeenpublishedintheliteratureaboutentrepreneurshipandlibrarysupportthere of.Articles
canbefoundontheentrepreneurialenvironmentatanationalandcampuslevel,theimpactof
entrepreneurshipontheeconomy,andeffortsbylibrariestosupportentrepreneurs andr esultingnew
venturesandpartnerships.

Entrepreneurship

Researchhasbeenpublishedonhowentrepreneurship,smallbusinesses,andstartupsaffectthe
economy,includingthetopicofjobcreation.ApiecefromForbesdiscussesresearchdonebythe
KauffmanFoundationandtheInstituteforCompetitiveness&Prosperity,wher etheyfoundthat“over
thelasttwenty‐fiveyears,almost
alloftheprivatesectorjobshavebeencreatedbybusinesseslessthan
fiveyearsold”(Denning,2014),showingtheimportanceofstartupstothecountry’seconomy.Sugars
reportedthat60‐80%ofallU.S.jobsarecreatedbythe25‐27millionsmallbusinessesthatexistinthe
U.S.(2012).


Kritikos(2014)foundthatentrepreneurshippositivelyimpactseconomicgrowthbyintroducing
innovativetechnologies,products,andservicesaswellasraisingtheproductivityoffirmsand
economies.Healsoreportsthatcostsofentrepreneurialfailurearesometimesbornebytaxpayers,and
entrepreneurshipcannotflourishinanover‐regulatedeconomy.


AngelaBenton(2014)discussesthefutureofentrepreneurshipandtheeaseofstartingabusinessin
today’seconomy.Shementionssometechnologiesthatshouldtransformtheentrepreneurship
landscape,includingdronetechnologies,onlineaccesstopotentialcustomersviasocialmedia,and3D
printing.

EntrepreneurshiponCampus

Astheentrepreneuriallandscapecontinues
togrowintheUnitedStates, activityonuniversitycampuses
doesaswell.EntrepreneurshiphasbeenpresentonuniversitycampusessinceManagementofNew
BusinessVentureswastaughtatHarvardin1847.Withinnovationontherise,sotoohasthenumberof
entrepreneurshipclassesrisenwith253coursesin
1985growingto441in1993and2,200in2003
(Kushkowski,2012).Inadditiontobeingpresentintheclassroom,entrepreneurshiphasalsoblossomed
asaresearchfield.AstudybyMeyeretal.found100publicationsonthetopicintheearly1990s,1,500
in2000,and5,000in2010
(2014).

ThePresidentoftheUnitedStateshasrecognizedtheimportanceofentrepreneurshipontheuniversity
campus:

Obamanotonlyacknowledgedtheneedforuniversitiestolaythegroundworkforfuture
innovatorsandentrepreneurs,butalsoimplicitlycalledontheindiv idualswhomaintainthe
operationoftheseuniversities,library
andinformationsciencescholarsincluded,toconsider
theirroleinanincreasinglyentrepreneurialenvironmentonthecollegecampus(Restivo,2014,
p.32).


AccordingtoareportpublishedbytheU.S.DepartmentofCommerceon“TheInnovativeand
EntrepreneurialUniversity”(2013),universitiesareansweringthepresident’scall.Research ersspoke
withcollegesanduniversitiesfromaroundthecountryto“understandhowtheyarenurturingand
promotinginnovationandentrepreneurship”(p.4)andfoundthatthey
areofferingdegreesand
certificatesinentrepreneurshipaswellasbusinessplancontests,entrepreneurshipclubs,startup
internships,on‐campusaccelerators,entrepreneurialdorms,andstudentventurefunds.Theyarealso
recognizingfacultyentr epreneurship,integratingentrepreneurshipintothetenureprocess,and
increasingfacultyconnectionswithoutsidepartnersincludingstartupsandotherbusinesses.

DifferencesBetweenPublicandAcademicLibraryPatrons

Withthispaperaddressingbothacademicandpubliclibrarysupportofentrepreneurs,asearchwas
donetoexaminedifferencesbetweenthepatronsateachtypeoflibrary.OnearticlebySaundersand
Jordan(2013)addressedthatexacttopic.Theysurveyedlibrariansinboth
typesoflibrariesandfound
theretobenoconsiderabledifferences.Publiclibrarypatronsaremorediverse(age,languages,etc.)
whileacademiclibrarypatronsaremoreinterestedinresearchandpublishing.Facultyatacademic
institutionsareassociatedwiththelibraryforyearssothereisacontinuityin patronneedsthat
might
differfrompubliclibraries.Nothingwasfoundonhowbusinesspatronsdifferbylibrarytype.

HistoricalLookatBusinessResearchServices

Mostservicesprovidedtoentrepreneursbypublicandacademiclibrariesarefreeofcharge,butthat
wasn’talwaysthecase.Numerousarticleswerefoundonfee‐based
researchservicesinlibraries,
typicallythoseonuniversitycampuses.Ward,Fong,andCamillecomparedfee‐basedservicesto

corporatelibrariessayingthattheyprovide“serviceseitherforcompaniestoosmalltohavetheirown
libraryorlargeenoughthattheywanttooutsourcesomeoftheirworkload”(2002,p.5).

Fee‐basedinformationservicesarrivedinthe1960swhentheyincludedsevenoutof57ARLmembers
(Ward
etal.,2002;Ernest,1993).Theseservicesincreased through2000whentheARLidentified31
fee‐basedservicesamongitsmembersbuthassincedeclined(DeCastell,2009).

HowLibrariesSupportEntrepreneurship

WithincreasedaccesstobusinessinformationthroughtheInternetandonlineresources,entrepreneurs
nolongerneedto
usefee‐basedresearchservices,buttheystillhavebusinessresearchdemandsand,
astheliteraturesuggests,librariesaremeetingthoseneeds.

FivelibrariansatPurdueUniversityworkedtoextendtheirengagementwithembedded
entrepreneurshipclassesinplaceofone‐shot‐instructionsessions.AccordingtoKirkwoodandEvans,
“Thestudents
developedabetterappreciationforacquiringqualityinformationtoassistintheir
problemsolvingthroughoutthecourse”(2012,p.111).Theyalsoexperimentedwithalternatevenues
forlibraryinstructiontoentrepreneurshipstudentsbyusingthevirtualenvironmentSecondLife.

Restivobelieves“thedevelopmentoflibraryspacetosupportinnovation”is
agreatwayforlibrariesto
playadirectroleinsupportingentrepreneurs(2014,p.31).ShereferencedTechpad,acollaborative
environmentforbusinessdevelopmentwhichislocatedacrossfromVirginiaTechinBlacksburg,
Virginia.RestivostatesthatlibrariescanofferthesameservicesasTechpad.
