Meet Genifer Snipes, the Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian with the UO Libraries. She plays an essential role in helping to connect students, faculty and researchers to valuable resources and ideas pertaining to all things business.

Genifer began her career by pursuing a bachelor’s degree in history and then earned two master’s degrees in library science and integrated marketing communications. During her studies, she discovered her love of research, teaching and libraries. She even worked in each of her universities' libraries all throughout her educational journey! Genifer notably made her mark at West Virginia University as their first business librarian.

The Business of Business

"Business doesn't just happen at the business school and it doesn't just happen in class hours,” she says.

Genifer mentions that even though she started out as a history major, she eventually discovered that business is a common thread throughout almost every discipline. For example, she says, “You don't actually get the Renaissance without the Venetian trading empires.”

Believing that business is “something that everybody should know something about,” Genifer is enthusiastic about discussing it with all types of students beyond just business majors. What she really loves about business is “that it applies to all disciplines.”

During her time working as the business librarian at West Virginia University, a strong aspect of the school’s mission was to increase business within the state through entrepreneurship. Because of this, Genifer ended up working with a lot of students in entrepreneurship programs and with faculty doing research that would eventually be commercialized. This exposure to the world of entrepreneurship made Genifer realize that she enjoys it just like she does general business.

A Day in the Life

A typical day for Genifer tends to vary. For example, she states, “Usually the first month of the term, I'm doing a lot more teaching, going into classes in the business school and talking about research assignments.” After that, her role shifts from teaching to having students come to her with questions. She also helps instructors develop classes and materials and faculty members develop training.

Another aspect of Genifer's role is curating and expanding the library collections. She gets feedback from instructors about what resources are working for them or if they would prefer to shift to different resources. When students come in looking for certain materials that the library does not hold, Genifer also works to help fill those gaps in the collections.

Aiding with Research

Business research can sometimes look very different than the research conducted in other disciplines. Genifer notes that a significant portion of the work undergraduates and MBA students produce focuses on applied research rather than academic discovery, meaning that the types of sources can be more varied than those used in scientific and behavioral research and tend to be less centralized.

“A lot of that type of research doesn't show up in traditional library materials. So, a lot of time is spent trying to figure out where to look, and this can be hard for the undergraduates who have less experience looking for the information.”

Many students may feel hesitant about contacting a librarian, but because of the unique and distinctive nature of business research, Genifer’s role as librarian is especially invaluable to business researchers.

What advice would she give to someone contemplating a research project?

“Start early. Good research takes more time than you think it does. And oftentimes, you end up having to rethink what you're even researching. The more time you can give yourself, the better and less stressful the process is going to be.”

Visit Genifer’s faculty profile page to schedule an appointment or contact her with any questions.

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