2009 found us still feeling the effects of merging our city library with the county system. At least the two catalogs were combined making life a bit easier. We continue our monthly patent searching class which is always well-received. A patent attorney presented his “Traps & Pitfalls in Intellectual Property” class twice during 2009 for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

I missed the training seminar this year as I was in Cabo San Lucas, exploring the possibility of opening a PTDL there. Unfortunately nobody’s buying that story, so I could not write if off as a business trip! My colleague, Carrie Brunsberg, was able to attend in my place.

I try to be creative in using patent and trademark information while assisting our customers. For example, a young man was trying to get contact information for some smaller rap/hip-hop music labels. By using TESS and TDR we were able to track down the companies and conglomerates that owned those specific labels.

Once again the chemistry librarian at the University of Minnesota asked me to speak to her students about patents as a resource for their research. It’s a tough gig speaking to them before 9 a.m., but she always gets good feedback!

“Innovation in History” was the theme for the 2009-10 National History Day contest. I’m sure many of us worked with students on their projects. Carrie and another librarian, JoEllen Haugo, coordinated four History Day Hullabaloos where library staff and mentors from the Historical Society were set up to help the students. We assisted over 350 students at these events. It was a lot of fun to work with a younger crowd who were often impressed to see the original patents on the items they were researching.

In 2008 the library featured “Minnovation: 150 Years of Ingenuity,” an exhibit to celebrate Minnesota’s sesquicentennial. In October 2009 we received the Minnesota History Award from the Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums for the exhibit. It was a nice recognition.

On the day-to-day duties in addition to Carrie, my supervisor Helen Burke is always ready and eager to answer patent and trademark questions when I’m not available.

Walt Johnson
Minneapolis Central Library
Hennepin County Library System