The purpose of this Master thesis is to compare the perception and significance of reference work in two countries, Sweden and Germany. This will be achieved by means of a literature review of previous research literature and public documents and a content analysis of articles from two library journals.A first step was to examine the historical development of reference work in the selected countries. In connection with this there proved to be distinct phases in the discussion regarding reference work. These phases with their specific discourses, themes and emphases reflected and thus later were confirmed in the second part of the study.The results show that despite some similarities there are also quite a few differences in how reference work is perceived in both countries. For Sweden, the idea of reference work was introduced relatively early.

The purpose of this essay is to examine what happens with library e-resources after implementing the discovery tool Summon. Summon provides a Google-like experience and uses multiple facet options when users need to narrow their discovery. Observations of change in the libraries e-resources with regards to database searches, click-throughs in linkresolvers and full text downloads are examined through looking at earlier reports and statistics from libraries in America and England. This provides a way to compare with Chalmers University of Technology?s Library.

User-centred acquisitions at three academic librariesA new way of developing collections has been adopted at a number of small academic libraries, user-centred acquisitions. The method implies that the main way of building the collection is by means of receiving suggestions of titles from library users. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate changes in acquisitions of monographs. At a more detailed level it seeks a deeper understanding of what user-centred acquisitions is and how the method effects the acquisitions process. Changes in stock management and the reason why the libraries have chosen the method is investigated as well.

The study of culture is specifically relevant to libraries confronting changes. A variety of conditions makes it beneficial for libraries to understand the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the underlying culture. Such an understanding can help libraries in adjusting to changes easier, without losing the cultural values that they hold important to their identity and strategic strengths.Taking this as a starting point the purpose of this essay is to examine and describe what aspects in prevailing library cultures are important to pay attention to when meeting changes. To accomplish this we will explore the concept of library culture, its substance, meaning and expression.Culture is reflected in the artifacts, values and underlying assumptions of formal and informal groups. Culture can be found at various levels.

The purpose of this paper is to find out if there are any simple solutions to attract an increased use of public transportation in a smaller town in Sweden. Simple solutions are measures that can be taken within the current budget, and which do not require large investments and extensive political decisions. In order to search for possible solutions I needed to find out which factors and attitudes that determine why people choose public transportation and peoples? traveling habit. I have made a survey study of satisfaction and attitudes among the consumers of a public transportation company in Växjö; Länstrafken Kronoberg.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine the librarians? perception of the users of children?s and young people?s literature. Questions posed in this study are: How are the librarians described according to appearance, personality and interaction with the users? How are the librarians described compared to former studies on the subject? Which perception can be seen, based on Douglas Rabers?s theory which describes the role the public libraries can take in the society? The study is based on content analysis. We have examined 15 descriptions of librarians in both picture books and literature for young adults, published between 1985 and 2006.

This essay is focused on the questions of and responsibility for where, when, how and why communication and meetings through archaeology should take place. I have critically studied Swedish public archaeology through three diverse archaeological excava­tions, one took place in the end of the 1980s, and two others in 2012.I have asked for under what circum­stances and with which goals the public efforts become possible. I have inter­viewed leaders for the archaeological excavations and/or the public efforts and questi­o­ned how and why they reached out to the public. I also searched for results and effects in order to problematize and value the public activities.Through interpretation of the resear­ched material it becomes clear that economic issues as well as archaeo­logists interests and engagements are of vital importance for public archaeology. Co-operation in the local community and archaeological documentation is crucial for the deve­lopment of archaeology and its role in society.Keywords: Public archaeology, Community archaeology, Heritage, Communication, Manage­ment, Historic environment education, Time Travel, Living history.

In order to fully grasp the phenomena 'City' we must understand its political structure as an integrated part of its physical structure and vice versa. This thesis focuses on one crucial element of the City, the public space, and discusses it in relation to the public realm, or sphere, of the City. The aim is to see if it is possible to conceive public space as a spatial dimension of power, and if so, how to analyse this. With the help of the theoretical tool of two ideal types of the configuration of public space, "The city as civic public life" and "The city as authoritarian control" an empirical study is carried out on the case of Prishtina, capital of Kosovo.Conclusions made are that function and use of a city's public spaces can be understood in relation to changes in the political climate of the society. Furthermore, a void in the asset of concepts offered by the ideal types is found ? and therefore also need for new concepts to describe and understand a public space undergoing a dynamic transformation, as being a part of a city in political transition..

