Magisteruppsatser inkl abstract

*Nr 1 Akbar Golrang: Iranska invandrare och svenska bibliotek : en sociokulturell studie (Iranian immigrants and Swedish libraries : a sociocultural investigation)

This thesis is an investigation of Iranian immigrants and their use of libraries in Sweden. It is based on a combination of a qualitative and a quantitative method. Using a qualitative method, I give an outline of the history of Iran from ancient times up to the present, as well as the different ethnological groups in Iran and their cultures. The main objective of this part is to clarify the contrasts between Iranian and Swedish cultural, social, linguistic and family structures, and also the characteristics of the crisis that most immigrants go through on their arrival in the new country. The qualitative method also involves structured telephone interviews with eight highly educated Iranians. This method was supplemented by a quantitative study through questionnaires of the attitudes of Iranian immigrants to libraries and reading. Iranians in Sweden turned out to be frequent library users. When reading newspapers and journals, they prefer those that are easy to read, e.g. comics, fashion magazines and technological magazines. When reading books, they seem to be more fond of the fine arts and less interested in religious and geographical books than Swedish library users.

 

*Nr 2 Olof Sundin: Distriktssköterskors informationsanvändning – en studie av informationsanvändning i förhållande till arbetsuppgifters komplexitet (The information need and use of community health nurses – a study of the information need and use in relation to task complexity)

This study is an attempt to examine the information needs and use in everyday tasks in the work environment of community health nurses. The purpose of this paper is double to examine the information need and use of the community health nurses and to test and validate a method and a theory for the studying of information need and use in workers everyday tasks adapted from Byström and Järvelin (1995). Most of the data were collected through diaries kept by the informants in close relationship to the problem situations and were analysed qualitatively. Furthermore a literature survey was made in nursing informatics and information science and it showed that there is no absolute common ground between the disciplines in the way they use the information concept. The theory and method were validated in a broad outline and were very useful in the study of community health nurses' information needs and use. The study also shows that the context of community health nurses plays an important role in the nurses information behaviour.

 

*Nr 3 Matilda Böwes: Biblioteket i lärarutbildningen : intervjuer med 13 blivande samhällskunskapslärare (The library in teacher education : interviews with 13 future teachers of social studies)

A qualitative study of high school student teachers' ideas about libraries and school libraries.
Interviews have been conducted with future teachers about the library's role in their education, their views on library functions in high school and whether they as teachers will use the school library. The results show that the students have had some instruction concerning how to use the library as students, but very little as regards their future teaching. The professors of teacher education focus on the fact that the library should be used in high school teaching, not how to use it. Despite this, the student teachers look very positively upon libraries. Libraries play an important part in their education and they are all sure that they as teachers will use the school library, which includes interacting with the librarian. To them, the most important school library function is to allow pupils to seek information.

 

Nr 4 Åsa Falkerby, Pernilla Jantscher: Gratis i princip : Gratisprincipen och avgifter på svenska folkbibliotek: en enkätundersökning utförd på Norrköpings Stadsbibliotek och Eskilstuna Stads- och Länsbibliotek (Free of charge in principle: The free of charge principle and user fees at Swedish Public Libraries : a survey carried out at Norrköping City Library and Eskilstuna City- and Provincial Library)

The theme of this essay is the principle of free access to the Swedish Public Libraries, and its aim is to find out the opinion of adult visitors of such libraries as regards the introduction of fees on the borrowing of books, already existing fees such as reservation fees, charges for interlibrary loans and charges for the late return of books. The main part of our survey comprises questionnaires that were handed out to 100 visitors at the Norrköping City Library and 100 visitors at the Eskilstuna City and Provincial Library. In order to illustrate the fee problem from another angle, interviews with staff people from the two libraries were carried out. A large part of the essay consists of material aiming to give a general picture of the subject, e.g. how the "free of charge principle" is tied to the Swedish library system, what arguments have been presented to maintain or reverse this principle, and a comparison of the relative situation in other countries. As the conception of popular education is so basic for the "free of charge principle", we also account for the idea of popular education. The result of our questionnaire shows, among other things, that 60,9% cannot consider paying for any of the free services offer by the libraries today, 21,3% answered that they could possibly consider paying for some of the services and 17,8% answered that they didn't know. 76% would rather pay for a library card than stop borrowing books altogether.

 

Nr 5 Suzanne Hammargren, Christina Johansson: Lösenord till Framtidens bibliotek : en jämförelse mellan Ronneby och Sölvesborg folkbibliotek när det gäller IT-utveckling och bibliotekets roll i informationssamhället (Keyword for public libraries in the future : a comparison between two Swedish communities' information technology strategies)

Our aim with this study has been to show the central factors that we consider have had an impact on public libraries in the "information society". We have studied two communities in the south of Sweden, Ronneby and Sölvesborg. These two communities have both started a development to the IT society, a society where information plays a great role, where the technique is the tool that supplies information. Ronneby community had early the aim to be the chief Swedish information center. A priority on information technology has therefore been obvious for them. Sölvesborg community has had another method and time schedule towards the IT society. We have been studying the documentation of aim and the strategy for IT development in different levels. We have carried out interviews where we were dealing with questions about documentation of aim, competence and evaluation. An investigation has been carried out among librarians and politicians just to get an apprehension of their knowledge in the IT development. The persons who are responsible of the IT system in the libraries, have filled in a checklist in order to give us an apprehension how the IT equipment has been changing during the last years.

 

*Nr 6 Marianne Johansson: Hur hjälper vi barn och ungdomar med dyslexi/läs- och skrivsvårigheter? – En undersökning av insatser från skola och bibliotek (How do we help children and young people with dyslexia/reading and writing difficulties? – An examination of school and library efforts)

This paper examines how teachers and librarians are helping children and young people with dyslexia/reading and writing difficulties. The examination has taken place in a small municipality in Skaraborg County. Seven teachers in the municipal schools and the chief librarian in the municipal library have been interviewed as well as an advising county librarian. In the municipal schools the pupils have access to literature in easy language and computers with programs training reading, writing and spelling. In some schools there are textbooks on tape too. In the municipal library and in the county library disabled readers can loan literature on tape and literature in easy language. The conclusion of the examination is that children and young people with dyslexia/reading and writing difficulties need all sorts of aids in reading and writing. More cooperation between teachers and librarians would benefit these pupils.

 

Nr 7 Kajsa Jurgén: Utveckling av Intranet på Pharmacia & Upjohn, Helsingborg : Informationsspridning med hjälp av WWW teknologi (Designing and development of Intranet at Pharmacia & Upjohn, Helsingborg)

The purpose of this paper is to describe how the workgroup and I developed and constructed an Intranet at Pharmacia & Upjohn, Helsingborg. The Intranet was constructed by the help of WWW-technique. The intention was to increase and improve the distribution of information in the large company. Some of the employees were interviewed and asked what they could gain by using the Intranet for information distribution instead of the usual papers. They also got a chance to tell us what they thought about the whole idea with the Intranet. All of their comments and answers were put together and evaluated by the workgroup and I, before the prototype of the Intranet was shown to the employees at the company. There were many steps before we got that far and there were also a lot of technique involved. This Intranet was developed because of the need of fast informaton distribution and because the WWWð.ðechnique allows this kind of construction.

 

Nr 8 Karin Kraft: Vara och Kristinehamns folkbibliotek – en jämförelse av folkbiblioteken under år 1994 (A comparison of two Swedish public libraries – the public libraries in the rural community of Vara and the town of Kristinehamn during the year 1994)

The aim of this essay is to try to find the differences and similarities of two public libraries in the town of Kristinehamn and the rural community of Vara during the year 1994. Especially interesting was if the different political traditions of the two communities – left wing majority in Kristinehamn and right wing in Vara – have influenced the forming of the public libraries. The comparison contains accounts from the annual reports produced by the libraries between 1987 and 1994, a more thorough study of the activities and interviews with decision makers in 1994. The interview with the decision makers indicates that there is a distinct difference between the librarians and the rest of the informants, this distinction shows, that in a tight budget situation the librarians prefer not to cut down on staff while the other informants actually favour to make cuts on the procedures handled by the librarians. The general opinion though, is that they all agree that the role of the public libraries is to defend democratic rights. The final conclusion is that the material of this essay supports the opinion that the idea of public libraries is stronger than the political differences in Vara and Kristinehamn.

 

*Nr 9 Britt Omstedt: Skolbibliotek – vem bryr sig? En undersökning av 14 organisationers syn på skolbibliotek under 1995 (How did 14 Swedish organizations view the role of the school library media centre during 1995?)

In the Swedish school library discussion, the most prominent role of the school library has long been that of cultural centre in the school, with the main goal being to encourage children's reading. During the 90ies there were signs of a shift in focus to the role of information centre, giving active support across the whole range of the curriculum, in the independent researching work of the students. At the same time severe budget cuts caused great worries for the future. The interest for the school library media centres increased during this time, many different organizations said they wanted to fight for better school libraries. The purpose of the present work was to find out who they are, what they want and what their ideal school library looks like. Fourteen organizations were studied, focus was on activities during 1995. The methods used were; analysis of curriculum text linked to a model for describing library activities; interviews with representatives of the different organizations; text analysis of the journals of the organizations and a search in a reference data base. The main results were the following: The new national curriculum does not mention schoool libraries. Despite this, an interpretation, made by a librarian, shows many passages in the text pointing to a great need of a strong library function in the schools as they turn to the more resource based, problem solving learning emphasized by the curriculum. The results also show that, despite joint efforts to strengthen the school library media centres, a general agreement on the role of the library in the school has still not been reached. A comparision between the result of the interviews and the analysis of the official journals of the organizations showed a discrepancy in the view of the importance of the school library in implementing the new curnculum. The search in a reference data base showed that during 1995 school library issues were of real interest in the library press only, with very few articles in educational press or daily papers.

 

*Nr 10 Bodil Aronsson, Monica Eliasson: Det mångkulturella biblioteket – en studie av invandrares biblioteksvanor vid Biskopsgårdens bibliotek i Göteborg (The Multicultural Library – a Study of Library Use Among Immigrants at Biskopsgården Library in Gothenburg)

In this diploma work we present the results from a study of how adult immigrants utilise the services provided by the public library in Biskopsgården, Gothenburg. A survey encompassing 51 library visitors of foreign origin and an interview with two librarians at the library were performed. The results from the survey show that the majority of the informants were male students in ages from 26 to 45 years and that they had been living in Sweden for a maximum of five years. 73% of the informants used the library to borrow literature in Swedish, 53% to read newspapers and periodicals in their native language, 43% to borrow literature in their native language and 43% to read newspapers and periodicals in Swedish. These results were compared with two other related studies with which partial correspondence was found. In addition, related topics such as multicultural librarianship and the psychological aspects of immigration are discussed.

 

*Nr 11 Martina Karlsson, Sonja Moze Vidmar: Biblioteksförändring : Personal och besökares upplevelse av den förändrade biblioteksmiljön och medieuppställningen i Tranemo samt en jämförande undersökning av medieuppställningen bland besökare på biblioteken i Skara och Lerum (Library change : Staff and users' experience of the changed library environment and the arrangement of media in Tranemo and also a comparative inquiry concerning the arrangement of media among library users in Skara and Lerum)

When the Tranemo library moved to new localities in 1991 there were also some changes made to make the library more user-friendly. The purpose of this essay is to see how a user-oriented change can be done and how it has been perceived by members of the library staff and the library users. This is done by the following means: 1) interviews with members of the library staff, 2) a questionnaire to the users in Tranemo, 3) a comparative questionnaire to users of the libraries in Skara and Lerum. The comparison was concentrated on how the library presents its material. The result of this comparison shows that even though there is a difference among the three libraries, the difference is small and it is impossible to say for sure that it has anything to do with the changes that have been done. The interviews and questionnaire in Tranemo give a positive picture of that library.

