The aim of this study was to examine the social relationships between children and librarians during reference interviews. Using qualitative interviews with five children's librarians I illustrate attitudes and behaviours during a reference situation which take place in psychological, social and even in pedagogical contexts. The literature review comprises studies of the reference interview with children and youth, a description of interpersonal communication and finally social interaction and dialog between teachers and pupils. The main result of this study was the demonstration of a dichotomy in modes of interpersonal communication. In one mode, the social frame is emphasized.

This study examines the effects of credit risk and information disclosure in the new bank regulating system Basel II on bank and bank customer. The effects are then discussed in a perspective of the economic man and information asymmetric theories. Furthermore is the Basel II effects on the capital adequacy of Andelsbanken för Åland examined.The approach of the study is qualitative and several interviews with individuals on different levels of the examined bank, Andelsbanken för Åland, have been carried out during the collecting of empirical facts about the effects of the regulating change from the Basel I system to Basel II.The research findings are as follows:Andelsbanken för Åland have increased its capital adequacy ratio from 12,7 percent to 14,4 percent, mostly due to lower risk weights on housing mortgages compared to Basel I. Andelsbanken för Åland have started to use a completely new credit risk and customer assessment system which classifies every customer and gives them a credit rating. The system cause a much heavier information gathering of the customers profile as well as a much better assessment of risk than the previous system, which the bank finds positive.

All companies face risk in their daily business. Internationalised companies tend to experience higher risk due to for example unfamiliar business environment than companies that act only on the national market. Estonia became independent as late as in 1991 and is therefore a new interesting market for many companies in neighbouring countries like Sweden. Risks that are most apparent for an internationalised company are political risk, currency risk, capital and interest rate risk, business risk and credit risk. Our intention of this study was to find out how Swedish companies acting on the Estonian market faced the different risks when entering the Estonian market and how they value the risks today.

The aim of this master?s thesis is to examine the virtual reference service Ask the Library [Bibblan svarar] from a postmodern perspective. Ask the Library is a Swedish online reference service that is run by the country?s public libraries. The postmodern theories of Jean-François Lyotard are used to study how information is managed and transmitted within the service.

Today you can pay in many different ways. You can for instance use cash, credit cards, internet and now even with your mobile phone. Today we can also see new types of technical payment solutions being developed, such as Near Field Communication (NFC), mobile banking or through the use of QR-codes. We have today many different payment methods; therefore it?s interesting to see which payment method people prefer the most.

November 1, 2010 the audit requirement in Sweden for small and medium enterprises was abolished, after many years of discussion. This essay aims to examine the effects of the abolishment of the audit requirement on credit. The intention is to draw conclusions about how the possible negative effects of the abolishment of the audit requirement could be prevented.The study has been made using a qualitative method to get a clearer and broader explanation that leads to deeper understanding. It includes an interview with creditors from one of the largest banks whose position represents a large group of lenders. In addition to the lender, two auditors with years of experience have been interviewed.Analysis of collected data has shown that there are both advantages and disadvantages of abolished mandatory auditing.

The interest in tiny wireless applications raises the demand for an integrated reference oscillator with the same performance as the macroscopic quartz crystal reference oscillators. The main challenge of the thesis is to prove that it is possible to build a MEMS based oscillator that approaches the accuracy level of existing quartz crystal oscillators. The MEMS resonator samples which Philips provides are measured and an equivalent electrical model is designed for them. This model is used in the simulations of the Pierce oscillator and the transresistance amplifier oscillator that are evaluated in this thesis. Finally the Pierce oscillator is implemented in the A BCD2 process and manufactured at Philips Semiconductors in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

The aim of the study was to examine if the benthos in a restored portion of a small lowland stream south of Linkoping differed from two non restored reference areas two years after restoration. The reference areas were one stretch downstream and one upstream stretches of the restored stream. The benthic invertebrates were collected using standardized kick sampling. In order to classify the communities and estimate any differences, three different indices were exercised. In addition rank-abundance curves and checklists were used to get a picture of species composition.

