Introduction

A growing body of literature demonstrates a role for libraries to support innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization activities at their institutions and in the broader start-up community. Despite multi-trillion-dollar global health care markets, there are few examples of how medical libraries can help advance organizational priorities focused on translating research and clinical innovations into viable health care products and services. This presentation aims to explore the landscape of medical library support for innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization and begin a conversation about how medical library workers can collaborate with students, faculty, staff, and other affiliated users they support to become an integral part of the innovation community.

Description

Using examples from the literature and the authors’ experiences, this presentation introduces how libraries help advance organizational and community goals to support and grow innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization initiatives, with a focus on health care. The information needs and information seeking behaviours of entrepreneurs, and how these may differ from typical medical library users, will also be discussed.

Discussion

There is an emerging opportunity for medical libraries to demonstrate their value as partners within health innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization ecosystems. Success may mean rethinking or reimagining the vision medical libraries have of themselves as research, learning, and clinical partners. As library budgets continue to tighten, supporting health innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization activities may also open the door to new funding opportunities for libraries, library workers, and the communities they support.

Introduction
An interdisciplinary working group (WG) of librarians at McMaster University Libraries in Hamilton, Ontario was charged with exploring how library support for knowledge synthesis (KS) could be refined to meet the changing needs of library users in health sciences and other research disciplines.

Description
The WG applied a modified design thinking approach to its task. Design thinking is an iterative problem-solving approach, centred on deeply understanding user needs. It is particularly well suited for complex concerns without clear causes or solutions. This presentation explores how the five stages of design thinking — empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test — can be applied to refining academic library support for KS.

Outcomes
The WG developed a draft problem statement, workplan, and timeline in February 2025. The problem statement was further validated and refined after completing an environmental scan, literature review, interviews with library leadership, and focus groups with librarians and library assistants supporting KS. Solutions were ideated and 13 high impact short- and medium-term recommendations were created, validated, and refined. Next steps include prioritizing the recommendations, developing and testing solutions, and implementing and evaluating the solutions with the most promise . Results from the prototype and test stages of the project will be discussed as available.

Discussion
Lessons learned (e.g., respecting librarian autonomy) from the application of the design thinking process and future directions for KS support at the libraries will be discussed. The authors will also reflect on how design thinking principles can be applied to other library services and contexts.