The aim of this two-year masters thesis is to look for the Swedish public library´s core business, using theories about competence. The approach is qualitative. It is done by studying the Unesco Public Library Manifesto, the Swedish library legislation, the education in library and information science, two important Swedish library related journals and by asking public librarians about their work and point of view regarding competence.The research shows mainly two sides of the core competence of public librarians: information technology competence and literature knowledge. The conclusion is that the two meet in the idea of mass education, which could therefore be called the Swedish public library´s core business..

Flexible working conditions is used extensively in organizations today as a way tocreate flexibility for the employer. Recently we?ve been reading in the newspapersthat this approach is a growing problem and the EU has warned Sweden twice thatabuse of these forms of employment must be stopped. The Government has recentlysubmitted a proposed rule change to reduce the possibility of stacking one temporarycontract after another. Borlänge kommun makes themselves more flexible with theintermittent employments.

The main purpose of this study is to, in the educator?s point of view, try to find out how pre-schools approach science and technology along with Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The survey was conducted based on qualitative interviews where two preschools participated, a total of seven teachers were interviewed. One of the preschools only has access to a computer, and the other preschool is able to use both computer and tablets in their preschool activities. The results of this show that the teacher?s thoughts about ICT are positive and that they consider it as an important part of their work and have many areas where it is useful.

The aim of this thesis is to describe the customer?s attitudes toward the contracting for availability, i.e., which factors are from the customer?s perspective necessary for the fulfilment of a supplier-customer agreement? Furthermore, the objective is to describe and analyse a supplier-customer relation in the Defence Industrial sphere.The present study has been carried out as a case study using an abductive approach. The thesis is based on a practical problem, i.e. which factors will be important to the customer when a contractor in the Defence Industry wants to increase its commitment of service, and how will their relationship change? The thesis is above all focused on generating knowledge that can lead to rapid and concrete measures and that can be used in the analysis of an increased industrial commitment but also as a case study of a problem of a more general nature in the Defence Industry.

Our aim in this work has been to redesign ModernFamilies and make a user-friendly interface for people with aphasia. The focus has been to identify general issues they might face while using different technology and applications, in order to find better alternative design for ModernFamilies, with a focus on usability. To approach this issue, we used a qualitative method. Our study includes several interviews and observations preformed in conjunction with the AGNES project (AGeing in a NEtworked Society) and speech therapists. Aphasia requires simple design that in the same time gives them support to understand and use technology and different applications.

The purpose of the following essay has been to identify four men?s momentums of their volunteer access to treatment for their disruptive gender-based violence. The questions that have been asked in the entrance of this field have been divided into the following questions: (i) is it possible to identify the processes of change that leads to turning points into the interviewed men's treatment of violence, (ii) how do the interviewed men, themselves, reflect on their turning points into treatment, and (iii) are there other, implicit, interpretations and analyzes of men's access into treatment that I can discern in their stories? As a point of departure of the analysis one theoretical perspective has been used to explain and analyze men?s access to treatment, the sociological life course perspective, focusing on the concept of turning points.The method to approach this field has been qualitative interviews with a life story oriented approach which means that, focus has been to let the four interviewed men describe their lives from early childhood to their adulthood and from their histories identify contingent processes to their access of treatment. The study resulted in a division of two parts, one part consisting the processes that have been identified by the men?s stories of present tense of violent outbursts.

The house of one of the most prominent Swedish artists of the 20th century, Bror Hjorth (1894-1968), was turned into an artists-museum and opened to the public in 1978. It has since the start held pedagogical activities and during the years developed its own pedagogical approach.I have studied the museums pedagogical work from two perspectives; visiting groups of immigrants and visiting groups of schoolchildren, in search of answers to the questions; can art be used as a way to integrate immigrants into the swedish society, and can artmuseums be a resource for schools?This essay contains my observations, conclusions and theories as well as general facts about Bror Hjorths House..

