Commons Librarian

Finding the Needle in the Haystack: Internet Research Tips

Quick tips and tools to improve your internet searching skills including using filters, truncation, phrase searching and hyphens.

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Campaign Wellbeing Bingo

A bingo sheet full of low barrier things folks can do to stay healthier and handle stress better when under pressure.

butterfly on flower at sunset with quote by Gandhi "Be the wish you wish to see in the world"

10 Great Resources on Activist Wellbeing

Are you an activist experiencing stress or burnout? These articles, videos and tips will help you stay healthy and well while working to change the world.

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New to Activism, Organising and Campaigning? Start Here!

A collection of resources by The Commons Social Change Library to help you learn all about activism, organising and campaigning.

What’s New

See what’s new in the Commons Social Change Library – making activism smarter and stronger.

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Perspectives on Ukrainian Civil Resistance

The following articles include opinion pieces on the current situation in Ukraine, the case for nonviolent civil resistance, information about the successful nonviolent Orange Revolution of 2014, and ways to keep up to date on the unfolding war.

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Volunteer with the Commons Library!

Are you passionate about social change? Help make activism smarter and stronger by volunteering with the Commons Social Change Library.

FWD + Organise 2021: Conference Resources

Conference Proceedings from the FWD + Organise Conference 2021 held by Australian Progress for community organisers and digital campaigners.

Digital Accessibility: Making Online Spaces Accessible

Tips, notes and presentation slides from a session at the FWD + Organise 2021 Conference about how to make online spaces more accessible.

a large group of people gathered together in a group posing for a photo. The front row is seated on the ground and others are standing behind.

Local Power: Shifting Power at the Local Level – Candidate School

Case study of organising at a local level, Victorian Trades Hall Council’s Candidate School, focused on changing who gets elected to local office.

Deep Canvassing to Shift Hearts, Mind and Votes

Learn about the success of a deep canvassing approach to rights for undocumented migrants and Medicare for All in Michigan.

Digital Transformation in Progressive Organisations

How do we convince our organisations to invest in tech and digital? How do we get new ideas up and running, and build a culture of innovation?

Fundraising: Start Here

Need some fundraising help? The Commons Library has collated a list of fundraising resources for not for profits and crowdfunders.

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Writing for The Commons Social Change Library

Do you have an idea, case study, how to or article you would like to write in relation to social change? We would love to hear from you!

Tips for Life in Lockdown

Tips for personal and collective wellbeing and resilience during Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Insights from a survey by Commons Librarians.

A crowd of protestors at marriage equality rally. There are colourful rainbow flags, banners and in the foreground three people are holding signs that say Vote Yes with a green tick.

Marriage Equality Campaign Timeline and Reflections

A timeline of events related to the Australian campaign for marriage equality along with reflection and analysis related to Australian, Irish and US campaigns.

Portrait of Marshall Ganz with a quote that says - Movements have narratives. They tell stories, because they are not just about rearranging economics and politics. They also rearrange meaning. And they're not just about redistributing the goods. They're about figuring out what is good. By Marshall Ganz

Marshall Ganz Quotes and Wisdom

Inspiring quotes from Marshall Ganz, an expert in leadership, organizing and narrative/story. He is a lecturer at Harvard University.

Picture of a women's face yelling and the word 'ENOUGH!' in red on a black background. Below the image text reads 'Did You March 4 Justice? Ideas for Your Next Steps from the Commons Library.

Did You March 4 Justice? Ideas for Your Next Steps

Ideas for next steps after the Women’s March 4 Justice – including action, skills development, videos, books and podcasts.

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Guide to publicly available data sources

Through research you can get to know your issues in depth, find out where people stand on those issues, and make a strong evidence-based case for change. Use these Australian publicly available data sources to strengthen and inform your research.

the covers of 2 publications - on left is Glossary of civil resistance with images of people protesting holding rainbow flag. On right is Sharp's dictionary of Power and Struggle with an illustration of a hand punching the air

What does that mean? Dictionaries and terminology for civil resistance

Are you looking for a dictionary, glossary and terminology related to civil resistance, activism and organising? Here is a list of resources.

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