This Master's thesis concerns the classification of compact discs according to the Swedish classification system, SAB. The purpose of this thesis is to critically study and discuss category Y of the SAB-system and its application in Swedish public libraries. The classification system has undergone great changes from the first edition in 1921 until today. In 1921 there were no musical recordings in Swedish libraries, today they are responsible for a large part of the loans. We discuss how the system's category Y has corresponded with the musical development.

This is the first investigation of the activity with feature film (video) in Swedish publiclibraries.Due to the Swedish copyright legislation, the activity with feature film in Swedish publiclibraries was not possible until an agreement was set between Kommunförbundet and SverigesVideodistributörers Förening in 1989.My investigation is based upon a form that I made in cooperation with Statens kulturråd.The form was sent to the main public libraries in the 286 municipals in Sweden. 250 (87 percent) of the public libraries answered the questions. 130 (52 per cent) of the libraries whoanswered had an activity with feature film.The main reason the libraries bought feature film, was that they hoped that feature filmwould attract new visitors to the library. The investigation also showed that high costs forhiring feature films has a negative influence on the lending of feature films..

In the digital era, new services have entered the public libraries, like seeking information on the Internet, in databases, newspapers online etc. But many citizens do not know that these services exist. The libraries have a democratic responsibility to inform about them. In the county of Östergötland a project started in 2001 where libraries in five small municipalities built websites in which they present all their electronic services available. One of the aims was with the help of different kinds of marketing to reach special groups of people, like adult students, small companies and politicians.

This essay concerns sponsorship of libraries within Sweden. It takes its starting-point in the libraries economical situation where resources are decreasing. The main purpose of the essay is to investigate how sponsorship is used in public libraries. The main questions are:o Why are sponsorships appealing to libraries? o What does the processes of sponsoring look like? o What are the possible risks concerning sponsor-ships ? could it endanger libraries democratic role? o How does library staff reflect on the role of libraries in contemporary society? In our study we chose to investigate the sponsorship issue from the sponsored libraries perspective.

The aim of this essay is to try to find the differences and similarities of two public librariesin the town of Kristinehamn and the rural community of Vara during the year 1994. Especiallyinteresting was if the different political traditions of the two communities -left wing majorityin Kristinehamn and right wing in Vara- have influenced the forming of the public libraries.The comparison contains accounts from the annual reports produced by the libraries between1987 and 1994, a more thorough study of the activities and interviews with decision makers in1994. The interview with the decision makers indicates that there is a distinct difference betweenthe librarians and the rest of the informants, this distinction shows, that in a tight budgetsituation the librarians prefer not to cut down on staff while the other informants actuallyfavour to make cuts on the procedures handled by the librarians. The general opinionthough, is that they all agree that the role of the public libraries is to defend democratic rights.The final conclusion is that the material of this essay supports the opinion that the idea ofpublic libraries is stronger than the political differences in Vara and Kristinehamn..

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate the reasons for public libraries to have story-time today and also the reasons for story-time at the public library historically in Sweden. Why is the phenomenon of story-time still existing at public libraries today? The study is based on a questionnaire that was sent to childrens librarians in the Västra Götaland region. The material collected in this questionnaire was put together and resulted in six different categories showing the libraries purposes and thoughts of their story-time activities. The categories were: cultural heritage/tradition, joy of reading, language and imagination, library visits, storytelling and mutual experience.

During the late 1990s a movement with the intention of forming independent libraries emerged on Cuba. They were seen as an alternative to the public libraries which were supposed to be suffering from censorship by the Cuban government. The purpose of this thesis is to compile and bring structure in a debate regarding public libraries on Cuba and what have become known as independent libraries. In this thesis a textual analysis has been approached for examining articles, websites and reports concerning what attitudes and position the library support organizations Friends of Cuban Libraries FCL, Cuban Libraries Solidarity Group CLSG and IFLA/FAIFE have regarding the two different library types. These positions is throughout the survey connected with the concept of intellectual freedom.

The purpose of this thesis is to study to what extent the methodological theories are being reflected in the construction of user surveys at public libraries in Sweden. The study has been conducted as a qualitative literature study in two parts. The first part is an examination of literature concerning survey methodology; the second part is a study of three user surveys conducted at Swedish public libraries after 1995. Our main results indicate that the theories about methodology are followed in part, though it cannot be determined whether this is due to any actual methodological studies, common sense, or just copying other surveys. In our study we have found some areas of user survey construction that need further attention and that would benefit from more extensive methodology studies on the part of survey designers.

This bachelor?s thesis describes a qualitative case study of a public library as ?third place?, a place besides from home and workplace visited frequently for conversation. The subject is chosen because of the many roles of public libraries. The main query of the study is ?What view does the public library have of its role as third space and how does that relate to the way utilization of the public library as third place is seen??.

The aim of this thesis is to find out how users and libraries are constructed at public library websites in Sweden from a web 2.0 perspective. We discuss the development of public libraries in Swedish history and the change from an system oriented perspective to a individual oriented perspective and how these perspectives correspond to needs of the library user. We also discuss the concept of web 2.0 and library 2.0. These concepts are open for different interpretations. Some writers believe that web 2.0 and library 2.0 is something radically new and that it will change the public libraries, while other writers claim that these concepts is just a marketing plan.

The purpose of the following thesis has been to study librarians' attitudes towards comics for grown up people. I have compared the attitudes among the staff in two public libraries in Sweden, Malmö public library and Lund public library. I have conducted five interviews with librarians and observed how the comics are handled in each library. I have also carried out a literary study of the history and theories of comics. Initially a definition of comics is presented, and then an overview of the development of comics and of some theories regarding them is offered.

This is a comparative study of six public libraries in the city of Gothenburg and its neighbourhood. The main purpose of this master thesis is to describe these libraries relating to a reform in the city council of Gothenburg and its neighbourhood. The comparison deals with a period of ten years, 1990-2000. In order to respond to this I formulated two questions: Are there any differences in the activities of these libraries? Has this reform influenced the librarians in their way of working and if so, why? I have studied relevant literature such as annual reports, investigations and analyses in order to be able to formulate the questions.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to examine how some university students, who are using the libraries extensively, use and experience the public and the university library and what they expect from the two different library types. I also compare their expectations with the different tasks and aims of the two library types. To answer this I have interviewed seven students at the department of history of literature at Göteborg University. I have also studied some literature and research related to this subject, for example user studies about students and libraries and the information behaviour of distance students.

The aim of this study is to look closer at collection development and the use of collection development policies in Swedish public libraries, with the help of a few examples. Through interviews with three librarians in three different public libraries and an analysis of these libraries? collection development policies, the authors try to find out how the creation of collection development policies takes place in these libraries, how these librarians use the policy, how these policies have been followed up and revised, and also to see what the policies of these libraries include. The material of the study suggests that a lot of work is required to write the policies, and that the written policy itself is seldom used by the librarians. The interviewed librarians still find the policies useful because the writing of them gave a detailed understanding of what the collection of the library contains.

The purpose of this thesis is to see how the Swedish public libraries present e-books on their website. This study has tried to answer the following questions:1. How do the public libraries construct their definitions of the word e-book, and what patterns are there in the definitions?2. How is the e-book definition presented in the context of the public library websites?This study has formulated its own theoretical framework in regards to how you can categorize definitions in four different categories to help see the way a definition is constructed.