Gränssnittet BarnOPAC barnens stig in i bokskogen: En användarstudie av hur barn uppfattar och hanterar ett svenskt gränssnitt.

Abstract

BarnOPAC is a Swedish library interface for children. It was launched in public libraries in Sweden in 2001 and has now become a part of library software equipment in several public libraries. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate the interface BarnOPAC on the basis of the childrens perspective. The questions raised consider: how children experience and handle this interface, how library staff experience it and what viewpoints librarians have on childrens use of it. For this purpose we implemented a user study including eight children using the interface in a school library. We also sent questionnaires to some librarians, who are responsible for BarnOPAC in their respective public libraries. The investigation is made by qualitative methods, in the form of observations, interviews and questionnaires. A document study has also been made. Literature regarding investigations on children in association with OPAC´s, computers and information-seeking is presented, and later used in the analysis. We refer to relevant theories about information need, information-seeking behaviour and social-cultural ideas. Our findings show that both the children and library staff have many opinions differing about the interface, which results in various ways of using it. We also noticed that several factors can possibly have impact on childrens opinions and ways of handling the interface. These factors are: - The childrens reading and writing skills - The childrens computer skills - The intellectual availability of the interface - The physical availability of the interface - The childrens information needs and their interests - Marketing of the interface - Interaction and co-operation