The aim of this Master's thesis is to investigate the importance of subject expertise for academic librarians in Skåne. Virtually all librarians in Sweden have studied other subjects besides library and information science (LIS) before becoming librarians, and in this thesis we ask what happens to this expertise. How many librarians can be said to have a good background in the subjects they are working with? Do academic librarians use their subject knowledge on the job? Does it make a difference what subject one has studied when it comes to job opportunities? What do librarians themselves think of the importance of subject expertise? We are also interested in finding out how subject expertise fits in with the growing professionalization of librarianship.A quantitative questionnaire was sent to 195 academic librarians at four different institutes of higher education in Skåne. A total of 107 librarians answered questions about their LIS education, subject background and current job as well questions on how important they perceived a subject background to be for themselves and for academic librarians in general.

The composition of the board of directors and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are two widely researched subject and discussed by the media. This study aims to examine the impact of the board of directors' composition on CSR performance among the largest companies listed on Nasdaq OMX stock exchange 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden. A linear regression analysis is applied to investigate the relationship and evidence is found that board attributes have an effect on CSR performance. Among these; the size of the board, outside directors and employee representatives all have a positive impact on environmental performance. Furthermore; female, outside directors and employee representatives have a positive impact on social performance.

A performance measurement system can be used as a means to evaluate past performances and to communicate prioritizations. It has also been proposed that a performance measurement system can serve as a method to execute strategies, guide in operational decisions and constitute a tool for making the organization more efficient. Yet one may question if such a system will ever reach this capacity if operating managers do not utilize it as a management tool, but rather treat it as a mere report in the bunch. This paper explores how middle managers in fact apply performance measures and what obstacles there are to integrating them in the management of subunits. Furthermore it serves to investigate whether these managers experience a conflict between how they are expected to use the measures and what they deem possible to adopt.

Context. Performance and resource usage is often an important factor for database driven services. Depending on the purpose of the application, choosing the wrong type of database may require unnecessary hardware upgrades or replacements. Objectives. This study investigates the differences in performance and resource usage between different SQL- and NoSQL-databases.

This paper aims to outline leaders' experiences of managing consultants from their company's performance management system. The study was conducted by qualitative interviews with senior managers and HR professionals within a management consulting firm. The aim was to describe the company's performance management system, their consultants and the challenges of leading in this context. The theoretical framework consists of previous research in leadership, performance management and management consulting. Within these research areas the authors identify a knowledge gap in leaders' perspectives on managing top-talents with performance management systems in the management consulting industry.

This study focuses on the encounter between the academic librarian and the academic library user with a specific need for information. The aim of the study is to examine the process of mediation of information and to uncover any inherent problems or systemic inertia that may occur within that process.Special attention has been given to information-seeking behaviour in the digital age and the possibility of viewing information literacy as a meta-literacy. The difference between the surface web and the academic invis- ible web is also investigated. Empirical data was collected by the use of ethnographic fieldwork at the Karolin- ska Institutet University Library over a period of five weeks. The data is analysed using actor-network theory as a point of departure.

The aim of this study is to compare the modernist novels Astarte (1931) by the Swedish writer Karin Boye with Estación, Ida y vuelta (1930) by the Spanish author Rosa Chacel and the reception of these literary works in contemporary academic research. The theoretical ground of the study consists of feminist and critical theory, with traits of discourse analysis.Astarte and Estación were in large part forgotten and ignored by the Western Canon of literature during most of the 20th century, but have lately gained more attention as important modernist novels by researchers (from the feminist, poststructuralist or hermeneutic theoretical fields) who primarily examine the experimental forms figured by the texts in relation to the deconstruction and shattering of human homogenous ?essence?.The results found in the study show that the literary forms of both novels can be associated with a kind of illusion rapture, which relate to the modernist inclination to what Frederic Jameson calls artificial narrative; a form technique that points back at itself to emphasize its own characteristic of being a constructed and subjective illustration of reality. The contemporary interest in these artificial literary forms expressed by Astarte and Estación is therefore probably a consequence of the vibrant academic debates carried out during later decades concerning the conception of human gender and identity as construction and performance. .

