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Entrepreneurship

This guide supports UCI’s innovation and entrepreneurship community by connecting users to relevant resources used to conduct research.

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Databases for ideas and trends

  • Learn this search: Keyword search within report
  • Use IBISWorld’s Industry Wizard tool to create custom lists of industries using specific criteria, or select from pre-made “Quick Lists” such as, “Fastest Growing Industries,” “Export Stars,” and “Hot Start-Up Industries.
  • Use the content type filter to view trend reports exploring observations in consumer behavior for the year ahead - browse by sector, demographic, theme, and region.
  • Focuses on high-tech industries and includes trend-driven “report types,” such as: Mega Trends, Growth Insights, TechVision Analysis, and Emerging Technologies Research.

Google Alerts & Trends

Entrepreneurs are often interested in emerging industries and markets that may not be covered in library databases.

  • Try using Google Alerts to stay up-to-date on the latest trends in emerging areas. With Google Alerts, you can receive email notifications when your topic is mentioned in blogs, news, or web sources.
     
  • Or, try using Google Trends to see a visual display of interest in a particular topic from global to city-level geography. Add additional topics to generate comparison data.

Additional sources for ideation

News

  • Staying up-to-date on current events is a great way to learn about the latest products and trends.
  • Visit the News page to browse individual news publications or search news databases.

Academic articles

  • Searching the literature (e.g., articles, reports, white papers) can help you discover the latest research in a particular field.
  • Example: Search PubMed@UCI (a medical literature database) to learn about emerging treatments or advances in medical devices.
  • Visit the Articles, Journals, & Cases page for a list of databases containing academic articles.

Patents

  • Patents can be a source of ideas and inspiration for new products and devices.
  • Visit the Patent Searching page (under the Intellectual Property Research menu) to explore the patent landscape.

Standards

  • Standards can be used to re-engineer an existing product or device.
  • Visit the Standards and Specifications Guide to browse available standards for ideas.
  • For questions or help finding standards, please contact Julia Gelfand, Research Librarian for Applied Sciences & Engineering.