AGORA

In a changing information landscape, librarians and information professionals often have to act as advocates for what a library is and does. To help them get their message across clearly and convincingly, Research4Life presents its Advocacy Toolkit, a practical learning tool that helps librarians get the support from decision makers, administration or management in order to advance academic libraries and promote Research4Life and its five programmes: Hinari, AGORA, OARE, ARDI, and GOALI.

Download the Advocacy Toolkit on our Resources page

Advocacy needs can vary. While some librarians need to inform their patrons on how to use electronic resources, others might have to organize campaigns in order to obtain funding to make necessary investments. Many librarians and information professionals in the developing world do not have the means or tools to develop effective advocacy strategies within their institutions. The Research4Life Advocacy Toolkit can help them get the message across.

Through six practical steps, the toolkit helps librarians develop a successful and structured advocacy strategy by focusing on case studies and experiences from librarians in developing countries. The six steps are:

1. Identify your challenge
2. Set up specific goals
3. Analyze your audience
4. Map out your resources
5. Develop a strategic plan
6. Evaluate your results

The toolkit provides examples of successful efforts from Research4life users and hands-on material. This will facilitate the implementation of activities that can help obtain support to foster the usage of the Research4Life programmes.

Want to learn more about advocacy? Read Research4Life’s Information in Action booklet with inspiring stories of librarians from across the developing world.