The present memorandum outlines the structure, theoretical starting points and disposition of a thesis about the activities of Finnish immigrants in a Swedish local community, more specifically their political integration. The intention is to study the municipality of Katrineholm in the years 1944 to 1991.Previous research about the actorship of immigrants in spheres such as politics, labour unions, immigrant associations, educational associations and mass-education, as well as churches and religion, is presented to give an overview of possible areas connected to political integration that can be studied. The overview of previous research also covers local immigrant politics.The intended theoretical starting points for the proposed thesis are political economy and hegemony. The latter is intended to be investigated through its expression in the social relations class, gender, ethnicity, nationality and generation. It is suggested in this memorandum that hegemonies and social relations within a local political economy can be operationalised fruitfully in a study of political integration.

Business valuation is something that is carried out on a daily basis and relevant to both small and large businesses. Valuations are often long and complex processes that may be difficult to understand, even for those who have received an education in the field. In this thesis, we try to create a better understanding of how this process works.   Since we are aware of many aspects of the theory behind business valuation, but very little insight into the practical activities, we have chosen a deductive approach, i.e. to go from theory to empirical data.   The conclusion is that the methods presented in the theory is largely used in practice, and that the process of valuation mighty seldom differ between valuations. For the seller to be able to charge a higher value for their companies, it is important to have knowledge of, and review the value-creating factors in the company.

It is important to understand the process of appraisal of a business in order to establish its value. The purpose of our thesis is to establish which methods and models are used when evaluating a business and investigate the factors that may affect the value and price tag of a business. We have used a qualitative approach by conducting both indepth interviews and a survey as well as reading literature within the field. The main conslusion in our findings is that the common practice of discounted cash flow is widely used when bestowing a monetary value for a business, and in order to raise the value a well established customer relationship was the single most important factor. As far as lowering the value, the answers were of such a wide spread that a single factor could not be attributed.

This study is an attempt to shed light on the importance of fiction as a bridge between different cultures and traditions. The objective of this essay is threefold. First it explores the potentiality of fiction as a communication channel between different cultures, societies and social groups. Secondly, it studies the availability of foreign fiction in Swedish language. And thirdly it tries to approach and analyze the structures and mechanisms behind that availability.

Aphasia is a disease that brings on disability. The purpose of the study is to describe the daily life when afflicted with aphasia and gain a deeper understanding of persons with aphasia in working ages. The study was made with a qualitative approach with a combination of data sources; literature, internet lectures, live lectures, interviews with personnel in medical and educational services and three persons with aphasia. More research in aphasiology is welcome. This may be aimed at developing knowledge about the importance of communication, of active participation in the social environment, and the achievement of improved attitudes towards people with disabilities. The study should give rehabilitation actors and close relations knowledge and support in their action when they meet people with aphasia..

The aim of this study is to analyze how intercommunication between offenders are presented with artefacts during the planning and implementation of a robbery in a cash depot in Stockholm. The methodological approach is based on empiricism from police investigation protocols, which leads this study to a case study. The ambition is to analyze the empirical material from a sociocultural perspective. The results shows that the offenders use artefacts to plan the crime with artefacts within an internal intercommunication between the offenders. After the planning artefacts such as a helicopter, explosive material, telephones, saws and ladders have been used in an intercommunication to implement the robbery which leads to an analysis that hierarchy depends on the role of the artefacts, only when technical artefacts are included in the term of hierarchy..

This is a qualitative and hermeneutic study where I describe, analyze and interpret four Swedish teachers' perceptions of the importance of writing as a way of acquiring knowledge. The purpose is to highlight attitudes to writing and their impact on the teaching practice. The theoretical background discusses the autonomic aspects of scripture and pedagogical positions concerning writing instruction. Results show that the teachers teaching positions can be traced back to their approach to writing. However, in this study, it is difficult to tell exactly what these consequences are because the approaches of the teachers? are similar.

The aim of this essay is to problematize the role of living support in a group home and to examine staff reflections about the users' opportunities for and possibly limits to self determination and, in addition to this, how they work towards supporting this right. The study is conducted through seven semi-structured qualitative interviews. The theoretical points of departure are theories of empowerment and paternalism. We have analysed the study results from the vantage point of these theories. The results are consistent with earlier research showing lack of guidance for supporters and also a lack of common approach towards users..