 

*Nr 12 Håkan Näsman: Synt och sånt – Datorbaserat musikskapande på folkbibliotek, en studie i förutsättningar och praktik (Computer-based music-making at public libraries, a study in conditions and practice)

Recent papers and bills from the Swedish Government deal with the possibilities of giving all Swedish citizens the possibility of their own creative activities in the cultural sector. This work is about where such activities shall be placed in order to make them obtainable for all. As an example of creative work this work takes computer-based music-making. At the public library in Odense, Denmark there is a well functioning sound workshop where the public gets the opportunity of making music with some assistance from the staff. This work shows that also in Sweden the public libraries are the most suitable institutions for placing studies for computer-based music-making for the public depending on the public libraries' traditions in adult education. The conclusion of this investigation is that as soon as possible there should be established studies for computer-based music-making at the public libraries in Sweden.

 

*Nr 13 Fredrik Hammar: Nätverksbaserade informationssystem, standardprotokoll ANSI Z39.50/OSI SR (Network-based information systems : protocol standards ANSI Z39.50/OSI SR)

This master thesis examines the development of the two earlier independent IR protocols Z39.50 and SR (Search and Retrieve, ISO 10162/10163), now Z39.50/SR, from the beginning of the 80s to 1996 and their functionality in the client/server environment. Z39.50 applications in library systems will allow easy access to information regardless of platform or location. The use of Z39.50 will create a new user environment. Almost all the library systems of the market support the Z39.50 and surprisingly the use of it in Sweden lied on a very low level in 1996. This thesis was followed-up by an interview and a questioner among the Swedish Z39.50 users. They could see a huge potential of development concerning the future IR process. Z39.50 will change the libraries' traditional IR structure and the behaviour of the end-users.

 

*Nr 14 Pernilla Andersson, Mary-Ann Hansson: Vad tycker mamma att Kalle ska läsa?: vuxnas och barns attityder till barnlitteratur (What would mummy like Kalle to read?: adults and childrens attitudes towards children's literature)

The aim of this master thesis is to examine how much parents interfere with their children's choice of literature and if they have an influence on what their children read. It also includes the children's point of view as well as the librarian's. Twenty-one children answered a questionnaire, fourteen parents and one librarian were interviewed. An attempt was made to divide their answers into several sections and to compare the results with extensive source material. The result shows that the parents in our study, from a general point of view, are interested in what their children read, but they do not influence them into certain types of literature by purpose.

 

*Nr 15 Karin Marklund: Söka, sovra, läsa, lära – om ett gymnasiebibliotek som pedagogiskt hjälpmedel (Search, sift, read, learn – about an upper secondary school library as a pedagogical resource)

This is a thesis about an upper secondary school library and its role as a pedagogical resource. My purpose has been to find out about the views and experiences of the staff at the school library and twelve teachers at the upper secondary school concerning the school library as a pedagogical resource. Fourteen qualitative interviews have been accomplished, twelve with teachers and the rest with the staff of the school library. All the interviewees seem to think that their school library has an important function as a pedagogical resource and both the librarian and the teachers have given me some examples of occasions when the library has been used as a pedagogical resource. This school library is mostly used as a complement to other pedagogical resources but for some longer projects with an investigative character it could sometimes be used as the main source according to the answers in these fourteen interviews.

 

*Nr 16 Christina Bende: Bokstölder på bibliotek – en undersökning på Skövde stadsbibliotek (Book thefts in libraries – an investigation at Skövde Public Library)

Many libraries have installed electronic theft systems to protect from book theft. The aim of this study was to understand how an electronic theft system works in practical terms, what library users and librarians think about the system, and finally to find out how many books that were stolen in Skövde public library, when using an electronic theft system. I have calculated the costs for the electronic theft system and evaluated library users' and librarians' opinion and experiences of electronic theft systems. The electronic alarm system was tested practically in different ways. Inventories were performed at two occasions with six months interval in order to find out how many books, that disappeared in spite of the theft system. The conclusion is that the electronic theft system is a simple and inexpensive way to protect the collection but at the same time a possible threat to the personal integrity. Before installing an electronic theft system it is recommended to make a total inventory of the library collection.

 

*Nr 17 Veronica Wilsson: Gymnasiebiblioteket – i och för undervisningen: En intervjuundersökning med lärare i naturkunskap och samhällskunskap (The upper secondary school library – in and for the teaching: An interview study with teachers in natural and social science)

This thesis is about how teachers in natural and social science integrate the upper secondary school library in their teaching and how they use it for their teaching. Literature in connection with the study is described. Qualitative interviews have been done with four teachers from each subject and with an upper secondary school librarian. The study has shown that there are differences between the teachers in social and natural science. One group, consisting of mainly teachers in social science, survey the library collection. They give the pupils suggestions of useful material and sometimes they take out material for the pupils, with help from the librarian. The other group, teachers in natural science, uses library tools, cooperates and discusses with the librarian how the pupils should work when they use the library. These teachers see to it that their pupils get library skill instruction.

 

*Nr 18 Karin Byström, Jeanin Larsson: Etik på bibliotek : en kvalitativ studie av ett antal folkbibliotekariers yrkesetiska tankar och erfarenheter (Library ethics : a qualitative study of the ethical thoughts and experiences of a number of public libraries)

The theme of this thesis is the professional ethics of public librarians. Qualitative interviews have been conducted with fourteen public librarians, with the aim to investigate their thoughts and opinions concerning professional ethics and their experiences of ethical dilemmas in professional situations. The result shows that the majority of the librarians often discuss problems concerning what's right or wrong but that the discussions are conducted on the basis of practical situations and not in terms of professional ethics. The majority have vague ideas of how the term professional ethics should be applied on the work of public librarians, though all the interviewees consider the professional ethical discussion to be important. We examine the librarians opinions and experiences of ethical dilemmas concerning four subject areas: the principle of the librarian as a neutral and nonrestricting information intermediary, the principle of equal treatment of all the library visitors, difficulties concerning media selection and the problems based upon the librarians flexibility towards the internal rules of the library. The librarians experienced the behaviour towards the visitors as the greatest problem. Media selection is also concidered to be a problem area. Neither the role as a neutral intermediary nor the flexibility towards internal rules creates major ethical dilemmas for the interviewed librarians. The results of our study is put in relation to theories concerning the role of professional ethics in the development of a profession.

 

*Nr 19 Henrik Arvidsson, Joakim Westerlund: Organisationer i en föränderlig värld : 10 folkbibliotek konfronteras med informationssamhället (Organizations in a changeable world : 10 public libraries confronted with the information society)

This thesis is based on the assumption that the society in which we live is changing and that we are entering into the information society. This change will affect the public libraries in various ways and the libraries will have to be prepared to make adequate changes in their organizations. Based on the theories of Eric Rhenman and Richard Normann, dealing with how organizations act when changes in their environment occur, we have interviewed 10 public library leaders to find out how their respective libraries have acted in this situation. The results show that libraries have made some changes in their organizations to meet the environmental changes. Although not changing their old mission, all libraries have computerized and have had to raise the librarians educational level. However, only small changes have been made in their work towards the environment. Changes of this kind may become necessary in the future.

 

Nr 20 Catharina Rydberg: Vilken betydelse har bokomslaget när barn väljer böcker? (Of what importance is the cover of the book when children choose their books to read?)

The purpose of this essay is to see how important the cover of the book is for the child, when it makes its choice of which book to read. I will also try to explain the process of seeing and perception, which includes interpretation of what you are seeing and, further on, gestalt psychology. Through gestalt psychology you can interpret what is showing in a picture, and your way of interpretation depends on earlier experiences in seeing pictures. What is also important in the interpretation is the social role in which every person act, and this role is different for every person. The way you interpret is the same, man as well as woman, but what solution you choose to believe in variates from person to person. A questionnaire was given to 107 children at the age between 9-12 years. They were asked about their reading-habits and were shown 16 covers from books for children at their age. They were asked to pick out the two covers they liked best and write down why they had chosen them. The result shows, that the cover of the book is not that important to the child, instead it is the text of the back of the book that is the most important thing when the child choses its book.

 

*Nr 21 Christine Weingart: Varför lyrik? : Tjugo intervjuer med lyrikläsare i Borås (Why poetry? : Twenty interviews with Swedish poetry-readers)

This investigation is based on interviews (semi-structured and tape-recorded) with 20 Swedish poetry-readers, who were found at the poetry-shelf at the local library. Data are presented concerning various aspects of their poetry-reading habits; when, where and how do they read poetry, what do they read, and, above all, why do they read it? Their own writing of poetry, their reading in general, and their habits in visiting the library, as well as their opinion of it, are also investigated to some extent. By comparing the results with literature on poetry-reading and -writing, the thesis arrives at the conclusion that the interviewed poetry-readers are oriented towards being, in the Frommian sense of the word, or, differently put, towards an authentic existence, as it is described by Heidegger.

 

*Nr 22 Mariann Saxin, Catrine Starkenberg: Åsikter och önskemål om biblioteksservice – en användarundersökning utförd vid Stenungsunds folkbibliotek (Views and wishes about library service – a user study at the public library of Stenungsund)

Our purpose with this study is to examine how the visitors at the public library of Stenungsund find the library service, if they are pleased with it and what they expect from the library in the future. Why they visit the library and what they actually do there? We also wanted to find out if the visitors would be interested in getting more computers and information technology into the library. Since the library has the highest rates of library loans in Sweden we are interested in, if this has anything to do with the library location which is close to the shopping centre of the town. We used questionnaires in our study and received 560 answers out of 580 handed out to the visitors. It is our conclusion that the visitors are more than pleased with the library service, and also that the location of the library is of importance to how frequent the library is being visited.

 

Nr 23 Gunvor Alnervik: Bryggan : ett samverkansprojekt mellan folkbibliotek och föreningar i Västervik (Bryggan : a project of co-operation between the public library and associations in Västervik)

This thesis is a qualitative study of "Bryggan" ("The Bridge"), a three-year co-operation project between the public library and different associations in Västervik. The aim of the project was to find new forms for co-operation, which could help both parts in their marketing. "Bryggan" is characterized as an action-related research project, where experiences from the work have been evaluated regularly and have been incorporated to the following process. A study of literature, dealing with adult education activities, developing activities, library extension and democracy, gives the theoretical basis both to the project and to the thesis. The case study describes the different kinds of co-operation during the three years, both with the associations and with other groups and institutions involved. A qualitative interview study was made with five library employees and five association members. After having participated in the "Bryggan" project and analysed the interviews, I assert that it is possible to change and develop the activities of the public library through a purposeful collaboration with different associations.

 

*Nr 24 Lena Lundgren: Biblioteken och barns kunskapande. En undersökning av referensarbetet på två barn- och ungdomsavdelningar (Public libraries and children's search for knowledge. A study of the reference service in two children's libraries)

A study of the reference service to children in the children's department of a large public library and in an integrated public and school library. A Danish investigation by Birgit Wanting has been used as a model for the study. Children's questions have been collected by the staff of the libraries and subjects, expressions and behaviour have been analyzed. The answers and the respons from the librarians are discussed. The results show that there are great differences between school-questions and children's own questions. The school-questions are connected to the curnculum and the library must cooperate with the schools. Children's own questions concern all sorts of subjects and all sorts of material are needed. The children express themselves according to their development and the questions are often vague and undecided. The children's librarians devote a lot of work and time to find out what the children really are asking for. The investigated libraries play a very important role for children's own search for knowledge.

