Partnering on Copyright

The Advocacy 'Know Your Rights' Toolkit is aimed at IR administrators and, indeed, all those who act as advocates of OA and self-archiving. It is made up of a number of components which, when assembled and adapted according to your specific circumstances, will help contribute to the effective preparation and implementation of an advocacy initiative.

Advocacy Toolkit Components

In order for the advocacy materials to be easily downloaded, edited and printed, they are to be made available in two formats where applicable:

• HTML; and
• Microsoft Word.

The components are:

Short Texts

A series of short texts has been created, based on the core messages of the two main stakeholder groups of academic authors and HEI management. These texts make up the guides which appear on this website. These guides are also available as Microsoft Word documents. Please click here for the guides in this format.

The guides can be downloaded and incorporated into such materials as flyers and posters, and may be used as they appear in the guides or adapted to suit your particular situation.

The choice and modification of texts will depend on such variables as:

• The stakeholder group being targeted;
• The level of experience/knowledge of stakeholders within the group;
• The particular HEI in which the advocacy initiative is taking place;
• The actual aims and objectives of the advocacy initiative; and
• Actual changes and developments in the OA arena, e.g. new OA policies, changes in OA technology. (It is important to note that these texts must be reviewed and up-dated as the OA and scholarly communication environment is a fast-moving one.)

Flexibility is key as this will allow the most appropriate texts to be chosen, thereby making the advocacy campaign more relevant to the stakeholder group and, therefore, more effective.

These texts may also be used to present to library staff who need to know about the OA concept and need to become familiar with HEI academics' and senior management’s perspectives, e.g., any particular concerns they may have and the benefits of self-archiving to that particular group.

Further information and background knowledge on the issues covered in the texts can be found on the links page. These articles and resources should be consulted and used by librarians/IR managers in addition to the texts. This is important as OA and self-archiving is in a transitional phase, and so any advocacy materials will need frequent reviewing and up-dating.

These short texts, as well as forming the basis of the guides, also form the basis of the visual materials found in this toolkit.

Visual materials

A consistent message is important as this will make it easier for stakeholders to recognise and understand the advocacy campaign and its aims and objectives. As part of this consistent branded approach visual materials for the 'Know Your Rights' advocacy campaign have been created using the same colour schemes, logos and pictures. Templates for PowerPoint presentation slides and leaflets are available, and can be modified using different short texts, logos and images. Here again flexibility is an important feature. These visual materials may be adapted so as to incorporate the particular HEI’s logo (as well as the logo of the ‘Partnering on Copyright’ project), and, indeed, the personal preference of that HEI, though its choice of images, etc. A range of logos, both still and animated, are also provided for use by HEIs.

Information Documentation

A series of information documents are available for librarians/ IR managers, which gives practical help and advice on how to approach and carry out an effective advocacy campaign. These are:

• A short guide to creating a communication plan

This document is a simple guide on how to create a communication plan for an advocacy initiative.

• An example communication plan

This document provides an example of a communication plan, which has been created, using the short guide, for the JISC-SURF 'Partnering on Copyright' programme 'Know Your Rights' advocacy campaign.

• Information on advocacy strategies

This document provides examples of practical ways in which to approach advocacy, including communication methods and materials which can be used as part of an initiative.

• How to identify ‘champions’

This describes the concept of ‘champions’, how to identify them, and how to use them in an advocacy initiative.

• Dealing with publishers

This document gives advice on how to deal with publishers with regards to copyright matters.

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