Evansdale Library at West Virginia University has been a depository since 1991. The Evansdale Library serves Engineering, Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, Education, Creative Arts and Physical Education. Independent as well as university inventors come to the Evansdale Library for assistance. I continue to work with university departments, WVU’s LaunchLab, the WVU Law School’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic and the WVU Office of Technology Transfer as well as independent inventors.
This summer I developed with sponsorship of the WVU LaunchLab a Youtube series on patent classification searching. It is available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrVeTzLOnvg6OgEmXapQ2-OtYsGnMKN2Q
In September, Rob Berry and Neil Massong from the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Program held a day seminar on patents and trademarks followed by a morning training staff for library staff.
In January, I was able to travel to the University Of Charleston, WV to provide a day-long seminar on intellectual property, as an early kick-off to their new Innovation Center. It was attended by the provost, deans, and faculty from their different colleges.
In March, I participated in WVU Law School panel discussion highlighting the intellectual property of a West Virginia business.
Through my work with the LaunchLab, I have participated in entrepreneur pitch contests. I assist inventors connected with the LaunchLab in learning how to search patents.
The as the engineering librarian, I continue to work with Freshman Engineering. Part of this contact involves an Intellectual Property module that runs on the Blackboard Platform. This module reaches around 1,000 freshman engineering students.
Other classes that I have had opportunity to speak to about patents and trademarks include Horticulture 220, Law, the IGERT(Interdisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Traineeships) group, and a MAE Senior design (both in Morgantown and in Montgomery, WV). Each class I specifically designed searches or demonstrations of their respective subject areas.
The PTRC in Morgantown, WV reaches people across the WVU Campuses and across the state of West Virginia, expanding and enhancing people’s knowledge of intellectual property.