 

Nr 25 Britt Forssmed: IT-satsningar i Tranås (Priorities of IT in Tranås)

This thesis investigates the implementation of information technology (IT) in Tranås. First there is a short background of the development and area of the use of information technology. Some of the questions in this paper are how different actors invest in information technology, what plans they have for the future and how they handle the question of education about information technology. Something Tranås perhaps need some more of, to be received in the way of success, is more information and education about information technology just as well as incorporate it in the education. The most obvious observation to be made is perhaps that Tranås city community is one of the most active actors when it comes to make priorities in favour for information technology and also to give encouragement to the enterprises in Tranås.

 

*Nr 26 Ann-Cathrin Andersson, Eva-Lena Pettersson: Debutanten – morgondagens författare?: En undersökning om debutanter och folkbibliotekens inköp av deras böcker (The debutant – the author of tomorrow?: An examination about debutants and the public libraries' acquisition of their books)

The main purpose of this study was to examine how a selection of 1993 year's first books had been spread to a selection of public libraries in 161 municipals. The state's cultural policy recommends that it is the public libraries' duty to lead the way to new, unknown authors. We wanted to find out if this was fulfilled. The spreading of the books was scrutinized from a number of variables, e.g. gender of the authors, reviews and size of the municipals. Furthermore, 28 public libraries answered an inquiry regarding their acquisition policy concerning first books. The conclusion was that the libraries did not fulfil the state's cultural policy satisfyingly, and this applied particularly to the smaller municipals. 70 % of the public libraries that answered the inquiry confirmed that they have a responsibility for making these books accessible to borrowers. One of the reasons why the libraries did not fulfil the policy was economic. In this situation the libraries often choose those books which are most requested by the borrowers.

 

*Nr 27 Charlotte Håkansson, Kerstin Malmgren: I den litauiske skoputsarens fotspår : En användarundersökning om informationsbehov och informationsvanor bland forskare vid Lunds universitet (Following in the Lithuanian shoe-shine boy's footsteps : A study of information requirements and information habits of researchers at Lund University)

This paper discusses the user requirements and user habits of researchers at the faculties of Arts, Theology and Social Science at Lund University. The first step was to make an account of studies dealing with information science and library science which are to analyse the results which are in accordance with a newer change in paradigm. Using this material, the next step was to analyse the results compiled on the information process and the concept of knowledge. The conclusion are as follows: Researchers place great importance on personal research contacts, and informal sources play an important role in both formal and informal contacts. The use of Internet is quite restricted, the communication possibilities predominating. Researchers are unaware of the competence of library and its resources. This being so, the essence of matter is thereby to clarify and develop a deep-seated relationship between the user and the intermediary in the cognitive information process. There is no sense of antagonism between the social library and the virtual library, but instead a need for both the nearby social library and the endless global library.

 

*Nr 28 Linda Köling, Karin Lekberg: Landstingspolitikers informationshantering: en kvalitativ studie av tio förtroendevalda landstingspolitikers informationshantering i Älvsborgs län (County councillors' information management: a qualitative study in information management amongst ten elected representative county councillors' in Älvsborgs län)

The purpose of this study was to identify differences and similarities in information management amongst a group of elected representative county councillors' in Älvsborgs län. Ten qualitative semi-structured, in-depth interviews have been carried out with the chairmen and vice chairmen of five public health and medical service committees. They were asked about their environment, assignment, work roles, positions within the county council, and their performance level. Individual needs and characteristics have been observed. The study shows that there are more similarities than differences regarding the county councillors' management of information. They all have needs at three different levels; as private individuals, as individuals practising a profession, and as politicians. These levels both conflict and agree with each other. The study also shows that formalized/non-formalized oral sources play a dominant role in information management, which satisfy both cognitive and affective needs. Despite experience and practise of extracting the most relevant information from lengthy texts, the majority of them express a desire to have someone to help them select and systemize information. Increased computerization is also a requirement amongst the county councillors.

 

Nr 29 Sofia Recksén: Sandemose – inte Sandemo: en översikt av populärlitteratur och folkbibliotekens policy (Sandemose – not Sandemo: a survey of popular literature and the policy of public libraries)

This essay deals with the cultural demands on the fiction available at public libraries, i. e. the problem with deciding the demands of quality of fiction. How come that the users can find novels by authors like Colleen McCullough and Belva Plain, but very seldom the works by Jackie Collins and Margit Sandemo? The valuations seem to differ from one library to another, even though some books, like the works by authors mentioned above, never will be bought by libraries. During the period of 1991-1994 a project called the GÖK-project (GÖK is short for Gothenburg, Örnsköldsvik, Kalmar, the cities who participated in the project) took place, in order to meet the users' demands on the public libraries. The reason to this was the sinking number of loans since the middle of the 1980's. The project was appreciated by most of the users, but at the same time criticised by other persons, active in the Swedish cultural life. These persons feared that the project would deteriorate the literary standard at the public librairies. The popular literature has through the ages been accused of being conservative, racistic and destructive, especially for young readers. Since a long time ago this kind of literature also has been considered as bad for women. This point of view as regards what is good or bad literature has earlier been predominate at public librairies and not until the last decades this attitude has changed.

 

*Nr 30 Elisabeth Axelsson: Referensverksamheten och referensbeståndens användning på två folkbibliotek – Linköping och Norrköping (The reference service and the use of reference materials at two public libraries – Linköping and Norrköping)

In 1995 a survey was made at six public libraries in the county of Östergötland in order to examine the reference service and the use of reference collections. In this paper the methods of the survey are described and the results from two libraries in Norrköping and Linköping are being analysed. In the survey several methods were used. During a fortnight observations were made of the use of reference books by the visitors in the reference section. The books were listed. The librarians work at the information desk were also observed at the same time and the librarians wrote all their transactions down as well as their use of reference tools. Two questionnaires were distributed, one to the visitors at the reference section, one to the visitors at the information desk. The results in short: The collections of reference books were extensive, old and not so well used. The visitors used these collections more than the librarians (6-7% versus 1-2%). The location of the reference books means much to the use. The users of reference books are mostly students. There are many questions asked by the visitors and often queus are formed at the information desk . Most questions are simple to solve and depending on diffculties of the visitors to find the books on the right shelves. Both libraries have small assets and shortages in the collections make requested books and subjects hard to find for the visitors. At the information desk there are a lot of other transactions than reference questions like selling, reservations, Pc-help and so on. The librarians used the library catalogue in nearly half of the questions but that was the only reference tool which was used more than marginal. The visitors at the reference desk were mostly students but there were no big differences between students frequency and the general public. Finally the survey shows that the quality of the reference service can and must be improved. There are needs for organisational changes as well as further education of the staff. The libraries in the survey need to focus on the customer's quality more to improve their reference service.

 

*Nr 31 Stefan Lingmert: Informationsteknik på Nationalbiblioteket och Universitetsbiblioteket i Namibia (Information technology at the National library and University library in Namibia)

This thesis aims to investigate the elements in the implementation of information technology at the National library of Namibia and the library at the University of Namibia. It examines different components that have an impact on the two libraries use of information technology. It deals with the personel, support from the government and foreign aid donours, the users, co-operation with other institutions, the situation for libraries in Africa and the development of information technology in the African and Namibian society. The paper also illustrates the present situation at the two libraries, with their different experiences of the computer equipment, internal databases, on-line connections, CD-ROM and plans for the future. Prospects for the successful use of information technology at the libraries are also discussed.

 

*Nr 32 Jonas Kanold: Lånecentralernas funktioner inom fjärrlånesamarbetet – i dag och i morgon (The functions of the Swedish interurban lending centres within the interlibrary loan system – today and tomorrow

The aim of this essay is to investigate and describe some of the important factors which should be taken into consideration when a Swedish interlibrary loan system for the future is discussed. The Swedish interurban lending centres and their tasks are discussed in this context. The method used for this purpose is qualitative. The representatives of the three interurban lending centres are interviewed. One of the conclusions reached in this essay, is that there are several possible ways to go when creating an interlibrary loan system for the future needs. In the end of this essay, a number of schematic models for this purpose are introduced. Their advantages as well as their disadvantages are discussed in this context.

 

Nr 33 Angela Zetterlund: Utvärdering av offentlig verksamhet: begrepp, kontext, motiv, strategier, användningen och aktörerna (Evaluation of public activitities: concepts, context, motives, strategies, use and actors

Based on a review of literature on evalution of public activities and in purpose to introduce a more general framework, this study describes a picture of the concept, context, motives, strategies, use and actors in Evaluation as these are experienced outside the field of library and information.The background is the increased need for evaluations in public libaries and a need for new LIS knowledge about it. The reviewed literature has its origin in different disciplinary contexts and the study include contributions from policy studies, sociologi, education research, business administration, philosophy and anthropology. The focus, though, is not placed upon differences in the literature but on similarities. The review is organised in six parts. In the first part a presentation is given of how evaluations are conceptualized and its meaning in a historical perspective. In the second the focus is upon the context of public descision making, implementation and public programming. Different purpuses of evaluation is discussed in the third part followed by a description of strategies and models in the fourth. Issues of evaluation use is discussed in part five and finally is a presentation of those actors of particular importance in evaluations given in part six. In the reviewed literature the author finds some general patterns, who are assembled and described in a comprehensive discussion. In the conlusion some claimes are made about the nature of evaluation. One claim is that evaluations are of great complexity and given several functions. This complexity is explained by the fact that evaluative activities are of increased concern and importence for numeorous actors and their relevance for many fields of practice. Future research is suggested to focus on the role of evaluation in the perspective of political- and adminstrative governance, program change and development, scientific knowledge and in the perspective of negotiations and communication in social and political conflicts.

 

*Nr 34 Karin Eriksson, Monica Strömberg: Journalisters användning av elektroniska informationskällor : en användarundersökning vid Svenska Dagbladet (Journalists' usage of electronic information sources : a user study at Svenska Dagbladet

The aim of this thesis has been to examine and delineate the use of electronic information sources among the newsroom staff members at the Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (SvD). The aim has also been to make comparisons between this examination and a similar one performed at the British newspaper the Guardian in 1991/1992. The examination at Svenska Dagbladet was carried out in the autumn of 1996. A questionnaire was distributed to 273 of the staff members at SvD and 229 forms were returned. A minor number of interviews were also carried out. The survey's major findings are that SvD's staff members are generally high-volume users of the electronic newspaper archive. Less than a half of the staff use external databases at least once a month. The most favoured group of external databases are the one's of the Swedish vendor Affärsdata. Almost all users have received training on SvD's electronic text archive, but only a minority on external databases. The survey shows that the SvD journalists are interested in database use but they are at the same time limited in the mastery of the search process. The journalists principally conduct subject searches and they use databases in order to find out what has previously been written on a subject and to look for background information. The results of this survey and the one carried out at the Guardian generally correspond. Furthermore, a majority of the staff members use Internet to receive information.