This thesis is examining if the management, the managers and the employees have a differentpoint of view regarding the purpose and the expectations of a performance review. Additionally it is an assignment from the Swedish company Flexlink AB with the purpose of constructing a new template for their performance reviews. The assumption is that if you manage to create one template for performance reviews that meets the expectations at all levels of the organization, it will contribute to create a meaningful performance review.We decided to study this from an organizational cultural perspective, since the organizational culture plays a significant part in performance reviews. Performance reviews are systematic conversations between employees and managers related to planning, information exchange and developing the relationship. Previous research indicates that if employees are satisfied with their performance reviews, they prone to be more satisfied with their work situation and have a higher organizational commitment.

Context. Performance and resource usage is often an important factor for database driven services. Depending on the purpose of the application, choosing the wrong type of database may require unnecessary hardware upgrades or replacements. Objectives. This study investigates the differences in performance and resource usage between different SQL- and NoSQL-databases. The study is a comparison that focuses on how the databases perform in different applications.

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate how a group of academic librarians perceive distance learners as a user group. We have in our study been influenced by phenomenography, which is both a set of theoretical assumptions and a methodology. The theoretical frame of reference consists of Carol Kuhlthaus different levels of education and Michael Buckland´s information barriers. Using a qualitative method consisting of nine interviews with academic librarians and structural factor such as academic library policies, we have been able to conduct our study. The results of the study are presented in grouped categories of quotations that reflect various perceptions.

The paper discusses the problems contemporary Swedish art criticism faces when judging performance art and interactive art. Problems include among others that performance art is collectively ignored in Swedish newspaper art criticism. This prevents art critics from fair contextualising of contemporary performance art. Down in the rabbit hole, performance by Tris Vonna-Michell and its reception exemplifies these problems. Performance and interactive art seems to be disturbing art critics.

The purpose with this essay is to examine how arts and politics integrate to raise urgent messages and call upon social changes. Performance art as an artistic manifestation against the surveillance society has been studied to clarify this integration and through an empirical examination of the anarchistic performance group The Surveillance Camera Players. This group formed in New York City 1996 as a manifestation against the increased use of surveillance cameras in public places in Manhattan. Through performance in front of these cameras, The Surveillance Camera Players are able to express their protest against the surveillance society which, occurring to them, violates citizens constitutionally right to privacy. The development and signification of the surveillance society are examined through theoretical perspective by foremost Michel Foucault, but also by contemporary scientist in that field.

This thesis examines underpricing and the long run performance of IPO firms on the Swedish equity market during 1994-2010. We further investigate whether any correlation exist between underpricing and post-IPO performance during 36 months. We use a sample of 80 IPO firms. To examine the aftermarket performance we compare total return of each firm with a matching industry index. In order to strengthen our analysis, we run a second test, comparing actual return for each firm with expected return, adjusted for firm specific risk.

This paper aims to examine performance monitoring in project organisations. The number of organisations that regularly performs projects as a key part of their operations grows rapidly, why this topic has become of large interest. Through a theoretical framework developed by Lars Östman in 1977, the performance monitoring system of the Swedish government-owned public utility Svenska Kraftnät is studied closely. The results from this analysis are then linked to an analysis of the organisation's internal structure through Mintzbergs generic organisational structures. Close connections are found between organisational structure and performance monitoring, which leads on to interesting observations about the connection between size of a project organisation and choice of monitoring method..

This thesis compares the impact on disk performance in a GNU/Linux  environmentwith three encryption algorithms: AES,  Serpent and Twofish in three different implementations: DM-crypt, Loop-AES and Truecrypt. For all three algorithms a key length of 256 bits is used.The thesis shows that the least performance impact during data encryption, and thus file writing, is reached by using AES or Twofish encryption implemented in DM-crypt or TrueCrypt. The thesis shows that some data operations with a sufficiently low processor utilization barely affects disk performance at all if encrypted using the optimal implementation and algorithm.It is also discovered that the performance impact during data decryption, or file reading, can be minimized by using the most efficient implementation and algorithm. The best results are met with the AES or Twofish cipher, regardless of implementation.An important conclusion that  is  drawn is that it is hard to determine a superior encryption solution for all purposes. However, by reviewing and examining the collected data from all aspects of disk performance the AES implementation in TrueCrypt is, with small marginals, determined to be the most optimal..