June 2008 - The British Library – A Surprising Business Resource

Surprise indeed was evident as attendees at our 24 June event discovered the ‘treasures’ the British Library holds in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery and in its Business & Intellectual Property Centre.

The evening started with a tour of the Gallery which has on display original manuscripts, letters, maps, music scores, sound recordings and more. People were drawn to their particular areas of interest – whether literature or historical or religious or musical – but overall, the Magna Carta and the Gutenberg Bible proved particularly popular.

Assembling later over drinks and nibbles, Clare Harris from The British Library described the facilities and resources the Business & Intellectual Property Centre offers to business professionals and entrepreneurs. A few murmurs of surprise from the audience as she described what the free access to the UK’s most comprehensive collection of business and IP information offers - 50 million patent specifications, unique databases on trademarks and registered designs, thousands of market research reports, company reports, trade journals, business directories and guides to legal information and government publications.

Drawing attention to various product inventions on display in the room and to video testimonials from entrepreneurs who are now household names, Clare described how the Centre is also geared to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs. Experts and resources are at hand to guide them from that first spark of inspiration to successfully launching and developing a business. She said the programme of workshops with business partners and 1:1 advice sessions were particularly well attended.