 

*Nr 35 Katrin Glimstedt: Att samordna, navigera och instruera : en undersökning om bibliotekariers uppfattning om sitt yrke och om sin uppgift gentemot forskare, gjord vid Ekonomiska biblioteket i Göteborg (To coordinate, navigate and instruct)

This essay is about librarians employed at a Swedish research library and how they conceive their profession in relation to the services reqired by faculty staff. It argues that the ongoing computerisation creates new dimensions and challenges to retrieval of information, which of course affects the librarian's task. These changes of the task environment are not, however, not without problems. Computerisation, and particularly the vast access to databases through rapid spread of the Internet, creates a grey area and an uncertainty about the boundaries of the librarian's job, their skills and job content. While the librarians see a potential professionalisation process in connection with the computerisation process, researchers and students are, yet, uncertain about the librarians skills and services. Most conspicuously lacking on part of the libriarians was the effort to develop some kind of didactic approach to their job, which in turn reflects the lack of didactic training.

 

*Nr 36 Inga Hammarlund: Teologi på bibliotek : en undersökning av beståndet på Vetlanda bibliotek (Theology in libraries : an investigation of the collection in the library of Vetlanda)

The aim of this paper is to make an evaluation of the religion collection in the public library in Vetlanda, a small town in the middle of southern Sweden. The department contains about 900 volumes. The questions posed were among others : "Is there a connection between the library's goals and the religion collection?" "What are the user's opinions on the collection?" "How old are the books?" "Are they frequently borrowed?" "What selection method do the personnel use when they buy literature in general and theological literature especially?" Comparisons has also been made with the department of philosophy and psychology. For being situated in a relatively small library in a small town the religion collection can be described as rather good. It contains literature in many different subject areas and fulfills the goals who has been set up for the whole library. But there are reasons to be a little critical about the actuality. The greatest part of the collection has been bought during the 80's or earlier, and that could also explain why the circulation of the books are rather low; in average 0,82. But on the other hand; the users interviewed are in general satisfied with the collection, and there are also many departments which has a lower circulation.

 

*Nr 37 Eva Alopaeus: Uppfattningar om kvalitet på medicinska bibliotek (Perceptions of quality in medical libraries)

This paper presents the background, aim and results of a small empirical study conducted in the setting of a medical hospital library. The background is found both in the quality ambitions of the medical professions and organizations and in the effort of medical libraries to show their importance to the total quality of medical decision making. As a first step in the library's quality process, the aim has been to identify quality performance indicators of value to library users in their contact with a medical hospital library. The second step – to identify satisfaction levels – is not included in this work. Another aim has been to compare the quality categories in this small study with the generally accepted quality categories that emerged in the comprehensive studies of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry in which customers express their expectations and perceptions of services. This study is based on a small number of interviews with representatives from different user groups within a hospital. The analysis is inspired by phenomenography which build on perceptions of phenomena – in this case the phenomenon "quality ". In the material from the interviews five quality categories were identified. Compared to generally accepted quality categories from the service sector none of these five categories were unique. Important conclusions were that despite the homogeneity of the user group, expectations and needs are different and vary from time to time. Consequently flexibility and individual treatment of library users are crucial if the library is to meet user expectations. But the material also shows that despite access to modern technology users have very traditional perceptions of the library seeing the library as a room. If libraries were to let only user expectations initiate changes, it would lead to stagnation. It is not realistic to rely only on the knowledge or interest of the users.

 

*Nr 38 Gunilla Yström: IT och multimedia på bibliotek – några bibliotekariers erfarenheter av IT och deras inställning till multimedia (IT and Multimedia in the Public Library – some Librarians' Experiences with IT and Their Attitudes towards Multimedia)

This thesis is based on a qualitative study of some librarians' experiences with the development of using information technology (IT) in their libraries. It also seeks to answer which their motives for introducing multimedia in the public library of their municipalities were. The study has concerned three public libraries and they all had in common an early start with the introduction of IT. The result of the study shows that the librarians did not receive enough technical support from the Computer Service Centers of their municipalities. Also, the work for the librarians working at the reference desks was experienced as more stressful since technical problems with the computer equipment started occurring. Furthermore, the librarians were missing general support and encouragement both from the local politicians and from the county library officials. Some examples of motives for introducing multimedia were; the hope of improving quality in information services, offering multimedia was considered a democratic right of the citizens to have access to information and using multimedia was also seen as a way of educating the library visitors handling computers and information-retrieval systems.

 

*Nr 39 Josefin Högstedt, Kristina Johansson: Vem är till för vem? En analys och utvärdering av högskolebiblioteket i Växjö (Who exists for whom? An analysis and evaluation of Växjö University Library)

This essay is about Växjö University Library. It consists of two different parts, an organization analysis of the library before and after the reorganization and an evaluation of it from a user perspective. The organisation analysis was carrried out through an interview with the manager of the library and through study of original documents. The evaluation was carried out through a survey among 418 students. We found that the library primarily is an organic organization that exists in a dynamic environment. The reorganization resulted in major improvements for the users, both concerning localities and service. The students taking part in our survey were mostly positive in their opinions about the library though they also had several complaints. According to the students the organization only partially fulfills its goals and the goals do not completely correspond to the students demands of the library.

 

*Nr 40 Maria Blåns: Varannan damernas? – en undersökning av jämställdheten i folkbibliotekens litteraturförsörjning för ungdomar (Every other for the ladies? – a study on equality in public library supply of literature for young people)

The purpose of the thesis is to investigate whether young girls are able to find literature that confirms their identity in the public libraries. The main focus of the study is put on the gender of the leading parts in novels for young people. Interviews with librarians have been executed, as well as with the head of the institute of children's books. Studies of the debate that has been taken place in media in recent years are being presented, as are studies of brochures with book recommendations edited by Bibliotekstjänst. The results show that boys are represented to a far larger extent than are girls as to leading parts. Women write considerably more often about boys than men write about girls. There are also differences between men's and women's way of writing, in topics as well as in style.

 

*Nr 41 Karin Andolf -Johannesson: Vart tog slukarbarnen vägen? : 9-12-åringars biblioteks-, läs- och fritidsvanor i en mindre västsvensk kommun (Where have the book devouring children gone? : 9-12- year-olds' library-, reading- and spare time habits in a minor community in the west of Sweden)

The aim of this study was to investigate the fictional reading habits and the spare time interests among a group of 9-12-year-olds. Based on the results from questionnaires, interviews and by compiling summaries of literature relevant to this study, I wanted to compare earlier research with my own results and also reflect on notions made by librarians and teachers concerning the children's reading and use of the library. The study shows great differences on most domains between gender. All children regularly visit the library with their teachers. These visits seem to satisfy most boys' need of fiction. During spare time they rather sport, play computer games or watch video films. But if the girls are not sporting or associating with friends they gladly read books during spare time, especially the kind of books the library doesn't stock, i.e. long-run serial books. According to this study book devouring children can be found among 15,7% of the respondents. Both librarians and teachers aspired to more collaboration in form of "book talks" and book circles in hopes of visualizing the alternative books offered by the library and making the children want to go there during their spare time.

 

Nr 42 Birgitta Andréasson, Emma Karin Berdenius: Biblioteket på Bok & Biblioteksmässan i Göteborg : en kartläggning av utställare med biblioteksanknytning mellan åren 1985-1996 (The Library at the Book & Library Exhibition in Gothenburg : a Survey of Library-Related Exhibitors in the Period 1985-1996)

The aim of this paper is to investigate the changing role of libraries at the annual Book & Library Exhibition (Bok & Biblioteksmässan) in Gothenburg and to describe the development from 1985 up to and including 1996 on the basis of a study of the catalogues and conference programmes published in connection with the exhibitions during the 12 years discussed. Answers are being sought to the following questions:

• How large, in relation to the total number of participants, is the portion of exhibitors that may be regarded as library-related?
• To what extent have library-related exhibitors renewed their participation in subsequent years?
• In what way has the physical location of library-related stalls and display booths in the exhibition area changed over the years?
• To what extent have subjects focusing on libraries and library activities figured in the conference programmes?

The results of our investigation indicate that the participation of library-related exhibitors and the proportion of conferences focusing on libraries are not keeping pace with the general development and growth of the Book & Library Exhibition in Gothenburg.

*Nr 43 Annika Hector, Maria Nygårds: Bibliotekets roll i företagets informationshantering : Undersökningar av några företagsbibliotek i Japan och Sverige och en jämförelse dem emellan (The role of the library in the company's Information Resources Management : Investigations of a few corporate libraries in Japan and Sweden and a comparison between them)

The aim of this master's thesis is to investigate the role of the corporate libraries at AB Volvo (Göteborg, Sweden), Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Kawasaki, Japan), and Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan), respectively. On the basis of the concept of Information Resources Management (IRM), we will focus on three issues: is the library an important factor for the company's information provision?; is the library an important contributor to the company's environmental scanning?; and how important is the corporate library for the company's competitiveness? In order to get a varied picture of these issues we have conducted interviews with librarians, managers and users at each of the companies. We have also done extensive studies of relevant material. Based on the findings of the investigations, we try to assess whether the corporate library can be seen as an important factor in the Information Resources Management (IRM) within the company. Furthermore, a comparison between the corporate libraries of the two Mitsubishi companies and of AB Volvo is made.

 

*Nr 44 Maja Fredriksson, Ingela Olsson: Marknadsorientering – ett hjälpmedel för folkbibliotek att utvecklas i ett föränderligt samhälle (Market orientation – a tool for public libraries to develop in a changing society

Our purpose with the study is to investigate what market orientation is, and how it affects the organization and activities in public libraries. Our study has been carried out by making qualitative interviews with four people in the staff at Norrköpings stadsbibliotek, and studying a report from Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL). These two cases are distinct examples of market oriented public libraries. It is our conclusion that market orientation makes it easier for public libraries to choose a role and set goals, which helps the library to make suitable priorities and satisfy its customers' demands. To accomplish market orientation in a library the organization needs to have shared values, good systems of communication and a firm supervision. The cases in our study represent two different ways to handle market orientation. While BCPL has chosen to segment its market and serve different target groups, Norrköpings stadsbibliotek has decided to consider all citizens as one target group to serve.

 

Nr 45 Marli Pettersson, Agneta Ranegie: Invandrarservice på folkbibliotek: en jämförelse mellan tre folkbiblioteks service till tre språkgrupper (Immigrant service in public libraries: a comparison between three public libraries and their service to three language groups)

The purpose of this essay was to compare the immigrant service at three public libraries situated in Halmstad, Trollhättan and Angered. We were interested in whether there were any similarities or differences among the three libraries concerning this service. We wanted to find out how the librarians at the different libraries feel about their work with immigrants. Another aim was to examine how a few representatives from three different language groups find the library service. We have made a qualitative study where in-depth interviews have been carried out with librarians and immigrants at each separate place. The results show that the librarians on the whole find this part of their work interesting, but they also feel there is more to be done in this field. They expressed what they felt were barriers that prevented them from fulfilling their work; i.e. lack of money, time and sometimes, access to adequate media. The representatives from the different language groups were generally satisfied with the service they received at the library. They wished however, that the library collection would offer a wider choice and more current literature in their own language.

 

Nr 46 Susanna Gillberg Wallner, Eva Hessman: Referensarbetets kvalitet – tolkning och verklighet (The quality of reference work – interpretation and reality)

The essay deals with the question of the quality of reference services in public libraries in the Nordic countries and Sweden in particular. During the last 10-15 years, unobtrusive quality tests have been carried out in Denmark 1984, in Norway 1993 and in Sweden 1995. From the results of these tests the conclusion has been made that the quality of reference work is unsatisfying. The tests have all focused on ready-reference questions. This essay looks deeper into how these tests have been carried out and also refers to theories concerning reference work and quality. By comparing this with the reference work as it is performed at a public library, the validity of the unobtrusive tests can be questioned. Their focus is too narrow for the results to be accepted as an estimation of the quality of the reference work as a whole.

