University Libraries and Science and Technology Parks: Reasons for Collaboration

Abstract

The article analyzes both the relationship between university libraries and science and technology parks (STPs) as well as the role of these libraries in the information management of incubated firms. This relationship with Spanish STPs is also compared to the relationship with parks around the world. Several stakeholders involved in two Spanish parks were interviewed, so a sample made up of both parks’ management, the three university libraries with which they are related to and 121 firms incubated in these parks. The results were compared to results taken from a survey on 107 parks members of the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation and 77 libraries related to those parks. The study revealed that the library-STP relationship underpin links between parks and universities. The IASP members who receive services from related university libraries show the value of library-STP collaboration. It is a first analytical approach to the library-STP relationship in the entrepreneurial university context. A series of actions to strengthen this relationship and better benefit incubated firms is also included.

A Systematic Literature Review of Partnership Development at the University–Industry–Government Nexus

“…Economies have become increasingly dependent on the exploitation of knowledge for continued economic growth [1,4] and the role of the university is widely debated [48][49][50][51]. Universities play a key role in furthering future economic development, due to their missions to educate, carry out research and engage [52,53]. It is the third mission (engagement) that gets the most attention in terms of how universities can most effectively use the knowledge they create to further economic development [54,55] and do so in a manner that is in the economic interest of society [56,57].…”

“…The structures put in place range from technology transfer offices [69], academic liaison officers [56] to act as an intermediary between the university and business, processes to facilitate access to library information for business [52] and the creation of incubators to help start-ups grow into functioning businesses [70]. The purpose of these mechanisms is to assist the transfer of knowledge from the researcher to the consumer via a business.…”

“…The value of geographical proximity is much debated [75]. This SLR showed strong informal connections between universities and business [52,[76][77][78] based on geography but with less evidence of formal connections that deliver innovation based on universitycreated knowledge [75,79]. One study found that 92% of the on-park research and technology output was through private industry [80], with others considering the role of private capital to innovation success [50], the role of university finance to spin-off success [81] or the role of management [82], or the network benefit [83].…”

“…Interorganizational learning [44,52] Experiential learning [56,127] Informed learning [124] Social learning [98] Audit-based learning [59] Absorptive capacity [43,77] The selected papers in this SLR were underpinned by 28 different theories (as detailed in Table 16). The theories supporting the research reveal three intersecting themes which were categorized as economic development, social theories and a thinner vein on theories of learning.…”