The role of parliamentary library and research resources in supporting parliamentarians to be well-informed: the case of Uganda

In many a developing world context like Uganda’s, evidence - literacy among legislators had been poor for many years. This had left both legislative debates and decision-making processes in Parliament to be driven more by personal opinion and political sentiments, rather than objective facts and empirical evidence. The introduction, however, of a pioneering and innovate Legislative Research and Library Services, one of the very first of such services on the African continent, has revolutionized legislative debates and decision- making. This paper, taking the case of Uganda, underscores the role of Parliamentary library and research resources in building well-informed legislatures. The evolution of library and research resources in Uganda’s Parliament as well as the innovations and outputs are discussed. Through innovative library and research resources, well informed Parliaments can be created.