 

*Nr 47 Sten Helgesson: Bibliotekarien – läsvanor och yrkesroll : en intervjuundersökning på Örebro Stadsbibliotek (The Librarian – Reading Habits and Professional Role : Thesis Based on Interviews in the Public Library of Örebro)

This thesis is about a couple of librarians' reading habits and their conception of their professional role. Six high-quality interviews have been made with librarians in the public library of Örebro. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and illustrate these librarians' reading habits and their views of their professional roles. Questions have been asked, for instance about why they read, if their profession affects their reading and if their profession has changed in some way. The conclusions are that they read because it is stimulating, instructive and is a part of their profession; everybody thinks that the profession affects their reading, mostly because literature is so easily accessible for them and everybody thinks that the profession has changed in different ways, for example it has become more a matter of seeking information and there are more people who use the library now.

 

*Nr 48 Maria Nylander: Det elektroniska biblioteket: en undersökning av definitioner och förändring (The electronic library: a study of definition and change)

This thesis is an analysis of contemporary research literature dealing with the electronic library. The purpose is to highlight the debate in library literature, to discuss some of the changes the electronic library seems to imply and to analyse definitions of the electronic library. Three predominate areas of change are discussed from the perspective of the traditional library: the transition from books to electronic documents, from collection to access and from the library as a place to the library without walls. These changes are identified as effecting the core of the present library's activities. Six definitions of the electronic library are identified and analysed. Certain care is taken to discuss how access and control are challenged in each definition. The difference between each definition is how the library collection is controlled and how its boundaries are defined. Preservation, control and a well-defined collection mark a continuity from the traditional library.

 

*Nr 49 Maria Nilsson: Skivor på folkbibliotek : en studie kring motivering, målsättning och urval (Records in public libraries : a study concerning purpose, goals and selection)

This paper deals with phonogram activities in public libraries in Sweden. My aim has been to locate the general purpose of the activities and the goals that influence the phonogram selection. The main part of this paper is based on literature studies. A smaller part is based on interviews with staff working with phonograms in three specific libraries, and studies of their written guidelines. My conclusions are that the main reason for the phonogram activities has been to give people access to a qualitative selection of phonograms, partly as a compensation for the poor selection in record stores, and partly as a counterbalance to the commercial selection. But phonograms have also been a part of the library expansion and have been used to attract people. My studies of the specific libraries showed that the choice of phonograms was based on verbal guidelines and that general written guidelines had little effect.

 

Nr 50 Lotta Fhinlöf: Marknadsföring av kulturverksamheten: bibliotek och museer (Marketing in cultural organisations: Libraries and Museums)

My aim with this master's thesis is to study how organisations in the cultural sector market their offers. The thesis is based on literature studies and empirical studies. The literature study involves marketing theories and also how the situation for public libraries and other cultural organisations is in relation to the cultural politics in Sweden. The empirical study is made at one library, The public library of Malmö and at three museums; the Museum of National Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of East-Indian Art. This thesis also gives examples how cultural organisations with effectfull marketing easier can reach their organisations' goals and visions. Unfortunately, the marketing activities are still a financial problem. This thesis also concerns how IT and direct marketing can be useful in this area, and how to market in the future. Finally I make an idea to a theory of how to market in this area.

 

*Nr 51 Stina Tuneld: Två sidor av en sammanslagning – Politiker och tjänstemän angående sammanslagningar av kulturnämnder och fritidsnämnder (Two aspects of a fusion – Politicians' and officials' views regarding fusions of arts committees and recreation committees)

The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether there are any similarities or differences between the opinions of politicians and officials concerning the fusions of arts committees and recreation committees. Do they regard the fusions in a similar way? If not, it would be interesting to see how and why their opinions differ. I base this thesis on another essay, based on inquiries of officials in 118 counties in Sweden. The method used is quantitative. I have sent inquiries to politicians in the same 118 counties. The conclusion is that they do have different opinions. One can see that politicians and officials legitimate their own roles and decisions. The politicians, for example, are mostly satisfied at their own decisions and actions they have carried out. Correspondingly, the officials too are satisfied with actions they have accomplished themselves.

 

*Nr 52 Daisy Flemister, Birgitta Kjöllerström Käck: Norra Fäladen – ett mångkulturellt samhälle i praktiken (Norra Fäladen – a multicultural society in reality)

This paper is a minor case study of the political and administrative structure of the multicultural Kommundelsnämnd Norr (KDN), an autonomous area within the municipality of Lund, with regards to its organizational efforts to aptly deal with its large number of second- and third generation immigrant youths. The school and local library's function in this organization are given a special focus. The results are based on observations, interviews and a questionnaire directed to the various personnel working in KDN and to the students attending the junior high school Fäladsgården. The study also includes a historical perspective regarding Swedish migration and KDN. The purpose is to get an insight into why the area seemed to have a more positive attitude in dealing with what is currently termed the "immigration problem". The result shows that because of the long experience of having inhabitants of mixed cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, rather than a high concentration ofjust immigrants, the conflicts of marking territory in competition with other groups are not as turbulent as in Rinkeby, Stockholm, for example. The library's role seems to be a vital, if not central, one. The students, who as adolescents are interested in their identities, are well aware of its existence and the valuable service it provided in providing information about their parents' countries of origin, and they use the library more extensively than their Swedish peers.

 

Nr 53 Gudrún Thórsteinsdóttir: Folkbiblioteken och de högskolestuderande – hur bemöts de studerande i biblioteket? (Public Libraries and University Students – How Does the Library Meet the Needs of the Students?)

This thesis focuses on how public libraries fulfill the needs of university students. The thesis is based on a study of 15 Swedish public libraries. Data were collected through 179 questionnaires distributed among the library employees. Interviews were also conducted with 28 library employees and local politicians at 7 of the 15 locations. The findings show that the public libraries are prepared to provide standard services to university students. However, the libraries are presently generally not ready to adapt their services to meet all the requirements of the students. The major problem that the public libraries seem to be facing is to be able to provide many of the diverse needs of the public and to perform that task in an equitable way. Should the libraries adapt their services according to demand (market controlled) or should they stand guard for democracy and try to provide fair service for all user groups? Is it possible to make compromises?

 

*Nr 54 Eva-Charlotte Ohlsson, Anita Ojala: Bibliotekssituationen i Helsingborg, 1910-1933 – en jämförande studie av Stadsbiblioteket och Arbetarekommunens bibliotek (The Library situation in Helsingborg, 1910-1933 – a comparative study of the Municipal library and the Library of the local branch of the Social Democratic Party)

During the 1920's there were two major libraries in Helsingborg which focused on the working class, the library of the local branch of the Social Democratic Party and the Municipal library. The purpose of this Master's thesis is to analyse why these two libraries could expand substantially during the 1920's. We will also try to get a picture of why the Library of the local branch of the Social Democratic Party wasn't merged with some other library as about the year 1930. Prevalent in the municipalities elsewhere around Sweden at this time was otherwise the centralization of the libraries. To be able to answer these questions we have done studies of literature as well as original sources. We have chosen to concentrate on the period stretching from 1910 until 1933. The prerequisite for the expansion of both libraries was the so-called entertainment tax which was introduced in 1919, and the return of which would go to cultural purposes and which partly benefitted the libraries. This money was managed well by the librarians of both libraries, who succeeded in renewing and improving activities. The reason for the libraries in Helsingborg not being centralized around the 1930's was that on their part the municipality consider that it would be too expensive. Nor would the local branch of the Social Democratic Party let go of their library, as it stood as a symbol of the educational efforts of the working class.

 

Nr 55 Ann Christine Blomquist: Informationsförsörjning inom fiskesektorn i SADC-regionen : en undersökning av forskares och tjänstemäns informationsförsörjning (Information supply within the fisheries sector of the SADC-region : a survey of the information supply of researchers and officers)

The purpose of this paper was to form an opinion of the information supply of fisheries' officers and researchers in the SADC-region. The survey was carried out among 49 officers and researchers of their use of libraries and library services, different channels and sources of information, their utilization of the new information technology (IT), and their opinion of their information situation in general. The low rate of reply (55%) made it impossible to draw general conclusions. The results should therefore be looked upon as indicators of the population's information situation. Barely a fourth of the officers and researchers considered themselves having access to enough information. Lack of current and subject relevant information were often reported reasons for discontent. As far as IT was concerned, few officers and researchers could profit by this new technology. Only a fourth had access to CD-ROM and/or online databases and a seventh to the Internet.

 

*Nr 56 Ewa Antonik: Enligt tidens sed. Braunsbergs boksamlings polsk-svenska öden och forskningen kring böckerna (The Jesuit College library in Braunsberg. The history and research in the field of the book collection)

The master thesis deals with the history of the Jesuit College library in Braunsberg (Polish Braniewo), a town in Polish province Ermland (Polish Warmia) and research in the field of the library. During several decades in the late l6th and the beginning of l7th century the college carried out missionary activity directed towards Protestant Sweden. As the result of Gustavus II Adolphus attack at the province in 1626 the college was destroyed and the book collection taken to Sweden as war booty. The lion's share of the books is preserved to the present day in the University Library in Uppsala, where during the present century they have been subject to research carried out by Swedish and Polish scientists. The ambitious project to publish a catalogue of the College library, which was started by Prof. Jozef Trypucko (the University of Uppsala), is about to be accomplished. It will be a proof of a fruitful cultural cooperation between once enemies, Poland and Sweden.

 

*Nr 57 Marja Haapalainen: Kvinnobiblioteket – ett eget rum (The Women's Library – a room of one's own)

The Women's Library is a public library in Luleå, Sweden, with a distinctive feminine profile where women can find a "room of their own". In the present essay the Women's Library is analysed and investigated from a social and public point of view. Special effort is put on the library's activity and how it manifests itself. The purpose is to clarify what image of the woman that is brought about by the library and what opinion of the woman the feminine profile is based on. The essay also discusses in what way the Woman's Library affects women's situation and what position the library has about women's interests. The Women's Library brings about a changeable image of the woman which has a starting point in the traditionally feminine. The aim of the open lecture series, which is one important activity of the library, is to make women aware of structures in society. Women's experiences are debated and are in this way subjected to change. The Women's Library does not pursue a specific feministic policy, instead it looks after the interests of women as a group. The Women's Library wishes not to keep women and men apart, but is questioning the way society is organised by assuming woman as norm.

 

*Nr 58 Stefan Wahlstedt: Skolbiblioteket som en del i ett pedagogiskt utvecklingsarbete (The school library – integrated in curriculum development)

This study attempts to give a picture of a school library involved in educational development and to investigate how pedagogical changes influence the teachers, the school and the school library. The purpose is to focus on how automation of the library and a bold venture of information technology influenced pedagogical development. Empirical data were gathered through interviews with nine teachers of one elementary school and seven persons outside the school who played some role for the educational and library development project of the school. Theoretical underpinnings were found in didactic literature and literature about the educational role of school libraries. The conclusions point out the importance of an overall school strategy and a comprehensive view of information seeking, integrated with the teaching methods as well as a well-adapted program for teachers' professional development concerning IT. In the investigated school, the school library became the gateway for changing the teaching methods.

