A description of the development of the different services for business in the Business & IP Centre in the British Library

1. From Reference Librarian to
Business Advisor
Neil Infield – Manager Business & IP Centre
neil.infield@bl.uk - @ninfield (twitter)
http://www.slideshare.net/infield/

2. 2Was the library of last resort

3. 3
Now open for anyone who wants to do research
academic, personal or commercial

4. Let’s go
back to the
beginning
of the
Business &
IP Centre

5. The first thing
we did was to
ask what our
customers
wanted from
us.

6. The 2nd,
3rd, and 4th
thing we did
was to
implement
their
requests.
Easier said
than done!

7. We started
with this.
Free access to
our collection
of hard copy
and online
business
information

8. These, plus quite a few more…

9. Added a
helpful friendly
knowledgeable
inquiry service.
With business
and Intellectual
Property
specialists on
hand.

10. Plus hands-on
training for our
range of
databases

11. But that wasn’t
enough.
We had to
train as
workshop
presenters
…
Which was
quite a scary
process

12. But every day customers came to the
enquiry desk and said…
“I just want to someone in private about my
business idea / invention.
Do you do that?”
The answer was “No, sorry, we are
librarians, not business experts.”
…Not good enough

13. So we had to train as Business Advisors.
Even scarier stuff for librarians!

14. At first we were terrified…

15. But gradually we became more self-assured
And now
it’s my
favourite
part of
the job

16. Business Advice isn’t rocket science
•Confidentiality
•Rapport
•Non-judgmental
•Good listeners
•Referral knowledge
•Never telling – helping decisions

17. We adopted the ‘Lean’
approach to start-up
For our customers and
for ourselves

18. And the Business Model Canvas

19. The British
Library is
stuffed full of
billions and
billions of facts.
But…

20. We
needed to
get our
customers
to think
why
…
Why would
someone
chose their
product or
service?

21. Too many
had the
‘build it and
they will
come’
approach to
marketing

22. We recently celebrated our 10th anniversary
Here are some of my highlights…

23. “I came to last night's event, and was
inspired by the speakers to start my
own business...
What should I do?”

24. The accountant who
wanted to start a courier
company with his dad
The drug-addict tramp
who wanted to develop
artificial intelligence
software
The house-wife who
wanted to open a
primary school

25. “So what do you
think about my
invention / business
idea?”
Decorative bra
straps

26. “So what do you think about my
invention / business idea?”
A device for spreading out
tennis racquet strings

27. “So what do you think about my
invention / business idea?”
A portable safe for the beach

28. Amelia Rope and her
amazing Chocolate
BIPC Success Stories

29. Jeff Woolf
and his
Morpher
folding cycle
helmet
BIPC Success Stories

30. Tom Blake and his
Keep Me Jewellery
BIPC Success Stories

31. Nick Skaliotis and his Kikka Digga
BIPC Success Stories

32. AnnoyingDown to earth
InspiringFunny