Year: 2020

Free Patent Basics Workshop

Learn basic information about patenting your invention at a free Wright State University Libraries workshop, December 5, 2020.

How do you protect an idea?  Are you currently working on an idea for a new product but don’t know where to start? The Wright State University Libraries’ Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) is offering an online basic patent information workshop for beginning inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. The workshop will cover the basics of a patent, the process for applying, the examination process, and what inventor resources are available in the community and from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  The workshop will also cover the basic search techniques for using the free search database European Patent Office’s (EPO) Espacenet.  The concept of a “prior art” search will be explained and how it relates to the patent classification system.   

This free patent basics workshop will be held online, via WebEx, Saturday morning , December 5th, 10:30am- 12:30pm 

Wright State’s library is a U.S. Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC is a USPTO supported outreach program) and provides access to USPTO expertise, PubWEST, Web-based Examiner Search Tool, and PubEAST, Examiner’s Automated Search Tool, EPO and JPO patent abstracts in English.  These are the same patent resources used by the USPTO patent examiners. 

Register online https://calendar.libraries.wright.edu/event/6368966?hs=a  or contact Ran Raider government and history librarian for the University Libraries, at [email protected].

Dunbar Library open after Thanksgiving with expanded hours for finals week

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The Dunbar Library will maintain operating hours after the Thanksgiving holiday when the campus transitions to full remote learning. From November 28th through December 1st, the library hours will follow the regular semester hours. Those hours are:

  • Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  • Friday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
  • Saturday – 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
  • Sunday – 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Extended Finals Week Hours:

The library will also continue their tradition of extending library hours prior to finals. Hours will be extended December 2nd through December 10th with the following schedule:

  • Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
  • Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  • Saturday – 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  • Sunday – 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Break Hours

From December 13th to January 9th the library will transition to break hours with the exception of the University’s Winter Break when the library will be closed. Dunbar Library break hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and closed on the weekends.

Starbucks Hours

Starbucks will close on November 24th and will not reopen until January 11th. Stop by now for their festive holiday drinks.

Fall Library Student Assistant Award Winners

Four students were selected for the Fall semester awards and received a $500 award for their excellent job performance in the University Libraries.  Library Student Assistant Awards are funded by contributions to the Campus Scholarship Innovation Campaign from the University Libraries’ staff and other donors, with a matching contribution from the Friends of the Libraries.  To date, 413 awards have been distributed totaling over $190,650.

University Libraries’ staff and the Friends of the Libraries Board would like to congratulate this semester’s winners:

Maria Hess

Maria Hess is a senior double-majoring in Music Education and Vocal Performance and has been working for the Resource and Delivery Services Department for four years. She uses the skills she’s learned in this major to help at the library, by organizing the music scores (and even teaching us about the detailed ways that music call numbers differ from regular ones). She’s helps us to train our newer student employees here, and after student teaching for high-school kids we knew it was nothing that she couldn’t handle. During the closure she helped work on projects from home for Digital Services, which were also music-related. She’s part of the backbone of this department and we really appreciate all her hard work. If you ever hear lovely singing coming from the area of the Circulation Desk, it’s probably Maria!

Zyanya Menchaca-Howell

Zyanya Menchaca-Howell is a Junior English (Creative Writing) Major who has worked for the Instruction and Research Services Department for two years. The department has relied heavily on Zyanya to assist with staffing the chat service since we went remote in March. Zyanya enthusiastically accepted as many hours as she could get assisting students who were frantically struggling to get their research done remotely. She assists with research questions as well as virtual technology assistance to student, faculty, and staff during the remote portion of our service. Over the last two years, Zyanya has excelled at every task she has been assigned, from creating and editing videos, Photoshop projects, making buttons, and testing website functionality. Most recently, she has offered to assist with the transition of the Educational Resource Center and the Dayton Holocaust Resource Center relocation to the Dunbar Library. Zyanya is a member of the campus Tabletop Club, loves animals and worked in a kennel this summer. Zyanya also enjoys drawing and bullet-journaling. We are extremely lucky to have Zyanya on our team.

Kayla Wright

Kayla Wright is a senior Social Work major who has worked for the Resource and Delivery Services Department for three years. She is incredibly reliable, knowledgeable, and a hard worker who sets a great example for our newer student employees. This semester she did a great deal of self-directed work from home for Digital Services during the closure. In addition, she has started creative new traditions for the Circulation Desk, such as creating themed media displays to highlight videos and games in our collection. She also makes themed decorations for holidays and other monthly events that we reuse every year to decorate the Circulation Desk to make it a more fun and welcoming place. She is very crafty and is always impressing us with her projects… everything from pretty nails to mermaid tails!

Mark Stickord

Mark Stickford is a senior Social Science Education major who began working for Special Collections and Archives in January 2020.  Mark has a very strong work ethic which he demonstrated during the COVID shutdown by completing a number of  tasks remotely.  Mark’s work on close captioning videos in CORE Scholar to ensure we are in compliance with ADA laws is a tremendous help to us.  He is involved in a number of groups on campus including serving as president of the Economic Club and the Combo Director of the Wright State Show Choir.  He also helps a local high school band with their performances.

Free USPTO Webinar on COVID-19 Vaccine Research

The University Libraries’ Patent and Trademark Research Center announces a free webinar from the USPTO:

Get insight on recent COVID-19 vaccine research and its place in the history of vaccines at a free online event hosted by the Midwest Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office. Our special guest speaker, Michael S. Kinch, Ph.D, is associate vice chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis. 

His scientific background includes the development of medicines for cancer, immunological, and infectious diseases. His current work focuses on understanding the blend of science, medicine, business, and law needed to support the development of new medicines. Dr. Kinch is the founder and director of the Center for Research Innovation in Biotechnology (CRIB).

More information will be provided closer to the event. Please circulate to anyone who is interested. The event is free and the registration link is https://www.eventbrite.com/e/putting-covid-19-vaccines-in-perspective-learning-from-the-past-tickets-126325355539

Best regards,

The Midwest Regional USPTO team