 

*Nr 59 Malena Sjöstrand: Läromedelsresurs eller boksamling : Gymnasiebibliotekets roll i undervisningen i samhällskunskap och naturvetenskapliga ämnen (Teaching Aids or a Collection of Books : the School-library's Importance for Teaching in Natural- and Social Science in Upper Secondary School)

The aim of this study has been to investigate the role of the upper secondary school-library in natural- and social science teaching. The study is based on the results from interviews with the headmaster, the school-librarian, five teachers in social science and four teachers in natural sciences at an upper secondary school. I wanted to find out how the teachers work to reach some chosen goals from the curriculum and how they use the school-library in that work. I also wanted to examine the teachers' understanding of resource-based teaching and their cooperation with the librarian. The results show that all the teachers have similar opinions of resource-based teaching, but that there are big differences in the way they say that they teach. The social science teachers say that they use a resource-based teaching to the fullest possible extent, while the natural science teaching is ruled by the text-books. The way to teach also affects the use of the school-library. In social science the library is a condition of the resource-based teaching. All of the social science teachers have some kind of cooperation with the school-librarian. In natural sciences there is no need or time to use the library. Only one of the natural science teachers has had some cooperation with the librarian. All the leachers think it is important that the pupils learn how to use a library in school. The school-librarian is of the opinion that the most important task of the school-library is to provide pupils and teachers with the information they need. She thinks that it partly works that way today, specially in social sciences, but wishes that the other subjects would use the library more frequently. She would also like to cooperate more with the teachers. The headmaster also thinks that the most important task of the school-library is to be an information-source for pupils and teachers. He tries to affect the teachers to work more often in the library, but he emphasises that the teachers themselves have got to want to change their teaching, he cannot force them.

 

*Nr 60 Marcus Söderlund: Folkbibliotekens användning av Byggdok-databaserna: En kvalitativ och en kvantitativ undersökning (The Swedish Public Libraries' use of the Byggdokdatabases: A qualitative and a quantitative study)

The aim with my study is to investigate which knowledge two of the Byggdok employees have about the public libraries' use of the Byggdok databases. Byggdok is both a producer and a host of databases in the field of construction and environment. The bases are used mostly of architects and engineers as well as public librarians in a small extent. This study contains a questionnaire with 17 questions and four interviews. The questionnaire was sent to 28 libraries which 20 of them replied. Afterwards I interviewed two librarians instead of sending them a questionnaire. Then I chose eleven questions among them. The chosen questions were then the base of my interviews with the Byggdok employees. I asked the Byggdok employees what they could think that librarians would have answered. By analysing the similarity between given answers I tried to find out what particular knowledge the two Byggdok employees possessed. The result of this study showed that both the Byggdok employees knew that the bases were used in lesser extent of public libraries. They also knew that public and pupils were the main users of the bases. One of the Byggdok employees also had a knowledge of that the bases were mainly used in the building sector at the libraries and that the librarians hold a positive attitude towards the bases.

 

*Nr 61 Klas H Blomberg, Erik Gustavsson: Underlag för revision av UDK i Sverige, exemplifierat genom ämnena religion och konst (Foundation for revision of the UDC in Sweden, exemplified by the disciplines religion and art)

The thesis constitutes a part of a preparatory survey, which can be the basis of a new abridged Swedish edition of the UDC. We have made a survey of the use of classification in some special libraries. The study has been undertaken both with questionnaires and interviews. This study of classification praxis leads forward to a second part of the survey in which we describe and use a new praxis-based method for compiling schedules. In this part we have compared authorized UDC-schedules with the applications of some libraries in the subjects art and religion.

 

*Nr 62 Per Flodin, Erik Lidberg: Samorganisation mellan folkbibliotek och medborgarkontor? : en jämförande analys, med en studie av verksamheten vid tre biblioteksfilialer i Strängnäs kommun (Co-organization between public libraries and citizen offices? : a compatitive analysis, with a study of the work at three public library branches in the municipality of Strängnäs)

The presentation of the problem of this study is defined as: can co-organization between citizen offices and public libraries contribute to a positive development of public libraries in Sweden? The four main questions are:
1. Will the exercise of authority within citizen offices present a problem for the ideologically neutral public library? 2. How will the citizen offices influence the democratic aims of the public libraries? 3. Will the citizen office duties change the library personnel's professional role? 4. Will the economical and material resources of the public library change? To answer these questions the study is divided into three main sections: In the theoretical study, the material is categorized as belonging to either the public sector, or the public library sector, depending on the source. The practical study, is based on experiences from an on-going project with co-organization between citizen offices and public libraries, in Strängnäs municipality, county of Södermanland, Sweden. The conclusive comparative analysis, collects and values the arguments from the two defmed sectors in the theoretical study, relates those to the results from the practical study, and presents answers to the four main questions. The conclusion, and answer to the presentation of the problem of the thesis is: that coorganization between citizen-offices and public-libraries, for the time being, does not contribute to a positive development of swedish public libraries.

 

*Nr 63 Anna Nilsson, Katarina Synnermark: Urvalsunderlag och debatt i samband med inköp av barnlitteratur: intervjuer med barnbibliotekarier (Selection methods for the purchase of childrens' literature: a survey based on interviews with childrens' librarians)

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the selection methods used by childrens' librarians when purchasing childrens' literature. The aim is also to describe the criticism of childrens' literature in the daily papers of today and in journals on childrens' culture. Interviews have been conducted with ten childrens' librarians. The results show that the selecting of books is done on the basis of the reviews in the collective binding (Sambindningen). Besides using these reviews the librarians also visit bookshops, receive free copies from publishers and get purchase proposals from colleagues. It is also obvious that the suggestions from users is becoming more important. Reviews in daily papers and journals are often published too late to be of use for the librarians at the time of purchase. However, these reviews give the librarians the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of childrens' literature.

 

*Nr 64 Jenny Persson: Grundskolan och biblioteksböckerna: en undersökning rörande grundskolans förhållande till skolbibliotek, skolbibliotekscentral och folkbibliotek (The elementary school and the library books: an examination concerning the elementary school's connection to the school library, "the school library central" and the public library)

The thesis deals with the need of library books – not the traditional educational materials – for teaching in the elementary school. It also considers ways that are used in order to get the books. Literature relevant to the issue about teaching, information seeking and objects with the school library has been discussed and compared to a few qualitative interviews with teachers and librarians done for this survey in the district Adolfsberg in the town of Örebro. The study demonstrates examples of different factors in the use of the school library and in the need of complementing book-collections such as the school library, the school library central's "bok pool" and the public libray book collections. The factors are described as roles in the collaboration between the operations involved, the teachers choice of the source of information, fysical circumstances for the school library, psychical circumstances at the school and objects such as curriculum concerning the school.

 

*Nr 65 Birgitta Edvardsson, Ingela Lindström: Skolbiblioteket som resurs – långt borta eller nära? En undersökning av skolbiblioteksverksamheten vid nio skolor i Västmanlands län (The school library as a resource – reality or utopia? A study of the school library activity at nine schools in Västmanlands län)

The purpose of this study is to show the school library work at nine schools in Västmanlands län. Principals and library staff at these schools have been interviewed. The new national curriculum makes the principal of each school responsible for the school library and its development. This study shows that the principals attitude towards the school library is essential for its development. The schools where the library plays an important part in the education are the ones where the principals have the most positive attitude and have ideas on how to develop the library. In some of the municipalities the school library activities are organized by coordinators. The study shows that they are of great importance in stimulating the use of the libraries. They have also influenced the most positive principals. The integration of the library in education differs between the schools in the study. But not in one of these schools is the library fully integrated and the library staff locked upon as a resource in problem-solving learning.

 

*Nr 66 RoseMary Appelkvist, Ulf Gripkow: Infocenter I Tiden? : en analys av mål och verksamhet vid Infocenter i Ronneby (Infocenter today and tomorrow : an analysis of goals and activities of Infocenter in Ronneby

This essay deals with the Infocenter in Ronneby which is based on information technology. It is a combined library and municipal information centre, closely connected to the University College of Ronneby/Karlskrona and business companies in the area. Our purpose is to study and analyse Infocenter's goals and activities. The information derives partly from original documents, qualitative interviews with the library staff and the results of a questionnaire, answered by researchers at the University College and surrounding companies. We based our thesis on theories concerning a strategic audit of an organisation. Infocenter is a young organisation dealing with the problems of increasing demands from the expanding university. The aim of being in front position in the field of information technology is achieved but in order to avoid future stagnation, it will be necessary to keep on investing in advanced technology and a larger number of skilled staff.

 

*Nr 67 Digvijay Singh: Are Ranganathan's five laws of library science valid today? An analytical study (Är Ranganathans fem lagar om biblioteksvetenskap relevanta idag? En analytisk studie

The main object of this thesis is to examine the validity of Ranganathan's five laws of library science in the library world of today. Ranganathan wrote these laws in 1931 when the library world lacked computers. The advancement of technology, the introduction of computers in the library world and now the world of Internet has moulded the shape of modern libraries. This thesis analyses, interprets and assesses Ranganathan's five laws of library science in the context of modern information technologies. The material by and on Ranganathan is analysed. This thesis also discusses Ranganathan's Hindu background and the influence of Hinduism on the formulation of the five laws. The conclusion of the thesis is that Ranganathan's five laws of library science have perennial value and have relevance for both the conventional library as well as the virtual library.

 

*Nr 68 Barbro Loyd, Elisabeth Svensson: Informationsteknik i utbildningen vid institutionen Bibliotekshögskolan höstterminen 1982-vårterminen 1995 (Information technology in the education at the Swedish School of Library and Information Science)

This thesis is about information technology in the education at the Swedish School of Library and Information Science from the autumn term in 1982 to the spring term in 1995. We have focused on three parts: information technology in terms of policy and purchases of computers etc., lecturers in information technology and information technology in the curriculum. In addition we have tried to find the organisations that have influenced the information technology in the education. Finally we have compared some of our results with three official reports. During the studied period there has been a change from minicomputers to personal computers in a local network. It has also been difficult to engage lecturers, who are qualified in information technology. Considering information technology in the curriculum, both the available computer equipment and lecturers in information technology have made an impact.

 

*Nr 69 Gertrud Berger: Bortom "trial and error". En experimentell studie av informativa hjälpmeddelanden i en hypertext- och nyckelordsbaserad databas för barn (Beyond "trial and error". An Experimental Study of Informative Helpmessages in a Hypertext- and Keyword-based Database for Children) Uppsatsen i HTML-format

An experimental user interface, LänkLetaren ("The Link Locator") was developed in order to study children's searching behaviour when using a hypertext-based database for keyword searching. Twenty children between 11-12 years old were divided randomly into an experimental group, whose user interface included a facility based on the unsolicited delivery of informative help messages, and a control group lacking such messages. The children were given eight questions in random order. All transactions with the database were monitored automatically for each child. All the children learned quickly how to use LänkLetaren. The members in the experimental group solved the problems quicker than their mates in the control group. The children in the experimental group used messages that actually helped improving the search significantly more often during the first half of the experiment than during the second half. The instances when they ignored such messages were evenly distributed over the experiment. The time between a search producing zero hits and the next transaction was longer for children in the control group than for those in the experimental group. Hence it is likely that these children spent much more time thinking on what to do in order to obtain hits at all.

