Clemson, SC

It has been a very eventful year here at Clemson. Since last year’s Seminar, I have been involved in a number of Intellectual Property activities. On April 26th I celebrated World Intellectual Property Day with a program for Library staff. The theme for the year was “Designing the Future,” so the program was mostly about design patents, with some trademarks and copyrights thrown in for good measure. Attendance was pretty good, and not JUST for the cake. In the fall, I participated in our Library Instruction program designed to reach EVERY freshman and transfer student. In the space of one week, I gave 16 presentations to engineering students about finding books and articles in the library. It was exhausting, but worth the effort. I managed to sneak in information about patents to this very receptive crowd. Also in the fall, I worked with a group of Industrial Engineering students to assess last Spring’s LIB 301 Patent Searching class. It was a good experience, and they provided a lot of good information, which I will be sharing at PTRCA Day during the Seminar. I also used some of the information in this Spring’s offering of LIB 301. Once again I had 20 students who are now fully introduced to the ins and outs of patent and trademark searching. As luck would have it, Clemson was included as a stop in the tour of the USPTO’s own John Calvert. So far he has given one very interesting presentation about the legal basis of patents for graduate students. Lots of good questions and comments. (Be sure to ask John about the Bird Feeder Helmet.) Later this afternoon, he will be presenting a more general session for undergraduates. This will be followed by a presentation tailored especially for Clemson Librarians and hopefully some LIB 301 alumni. He is always a big hit, and I really look forward to his visits. It is a wonderful way to whet my appetite for Seminar 2012. I can hardly wait to see old friends and new! It won’t be long now…