When I was fifteen I decided that I wanted to become a blacksmith. At the time of my decision I had been obsessed with fantasy for several years. I came to the conclusion that if I could not live in a fantasy world then at least I would make bits and pieces from it. That became the entry point of my fascination for material and techniques. I started with blacksmithing since it had an aura of magic or mystique in the material and in the making process.

The aim with this master?s thesis is to examine the information practices and information literacies among social workers in the field of the social services and in the work with child welfare investigations. This is in this study related to their ambition to fulfill the requirements of an evidence-based practice. On a theoretical level, the study is based on three theories grounded in the idea of situated learning and of human activities based in a social context. These are the sociocultural theory, the theory of communities of practices and the theory of information practices.

A controversial party?s entry into parliament - a review of Expressen?s depiction of the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna)The purpose of this essay was to study how Expressen presents the Sweden Democrats, as well as reasoning about the effects this depiction could have on the citizens? opinion. Using a quantitative method I studied 122 articles, and through a qualitative method four of these could be further analyzed to reach a deeper result. The theoretical perspective that was applied in this study was primary agenda-setting and framing theory, to illuminate the power of media. The result showed that a prominent theme was to present Sweden Democrats as racists.

This study focuses on nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe. Anchored in theories that this region historically has been characterized by a nationalism that is based on the ethnic group rather than on liberal or civic concepts, it is the purpose of this study to explore whether these theories still apply in recent times when the region has been liberalized, for example manifested in the entry to the European Union. The research question has been tested through analysis of the constitutions of a number of Central and Eastern European countries in order to investigate what type of nationalism that the states have codified in their basic political documents. The results show that some of the states give expression to the historical ethnic nationalism in their constitutions, which indicates that the theories still are relevant..

The subject of this two year Master's thesis in Library and Information Science is the information practices of illiterate immigrants in everyday life. The purpose is to examine how immigrants seek, identify, understand and value information sources and information, and how the practices have changed with their arrival in Sweden. It furthermore focuses on the barriers that illiterate immigrants meet in accessing and understanding information. It moreover investigates the strategies they use to overcome them.For this purpose twelve qualitative research interviews were carried out, with illiterate immigrants as well as with service providers. The theoretical concepts of the essay is information practices, which means that the information process is within a context, and information poverty, that people in different context do not have adequate and equal access to information and information sources.Using McKenzie's model of information practices, the essay concludes that illiterate immigrants are active in their information process, especially when they interact with information.

Single vehicle accidents are one of the most common types of accidents that occur on the Swedish road network. Depending on the design of the road, the presence of a crash barrier and embankment on the roadside, the outcome of a roadside collision can lead to serious injuries and even deaths.The aim of this project is to investigate the possibility of improving road safety by designing the optimal roadside area based on the results of a life cycle cost analysis (LCC).The questions that have been answered during the duration of this project are:1) Describe the current technical solutions for roadside area design and the various barrier types used in Sweden.2) Complete an existing mathematical model that has been developed by Hawzheen Karim, for calculating life-cycle costs for various roadside areas.3) Calculate and compare the life cycle costs for the side area with a barrier and without a barrier.By performing an analysis of the documentation on the current guidelines and rules for shaping the roadside, was it possible to describe the current technical solutions for the formation the roadside as well as the current roadside barriers in use today. A mathematical model for calculating the life cycle costs of different barrier types had already been developed by Hawzheen Karim. This model was supplemented so that it could calculate life-cycle costs of the roadside region with and without a barrier. After the model was completed, an analysis was performed to obtain life-cycle costs of a roadside with and without a barrier.The result showed that there is a clear relationship between the slope inclination, fill height, and the rate at which the costs rise.

This thesis has created an image of the exchange of information among teachers in the Swedish upper secondary school. The study indicates that the exchange of information seems to be limited at all levels and the exchange that takes place outside the own teaching team occurs mainly through teachers personal networks. The study also shows barriers that may exist and the opportunities that an increased exchange may generate. From the picture that the empirical material provides and the theory that is presented a discussion is made around how IT can best support the organizational learning in schools. A concrete proposal is that at national level an IT platform should be created, which primarily focuses on materials that are created by its users and has an open architecture with a single login..

