Promoting University Inventors: Patent Collection in Shocker Open Access Repository.

Wichita State University is known for its advances in STEM research for many decades, but there were few inventions patented by WSU. In recent years, commercialization of the results of applied research, especially bioengineering, became a university focus; the number of WSU owned patents increased significantly. WSU initiated several initiatives to support university inventors. These included the development of the Innovation Campus and WSU Venture. The Wichita State University Libraries decided to join these efforts by not only providing information to inventors as a Patent and Trademark Resource Center but to archive and increase awareness of their patents. To increase the visibility of the work of WSU inventors, Wichita State University librarians created a collection of Wichita State Patents in the university's institutional repository SOAR: Shocker Open Access Repository (Wichita State University Patents, 2016). Patent records within SOAR are unique compared to those previously established. This paper details our preparation for this project, such as learning best practices, patent databases, vocabulary and classification, development of guidelines, steps in creation and maintenance of the collection, and its usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]