This is an empirical study mapping out different citation practices to games in the fieldof game studies. From an analysis of 7 journals, 3 conferences and 22 canonical bookswithin game studies, 5 different strategies for game referencing have been identified.Games scholars can either totally refrain from referring to the games they discuss, onlyreference some specific games, cite them as something special and deviant from othersources, refer to them in accordance with other sources or refer to games with regard totheir unique properties as a reference. For the reference librarian working with issuesrelating to game studies the diverse reference practices among game scholars pose aspecific challenge. A challenge that partly can be overcome by knowing how gamescholars frame games and how these frameworks are in conflict with the ways librariansframe and classify sources due their physical properties..

Studien har handlat om att ta fram riktlinjer för hur extrahering, transformering och inladdning (ETL) av kreditbedömningsinformation bör göras när det kommer till att införa ett Data Warehouse (DW). Ett kvalitativt angreppssätt har använts med både en fallstudie och en intervjustudie, där fallstudien genomfördes med Asitis AB som är en systemleverantör förfinans- och reskontrafinansiering (factoring) för att undersöka potentiella affärsmöjligheter med ett DW med kreditbedömningsinformation. Intervjustudien användes för att samla in värdefull information från individer inom alla berörda problemområden, och användes sedan i fallstudien. Resultatet var både framgångsfaktorer och fallgropar för ETL-processen med kreditbedömningsinformation som kan fungera som stöd för organisationer med detta behov. Det har visat sig att ETL-processen för kreditbedömningsinformation utgör ett område med stor potential för affärsmöjligheter, där det krävs hög kompetens, domänkunskap, proaktivitet och juridisk kunskap vid genomförande av ETL-processen..

This is a qualitative interview study of the importance of the non-verbal communication related to the reference situation at public libraries. The experiences of both librarians and users of the reference service have been explored with regards to non-verbal communication. Eight interviews have been carried out. The results reveal that the users and librarians consider that it is important that the librarian find eye contact as well as give affirmation through nodding and smiling. To demonstrate interest and involvement in the questions through attentive listening is also of great value.

Banks have been some of the biggest operators on the market of business customers financing. When the Swedish Förmånsrättslagen was changed 2004 the banks became more restrictive to allow traditional bank loans. The change made it more difficult for customers to get their loans granted. For that reason customers had to find other forms of financing. Factoring is an alternative that means companies can mortage/sell their claim on customers to finance companies.

In Sweden most public libraries give users access to databases. These databases are sometimes possible to reach outside the library by internet at any time and this provides a change for the library and the society. Librarians function as change agents when they give access to databases and when databases are introduced to users. However, reports show that the use of databases, especially those in English, is not high in reference work. This study aims at analysing attitudes of librarians to access and use of databases on and by public libraries.

The aim of this master thesis is to investigate the design of the reference service and its development that Internet has caused in college/university libraries when it comes to the service provided to the user. I want to examine the quality of this development from the view of the librarians, and also investigate their attitude and how they deal with this development.The following questions were asked:? How has Internet changed the reference service at college/university libraries?? How do the librarians look upon the possible change of quality in the reference service when the Internet is involved?? What attitude do the librarians hold toward this development where Internet is used in the reference service and how do they deal with it?The method used was qualitative interviews. A total of six librarians from Blekinge tekniska högskola, Halmstad högskola, Lunds universitet and Växjö universitet have been interviewed.The theories and models used were ?media richness?, a quality framework including ?quality aspects of a service?, and social psychology and its ?reasons for a positive/negative attitude on an organisations change?.The result shows that Internet has brought more sources of information and additional ways to contact the library.

The aim of this master thesis is to gain greater knowledge of interpersonal communication. This study explores on one hand how interpersonal communication can be used as an important part of reference work in a Swedish electronic synchronous reference service, and on the other how interpersonal communication affects the relationship between user and librarian. By using communication theory and establishing a positive relational contact with the user in the electronic environment, the outcome of the reference encounter can be successful for both the librarian and the user. Furthermore, the importance of recognising relational barriers is of great relevance to the relational contact. The scope of this master thesis is to find what relational factors are used and can be used in the interaction between user and librarian.