The retailing industry has an extremely high density of brands. In order to differentiate its offer, both retailers and suppliers, are constantly forced to come up with new ways to launch their products. A collaborative strategy between two brands is called co-branding, which means that both the private label and the supplier's brand are displayed on the new product packaging. Several studies have shown that a co-branding strategy is successful, but many operators are still reluctant to use co-branding in fear of long-term losses due to potentially damaged business relations. The objective of this study is to explain how the product- and brand related value for customers, retailers and suppliers is affected by co-branding between private labels and national brands.

China has in recent years experienced a great economic growth, which has attracted the interest of several Swedish companies. Notisum is one of those companies and they have started up a subsidiary in Shanghai, China. This paper is intended to describe Notisum and EnviTools internationalization to China focusing on the obstacles encountered and how the company handled them. In order to achieve this, empirical data was collected through an interview and a literature review. By studying Notisums and EnviTools internationalization process to China, several obstacles were found.

The securities market was to undergo a major change with the entry of MiFID I in November 2007. EU´s establishment if the directive sets high standards for investment firms to establish internal guidelines in accordance with MiFID I. As right now, the securities market is facing further change with the proposal for MiFID II.MiFID II seeks to overcome MiFID I´s shown deficiencies. The greatest need for change are the rules that secure investor protection, with specific focus on regulation on information service from investment firms to customers. This essay deals with the rules on information service enacted in MiFID I compared to the changes presented in MiFID II to investigate whether the changes could strengthen investor protection as desired.MiFID II is a more detailed framework than its precursor.

Due to the requirement for reduced use of insecticides and the lack of competitive mechanical plant protection, you need a scarification with good result. This is often no problem to perform in normal terrain without technical barriers. However, in difficult terrain with large number of rocks and steep slopes, the result would be worse. The purpose of the study is, that in these areas with difficult terrain, to find out the scarified areas quality, describe the non-scarified areas conditions and find out where the limit is for the use of a traditional disc trencher. Findings indicate that there are usually not the machine that is the limit, but the driver of this.

The movie industry in Sweden is seen as a tight holding cluster where the different entities are being highly dependent on each other. There are also many different barriers to get a movie fully financed, and with the people in charged using arguments such as ?quality?, which is not objective but in fact subjective. The aim of this essay is to investigate how the leadership of five female film producers is being constituted in the film industry, an industry which is both close to the pool art and the pool commerce at the same time at it is male dominant. We have found that female film producers tend to use the strategy to adapt to the surroundings ?shouts? and ?demands?, at the same time as they adapt to their environment by becoming/not becoming entrepreneurs..

The construction market has, as a result of the crisis in Europe been uncertain in recent years. During the year 2013, the construction will be stabilized, in particular Finland. The geographical proximity between Sweden and Finland and similarities in cultures and climates makes Finland a coveted market for many Swedish companies.Differences in national regulations and guidelines, which are produced by the authorities in different countries, are examples of barriers that may hamper the process, including for Swedish villa suppliers, to establish themselves on the Finnish market. It may be useful when facing a new export drive, to look up what similarities and differences there are between the countries building codes, to prevent mistakes and unnecessary costs to the project work..

Background: Domestic violence is a major social problem both nationally and internationally. Around the world 35% of the women say that they have experienced physical and/or sexual violence. In most cases it is the woman's partner who subjected her to violence. Every year, 12,000 -14,000 women in Sweden seek medical help as a result of injury incurred of domestic violence. The healthcare in Sweden has a responsibility when it comes to detecting, treating and documenting, but also to prevent violence and its consequences.Aim: To examine the extent to which nurses and midwives asking women about domestic violence, barriers for asking the question and making visible steps to increase the ability to ask the question.Method: A literature review, were included articles reviewed and quality determined.

A controversial party?s entry into parliament - a review of Expressen?s depiction of the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna)The purpose of this essay was to study how Expressen presents the Sweden Democrats, as well as reasoning about the effects this depiction could have on the citizens? opinion. Using a quantitative method I studied 122 articles, and through a qualitative method four of these could be further analyzed to reach a deeper result. The theoretical perspective that was applied in this study was primary agenda-setting and framing theory, to illuminate the power of media. The result showed that a prominent theme was to present Sweden Democrats as racists.