Public opinion can be shaped as well as transformed in a number of ways. Government authorities occasionally make use of public information campaigns to educate and steer the public. In this thesis the balance between public and private, the individual and the society is analysed in terms of dimensions of individualism and communitarianism. These dissimilar theories on how the society ought to be constructed can be used when analysing many different policy areas, however, they also pinpoint the controversies seen in the public debate regarding Swedish information policy. Based on this analysis an empirical study identifies what kind of knowledge the state wants the citizens to possess and public information campaigns can be problematic.

This master thesis is aiming to find out how school libraries work towards children in school years 1-6. The mainfocus is how the school librarians and teachers work with literature and reading. The theoretical viewpoints aremainly the sociocultural theory and the child perspective.The study was conducted with participants from five different schools in Uppsala, in the form of qualitativesemi-structured interviews. The results show that schools work with literature first and foremost in a pragmaticway, with reading-strategies and activating discussions. Very little time is spent on reading for its own sake.

The purpose of this Bachelor's thesis is to study the reasoning behind classification, cataloging and shelf arrangement of nonfiction graphic novels in public libraries. The aim was to examine which aspects of accessibility influence in which collection nonfiction graphic novels are placed.With qualitative semi-structured interviews we learned how six librarians motivated their choices concerning nonfiction graphic novels. We also interviewed a cataloger from Bibliotekstjänst to examine how nonfiction graphic novels are classified. In our analysis we compared our results to theories and practices concerning alternative shelf arrangements in libraries and legitimization of graphic novels. We found three types of shelf arrangements for nonfiction graphic novels: graphic novel shelf, nonfiction classification code and a mix of the two.

Syftet med studien var att ta reda på om ungdomar vet skillnaden mellan public service och kommersiella kanaler. Vi ville även ta reda på vad det är som skiljer public service och kommersiella kanaler åt i medvetandet hos ungdomarna, som speglas ireceptionen av olika typer av serier?I studien har vi tillämpat kvalitativ metod i form av receptionsforskning, där intervjuer och observationer har utförts.Resultatet av studien visar att 20 av 25 respondenter tillhörde kategorierna: respondent medveten samt respondent något medveten. Resultaten visar att ungdomar är medvetna om vad skillnaden mellan public service och kommersiella kanaler är. De diskuterar ledigt och öppet kring de olika kanalernas programutbud.

The aim of this thesis is to study the reading habits of Swedish librarians visualized by librarians from Götabiblioteken ? a collaboration of 14 public libraries in mid-Sweden ? focusing on the reading done on their spare time, even if work-related. We started with a survey sent out to 74 librarians in October 2013, answered by 56, and followed up by interviewing 7 of them in November.We tried to answer these questions:To what extent does the working librarians read on their spare time compared to before they started working?What literature do they read, now compared to before they started working?To what extent does their perception of what they should have read affect their private reading?In what way does a librarian in the beginning of their career differ in reading habits from the reading habits of a librarian with many years in the profession?The result of our study shows that most of the librarians read as much or more than before they started to work. They are more selective in their choice of literature and are affected by their work in it in different ways.

The subject of this master thesis concerns the area of change in libraries, with special orientation towards privatisation. Its aim is to investigate how privatisation is portrayed in one of Sweden?s largest library magazines, Biblioteksbladet, in order to gain insight into why these portrayals are what they are, and what consequences they might get. Three theoretical viewpoints create the general base of the thesis; first, Fairclough?s critical discourse analysis (CDA) theory on the relations between text and society; second, Audunsson?s theory concerning how change is dealt with in public libraries; and third, a conceptual framework on privatisation consisting of definitions and perspectives of the phenomenon.

This paper aims to apply a specific architectural theory onto Lund City Library in order to achieve a better understanding of how the physical concept of the library is affecting our knowledge and our production of meaning; and furthermore how it suggests a certain form of usage. This paper discusses the ways in which architecture is affecting us when we use the library. The paper attempts to answer the following question: ? Which one of Koch?s spatial structures could apply to Lund City Library, and in which ways could this spatial structure be a producer of meaning? The specific architectonical theory used is developed by Daniel Koch in his paper Spatial Systems as Producers of Meaning: the Idea of Knowledge in Three Public Libraries. This theory is the method of the paper as well.