 

*Nr 70 Marie Gustafsson, Annika Svantesson: Högskolebibliotekens försörjning av tidskriftsartiklar idag : en litteraturstudie och undersökning av hur högskolebiblioteken idag löser sin försörjning av tidskriftsartiklar (The present supply of journal articles in libraries at higher education institutions)

This thesis describes the present situation according to the supply of journal articles in libraries at higher education institutions. It consists of two parts: a study of the current literature in the field and the results from an investigation on the same issue carried out in eleven libraries at higher education institutions. Finally we have compared these two parts and where it is possible we have made conclusions. For a very long time the scientific article has been an important instrument for supply of information for researchers, academics and students. An increasing number of journals and sharp rises in subscription costs, stagnant or decreased materials' budgets and fluctuating rates have affected the libraries' and the acquisitions' role. A policy from holdings to access is taking place. Journals available in electronic form are becoming more frequent. The importance of cooperation and various ways of resource sharing are increasing. Available technology provides new forms of service. In our investigation we have tried to cover the same issues. In some respects the two parts correspond but they also differ. Just in case is still a prevailing concept among the libraries in our investigation. In the literature electronic journals are described as a common phenomena. Our investigation shows that electronic journals are not of frequent occurrence at present but will probably be so for some of the libraries in a year or so.

 

*Nr 71 Anders Claesson: Arkitekturmuseets nya biblioteksfunktion : ett utvecklingsförslag baserat på en strategisk planeringsmetodik (The new library function in Arkitekturmuseet : a suggestion for development based on a strategic management methodology)

The object of this thesis is to give a suggestion for development for the library function in Arkitekturmuseet, so that it in a suitable way will support the museum in the new and larger premises. The new premises are just now (1996) under erection, and will be ready for occupation in the end of 1997. Methodically the thesis is based on a strategic management model, which is theoretically grounded in the system schools of the organization theory. The information, which is qualitative, derives partly from literature studies, partly from empirical sources (internal material, qualitative interviews, observations, informal interviews). The suggestion for development is given in a discussing form, with points of departure in the conditions which govern today (1996) for the museum in the new and larger premises. The discussion is partly on a strategic level, which is about the overall direction of the library, but also on an operational level, which is about the design of the basic functions of the library; acquisition, organization and service. The thesis concludes with a sketch of an operational action plan, that can be a qualified starting point for the library in its goal setting and planning work. My experience is that the strategic management methodology is suitable for the problem situation that I faced in the library in Arkitekturmuseet, and that it would be applicable to comparable problem situations in similar types of libraries.

 

*Nr 72 Eva-Lotta Haglund: Informationsförsörjningen till landstingens FoU-enheter (The provision of information for the R&D units at the county councils).

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the staff at the research and development (R&D) units of Swedish county councils manage their information needs. I also wanted to see if their information seeking habits differ from the habits of researchers working in traditional research environments, i.e. universities.

 

The methods used in my paper are:

literature study for the theoretical background

questionnaire sent to 149 researchers at 28 R&D units

follow-up telephone interviews

My results show that the researchers working at the county councils are satisfied with how their information needs are met, but of course there is room for improvement. There are quite a lot of differences between researchers working at universities and my population working at county councils, regarding information seeking habits.

*Nr 73 Susanna Bruhn, Annikki Hukari: "Bibliotek ska vara som kungens vardagsrum" : en studie om invandrarbarns biblioteks- och läsvanor (The use of library and reading habits of immigrant children)

People in Sweden today have many cultures and languages. The Swedish immigrant policy aims at multicultural society. Pupils in the Swedish schools have many mothertongues besides Swedish. The immigrant children have at least two languages and cultures which they are part of and which they live in. Our research deals with the use of library and the reading habits of immigrant children. We studied 162 children with immigrant background at ages 10 to l2 in two schools in Stockholm. The children were given a questionnaire with l7 questions. According to the results of this questionnaire it is girls and younger children who read a lot and who like to read in their sparetime. 75% of the children read books in their sparetime. 75% of the children read books in their mothertongue. School (teachers and schoollibraries) and the local library were the most usual places to get books at, both in Swedish and in mothertongue. Although it was more frequent that the children get books in their mothertongue directly from the teacher. Home and friends are book sources in a smaller scale for the children. But their influence on the reading motivation, interest and habits of the children is obvious. For example, almost every child has listened to someone reading aloud for her at home, and it is quite common to visit a library together with friends. The most usual activity in the libraries is to lend books.

 

*Nr 74 Anne-Marie Tärnström: På väg mot ett internordiskt folkmusikarkiv: Databasen Fiol och projektet Norfiol (Towards a Common Nordic Folk Music Archive: the Fiol Database and the Norfiol Project)

This essay deals with tape-recordings contained within three Swedish folk music archives: The Swedish Centre for Folk Song and Folk Music Research, The Museum of Dalarna and The Folk Musicians' Association of Södermanland's archive in Malmköping. During the 90's, the Norwegian database Fiol was introduced at these archives for registering references to recordings on tape. Collaboration on the Fiol project in Sweden came to be known as Norfiol. The purpose of this essay has been to look at these archives from at user-perspective, to examine how retrieval has been altered as a consequence of computerisation. This has proved di cult since the Fiol database is used exclusively by archive personnel and up to this point there exists no user-friendly search function. Despite this and the fact that the objectives and schedule of the Norfiol project have not yet been fully realised, work is well under way towards a common Nordic folk music archive.

 

*Nr 75 Reidun Riisehagen: Betraktninger om skolebiblioteket i steinerskolen : intervjuundersøkelse med noen steinerskolelærere (Considerations about the School Library in the Waldorf School : an Interview Study of some Waldorf Teachers)

A qualitative study of eight teacher's view of a school library in their Waldorf school. This school had already a small library for the teachers. The aim of the study was to investigate if the Waldorf school needs a school library and the role of that library according to the teachers. No heavy arguments against a school library were found in the interviews, but several factors that can explain its weak position. The teachers themselves claim that the reasons are lack of money as well as lack of space and qualified staff and that their type of school management often needs a long time to make decisions. The study suggests that there are further reasons: private teacher collections are cheaper for the school economy and more convenient for the teachers. The teachers may not conside r the school library as a real pedagogical tool.

 

*Nr 76 Linda Sörensen, Magdalena Zawila: Barnbibliotekariers urvalsarbete: praktiska rutiner och hjälpmedel från 1940-talet till idag (Children's librarians selection work: daily routines and selection aids from the 40's until today)

The purpose of this study was to describe how the selection work has been carried out in a number of children's libraries in Sweden. The purpose was also to find out which selection aids that have been and are available for children's librarians and which of these that have been used/ not used and find explanations to the result. The results of this study show that the selection work has been performed in a similar way at the libraries in our study. The difference lies in time, it has developed more rapid in some of the libraries than in others. We have discovered that it hasn't existed many selection aids directly meant for purchasing children's books. The most frequently used selection aid is Sambindningen. Other aids have not been used at the same extent. It's probably because Sambindningen is the only aid that offers reviews of all books that are published in Sweden (except for the books that the publisher decides not to send to Sambindningen). The alternative to Sambindningen is that the librarian can "borrow" books from the bookseller and read them herself. But this takes to much time.

 

*Nr 77 Olof Språng: Norrköpings Stadsbibliotek 1902-1947: En bibliotekshistoria (Norrköping City Library 1902-1947: A library tale)

In the early 20th century Norrköping was one of Sweden's major industrial cities. Although a town of considerable wealth, Norrköping lacked of cultural traditions. During the 20th century however, Norrköping's cultural profile changed, a number of institutions, such as theatres, orchestras and museums, were established during the first part of the century. In 1902 Norrköpings Stadsbibliotek was founded. Norrköpings Stadsbibliotek was one of the biggest public libraries in Sweden, still its routines were outdated and more related to the scientific libraries than to the public libraries. It was not until the late forties that the library could be considered as a modern public library. This master thesis will try to explain which interests created the library, why the library's progress was delayed, in what ways the library was underdeveloped, and what factors caused the delay . To be able to answer these questions I have done studies of literature as well as original sources.

 

*Nr 78 Inger Andersson, Lena Peterson: Grundvuxstuderande på Lilla Edets folkbibliotek – en undersökning om vuxenstuderande på grundskolenivå och deras förhållande till folkbiblioteket (Students at Grundvux on the public library in Lilla Edet – a study about adults in education at the level of comprehensive school and their relation to the public library in Lilla Edet)

The main purpose with the study is to examine how adults who study at the level of comprehensive school use the public library and how the public library can satisfy their needs. We also discuss how the public library adapts to the society progress as seen from without our study how adults in education use the public library. The background theories mainly content texts concerning unemployment, education and learning and adult education. The study is based on inquiry forms and qualitative interviews. One of the conclusions the study shows is that the students do not have enough knowledge about seeking information to solve school tasks independently at the public library and that the library staff have neither enough time nor resources to help the students satisfactory. Another conclusion shows that the teachers and the library staff have different opinions about how the students manage to study independently at the library.

 

*Nr 79 Tiina och Vladimir Indrikson: Bibliotek i informationssamhället: bibliotekets och biliotekariens roll i informationssamhället såsom den framträder i svensk bibliotekspress åren 1984-1996 (Libraries in the Information Society: A Study of the Role of Libraries and Librarians in the Informational Society Based on the Discussion in Swedish Librarian Press Between 1984-1996)

The aim of this thesis is to give a picture of the role of libraries and librarians in the information society as it is described in Swedish librarian press between years 1984-1996. Five magazines – Biblioteksbladet, DIK-forum, bis, Bibliotekariesamfundet meddelar and Tidskrift för dokumentation – which represent several types of libraries, constitute the basis of the study. The treated subjects are the purpose and the tasks of the library, the librarians view of information technology and the professional role of the librarians. The discussion deals mainly with the public libraries.

 

*Nr 80 Maria Klein: Biblioteket och informationskompetensen: lärares och bibliotekariers uppfattningar speglat hos lokala aktörer vid Linköpings Universitet (Information literacy at the library: views of teachers and librarians at Linköping University)

This study is carried out at the University of Linköping. It is based on a literature study and ten qualitative interviews of librarians and teachers in three different disciplines; one wholly problem-based, one partly problem-based and one using traditional methods of education. The main purpose of the study is to find out how the librarians and the teachers view user education, information literacy, information technology and the cooperation between the library and the institutions. The study shows that the teachers are content with the work of the librarians, that the librarians want more cooperation, that the term "information literacy" can have several different meanings, and that problem-based learning can make the knowledge of the librarians more explicit to the teachers.

 

*Nr 81 Preben Hansen: An Exploratory Study of IR Interaction for User Interface Design. An Interdisciplinary Approach (En studie av interaktion och användarbeteende i ett IR-system för design av användargränssnitt. Ett tvärvetenskapligt perspektiv)

The thesis describes an exploratory and experimental evaluation of the user interface of the Dienst system, a WWW-based IR system implemented in a real-world online WWW-setting. The study deals with two tasks: one evaluation task and one methodological task. Concerning the evaluation we investigate if the current user interface to the Dienst WWW-based IR system provide sufficient support in order to conduct an information seeking task. We identify and describe characteristics of the user population. We also make suggestions for supporting user characteristics and needs in the user interface redesign. The methods are based on an interdisciplinary approach which combines both the IR interaction perspective and the user-centered design methods in HCI. The study implemented in an experimental real-world online WWW-setting. We collect and analyze cognitive and statistical data from users performing an information seeking task using a combination of both qualitative (questionnaires) and quantitative (transaction logs) data collection methods. Finally, based on our findings, we suggest important factors to be considered and supported in the user interface design.

