Abstract

1. Abstract • Oregon State University has initiated an entrepreneurship program that will engage engineering students • Entrepreneurship minor as well as residential program • What do we know about the information needs of these students? • What collections and services will target those needs? • What roles can librarians play in the success of this interdisciplinary endeavor?

2. Weatherford Hall will serve as a residential college for engineering entrepreneurs

3. The Weatherford Library

4. Information seeking behaviors • Business and Engineering Students are: • Less inclined to use physical library • Familiar with web-based information • Confident in their ability to locate information • Faced with time pressures • Asked to work in groups

5. Information needs • To be successful, entrepreneur engineers need: • Sophisticated skills for independent information gathering and evaluation • A broader awareness of the wide range of databases and specialized publications in business and engineering • To learn both of the above before going into the workplace

6. Strategies • If they don’t come to the library, the library will go to them • Librarian hours in the residential college • Student involvement in the departmental library and interaction with the librarian

7. Strategies • Model a corporate intranet for the program where students can customize library and other information sources to meet their needs • With student input, develop online tutorials on such topics as creating business plans or conducting preliminary patent searches

8. Strategies • Collaborate with entrepreneurship faculty in course assignments, workshops • Research on the information seeking behaviors of entrepreneurs • Look for new ideas to deliver information where the students need it

9. Ideally, information seeking skills will be integrated into the Entrepreneurship curriculum and residential life of the students