 

Nr 82 Anne-Marie Gerdin: "Det är på arbetsplatserna det ska ske ..," : om bokombudsverksamheten runt Folket i Bild ("It is in the factories it must happen ..." : about the commission work with books in connection with the "Folket i Bild")

This is the story of the magazine Folket i Bild and the selling of books in connection with it. The magazine was an answer to all campaigns from the labour movement, which followed one after another in the early twentieth century, and protested against the so-called "dirty literature" and yellow magazines. FiB was an alternative for those who were not satisfied with what the bourgeois publishers served to the working class. It was started in 1934 and six years later, it canalised the interest of reading in inexpensive books. FiB introduced the authors from the working class to their own people, something that the bourgeois publishers had failed to do. The FiB-enthusiasts knew where to find their readers; they turned straight to the factories and workshops where they found commission agents willing to sell this kind of book to their workmates. This turned out to be a great success. Many of the authors were published in editions more than 100 000. The end of the story though, is not a happy one. FiB was sold by the publish-house of the social democratic party in 1962 to the biggest capitalistic publisher Bonnier/Åhlén & Åkerlund. It didn't take long until the magazine ended up as a pornographic weekly.

 

*Nr 83 Helena Andersson: Döva ungdomar och bibliotek : en undersökning vid Riksgymnasiet för döva (Deaf young people and libraries : a study at upper secondary school)

The aim of this study was to investigate the attitude of deaf young people concerning libraries and reading, and how librarians working with deaf people view their work. A questionnaire has been distributed to deaf pupils of upper secondary school and interviews have been conducted with four librarians. The results show that a majority of the deaf young people visit a library at least once a month. 80% write notes when contacting library personnel when they are at a library. A majority of the deaf pupils also wish that library personnel knew sign language. 60% like to read. The interviewed librarians found communication more difficult with deaf people than with hearing people. The librarians usually write notes when assisting the deaf, which takes more time than to speak. The public library of Örebro is aiming to become a special library, responsible for library service to the deaf. This national library should build collections of interest to deaf people, but also support others with information about deafness and sign language courses.

 

*Nr 84 Tuula Nylund: Läshandikappade i informationssamhället. En studie om läshandikapp, bibliotek och informationsteknologi (Print impairment and information technology. A study about print impairment, libraries and information technology)

This is a study about three different types of print impairment: vision impairment, dyslexia and motor impairment, and about how libraries can offer better service to these people by using information technology. For example adaptive equipment and electronic reference service are discussed. The course literature service and the capacity to offer information service for print impaired students in two different universities: Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden and Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, are compared. Two projects in two Swedish public libraries are compared: Bibliotek för alla (Library for all) at Gothenburg Public Library, and IT på bibliotek – också för synskadade (Information technology in the library – even for the vision impaired) at Stockholm Public Library. Outside of the two main studies, three print impaired persons were interviewed and a smaller study over Swedish university libraries was made.

 

*Nr 85 Liisa Aalto: Hur barn upplever och uppfattar folksagor (How children experience folk-tales)

Children’s reception of literature has not been subject for much research. There are certain theories in the field but methodology questions are not enough developed. This paper is based on 8 and 9 year old children’s experiences of three folk-tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The method used has been to combine drawings made by the children after the story-telling with discussions about their drawings. The result from my study indicates that there is a difference between the eight and the nine year old children's way of drawing and commenting the tales. As the boys were underrepresented in the group it would not be possible to give evidence for any differences in experiences between boys and girls. In the working process the children used their own experience and knowledge. It was also evident that films and comics have influenced their drawings and their comments. The method worked well but should be more developed and used more systematically. However, to draw more general conclusions the basis should be extended.

 

*Nr 86 Anna Hedman: Skolbibliotek och språkundervisning – en undersökning om skolbiblioteket som pedagogisk resurs i engelskundervisningen på grundskolan (School libraries and language education – a survey of school libraries as an educational tool in English education in compulsory comprehensive school)

The objective of this study was to examine the educational role of school libraries in English education in compulsory comprehensive school. Some teachers and school librarians have been interviewed about the use of the school library in English education. They have been asked if the library is used, how it is used and how it could be used in English education. To get a better knowledge of their view on the matter, questions have also been asked about the role of information technology in English education, the function of the library and librarian in their schools, and to what extent the teachers and the school librarian collaborate. The results show that the school library does not play a very big part in English education in these comprehensive schools, with one exception. However, the school library does have a role when classes are working with special projects in English. Reasons for not using the library are its lack of appropriate material, traditional ways of teaching languages still remain, though it is probably going to change.

 

*Nr 87 Elin Ahlgren, Therese Gustavsson: Utvärdering av automatiserade bibliotekssystem – en jämförelse mellan teori och praktik (Evaluation of Automated Library Systems – a comparison between practice and theory)

The aim of this thesis is to compare the theoretical view of evaluation of automated library systems with the practical view. The theoretical view is represented by literature studies of relevant texts concerning the subject. Interviews with experienced persons (mainly from Sweden) in the automated library system field represent the practical side. The questions discussed are: What is evaluation of automated library systems? When, how and by whom are these evaluations conducted? Which are the reasons for performing an evaluation and which are the reasons for not? In the aim of presenting a complete picture of the area discussed in this paper we also describe the evolution of automated library systems and the implementation process while purchasing a new system.

 

*Nr 88 Mariann Ljungskog: Skolbibliotek och informationsförsörjning i undervisningen – En intervjuundersökning med 7 lärare och 2 bibliotekarier (A school library and the provision of information for education – An interview study with 7 teachers and 2 librarians)

This master thesis focuses on how teachers and students use the school library for support of information. Teachers have been interviewed about what kind of information they and their pupils need, and where they usually find the information needed. Teachers and librarians have been asked about their impression of how the students seek information and how they use the library. The result shows that the library is not very important for information provision, even though the teachers say it is. Some of the teachers usually bring books to the classroom, and then the students don't have to visit the library when they need information. Both teachers and librarians have noticed that the pupils have a lot of difficulties when they seek information.

 

*Nr 89 Maria Skoglund: Litteraturens två kön : om manligt och kvinnligt läsande (The two sexes in literature – men's and women's reading habits)

This essay deals with men's and women's reading habits. With the help of questionnaires and interviews I have tried to find out especially how men and women differ in their choice between male and female authors. The women in my investigation read both entertainment and quality literature, while the men read almost only quality literature. However, both men and women consider entertainment and excitement as important criteria for the function of literature. Without exception the women have read more male authors than the men have read female authors. Even though the women read more and more, and even though they read more and more female authors, they are still well informed when it comes to male authors. It is also common that their favourite author is a man. The men, on the other hand, are decidedly in favour of male authors. When it comes to favourite authors, the majority mentions only male authors. The tendency to favour your own sex is much stronger among the men than among the women. From a feminist point of view I stress differences in men's and women's upbringing as the fundamental reason behind differences in reading habits.

 

*Nr 90 Jesper Ducander: Quo vadis bibliotekarie? Bibliotekarierollen utifrån en analys av de fyra utbildningarna i biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap i Sverige (Quo vadis librarian? The Role of the Librarian by Means of an Analysis of the four Educations in Library and Informaton Science in Sweden)

The purpose of the master's thesis is to describe the role of the librarian from an analysis of the four LIS-educations in Sweden today. The educations analysed are the LIS-education at the University College of Borås, at the Lund University, the Umeå University and at the Uppsala University. Answers are sought to the following questions:
- Which are the general features in common for the educations, and which are the specific differences?
- How can the role of the librarian and the librarian's identity of the profession be described?
The data consist of the curriculums and syllabuses of the educations, interviews with the heads of the educations and the answers of questionnaires distributed to the students. I have also had interviews with some librarians. In the analysis of the educations I examine the social field Library Education by concepts borrowed from Bourdieu's cultural sociology. I try to describe the agents, institutions, the relations between them. I point out doxa and the symbolic capital, which I call "capital of library". The educations have the major parts in common. The education at Umeå University is concentrated on cultural science. The education in Lund focuses on information technology and the education in Borås aims at the users. The education of Uppsala contains practical experience. The librarian can be described as a generalist, with generalistic competence. He has a master's degree, and good knowledge in information technology. The librarian has a well-defined knowledge basis, and will be able to describe his profession.
Jesper Ducander vann Collijnpriset 1998 med ovanstående uppsats.

 

*Nr 91 Hanna Falk, Katarina Halling: Referensarbete – är det svårt? – sju folkbibliotekariers röster (Reference work – is it difficult? – the voices from seven public librarians)

Our purpose with this study has been to examine why the quality of reference service in Swedish public libraries is not up to the standard it should be. Two studies on this subject have recently been published in Sweden. Both indicated that the reference service did not maintain a good standard. We wanted to find out what negatively affected the quality. We did seven qualitative interviews with librarians regarding their work with the reference service. From their answers we drew some conclusions that enabled us to understand why reference work is complicated. One reason is the librarians' lack of time to learn new reference tools. Another is the lack of means to employ more staff and to keep the reference library up to date. Additionally, we discovered that the libraries do not have specific objectives for the reference service which would enable them to define which service they are obliged to give their users.

 

*Nr 92 Susanne Ströberg: Nacka bibliotekshistoria 1908-1961 (The history of Nacka Library from 1908 to 1961)

The master thesis treats the library history of Nacka during the years 1908-1961. The origin of the library activity was the "Nacka adult education organisation" which started in 1908. They had library activities only to a certain extent. Between 1916 and 1926, there was an interruption of the library activity in Nacka. In 1926 Nacka adult education organisation took the initiative to reestablish the library activity and they employed an elementary school teacher as librarian. His first task was to catalogue the book stock. In March 1927, the library activity got started in a staff room of the Järla School. Regulations were drawn up. The library of Nacka had many branches that were heavy to manage, very often located in classrooms, and not until 1949 there was a possibility for the main library to move into more modern and appropriate premises. The first trained librarian was employed in 1945. He created a systematic catalogue and he arranged study circles and lectures. He was also secretary of the culture board. Other fields that are studied in this thesis are music and children's activities – two fields where the library of Nacka has been very early and foresighed of a children consultant in 1957. The library of Nacka is placed in a national perspective. In that way important events in the development of Nacka Library are reflected in relation to other libraries in Sweden.

 

*Nr 93 Elin Hjortsberg, Sarah Nyström: Marknadsföring, vad är det? – en fallstudie på Göteborgs stadsbibliotek hur personal och politiker uppfattar marknadsföring (What is marketing? – a case study on how marketing has been taken into consideration by the employees and the politicians of Gothenburg Public Library)

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate how the politicians and the personnel of Gothenburg Public Library view marketing. We have chosen to investigate this through the use of a specific marketing strategy called "target marketing". Our investigation is based upon two main questions: how marketing is viewed by the personnel of Gothenburg Public Library and how they have chosen their target groups as well as how they go about this. The paper has four main themes: the library's organisation, marketing and its target groups with our focus upon one specific target group – young adults. The marketing concepts that we have used in this paper derive from Philip Kotler and his idea that marketing is a process that permeates the entire organisation and involves all of the personnel. In our theory section we discuss three marketing strategies: marketing mix, service marketing and target marketing. Our investigation shows that increased communication within the library would be an advantage because it would enable the personnel to be personally engaged. A detailed marketing plan helps the library to see where they are going, where they want to go and also to evaluate their present marketing strategies. A concrete set of goals would enable the employees to attain the library's mission. We believe that if the library based its marketing segmentation more upon demand when researching their market it would be more efficient. At present the library uses age as one of their defining factor which is something that the commercial sector is currently drawing away from.

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