The aim of this masters thesis was to study how the members of a small non-profit organisation perceived the web forum, compared to the other information channels of the organisation. The organisation was defined as a virtual community. A literature review was conducted. The theory construction was based on the sensemaking theory. Interview questions were constructed based on the literature review and the sensemaking theory.

The purpose of this paper was to analyse ?Identity- about trademarks, signs and symbols?. The project was a co-operation between the National museum of Art and Stockholm School of Economics in the spring of 2002, which consisted of an exhibition, a book and a series of seminars. The goal was to illustrate how the trademark had developed through history, which role it has in the modern society and how the trademark serves as a creator of identities. The project, mostly the exhibition, was exposed to criticism, which was directed towards the sponsorship deals between The National Museum of Art and five companies..

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine how health information is integrated into knowledge in an everyday health related context on the web. The more specific aim is, from a LIS point of view, to map knowledge related discourses with the focus on pregnancy, in discussion forums on Swedish health related web sites. The following main questions in this paper are: (1) a) What discourses on pregnancy knowledge can be found and b) how are they expressed? (2) What are the functions of the recognised discourses? and (3) what are the relations between the identified discourses? The theoretical and methodological starting-point is discourse theory with the main focus on discursive psychology according to Wetherell?s and Potter?s theoretical and empirical work.

In this thesis I investigate what librarians working with children do for six-year-olds at the libraries in order to stimulate them to read. I also investigate how children of this age read and what books are like for these beginners. The background for the thesis is that reading decreased a lot in ages three to eight during the 1980s and 1990s. My aim is to see what projects, methods and other strategies there are to get children to read. The method used is case study.

This thesis deals with information practices of first time parents. The term information practice covers topics ranging from the information a parent need and use, the information they actively seek for through to information attained through browsing, monitoring or simply being aware. Four problem areas have been formulated. What information do first time parents need? How do they get hold of information and how do they use it? What factors decide what sources they use? How do the first time parents validate the information they get? The following theoretical framework have been used; Marcia J Bates? model of information practice and Reijo Savolainen?s Mastery of Life theory.

The goal in doing this study has been studying public interpretations of media content in the commercials that this study uses. The analysis was based on two TV commercials for feminine hygiene products. Initially, they seemed to differ from each other, but soon the question whether or not they in fact did convey the same underlying message was raised. The theoretical premises on which the study was founded on are the gender perspective in advertising and the social construction of gender. To reveal the hidden signs appearing in these commercials and to find out their meanings, we used the method of semiotic analysis.

The aim of the study is to research if the Sweden Democrats portray themselves in a way that can be described as populistic and xenophobic and also if this portrayal has changed over time.In order to do so, the terms of populism and xenophobia has been defined by research and put together into two separate ideal types. Through the eyes of the two ideal types and their traits, four of the party programs of the Sweden Democrats have been researched to look at how they express themselves in the programs and if it can be connected to some of the traits within the two ideal types.The conclusion is that some of the traits are to be found in the programs, and that this also varies over time. From showing signs of both populism and xenophobia, the populistic traits become less over time, while the xenophobic ones instead increases..

This masters thesis aims to investigate how upper secondary school pupils experience their information seeking in a school context without access to a school library. It is the pupils own thoughts and opinions about information seeking and criticism of the sources that is the main focus. The literature that has been used consists of material from research concerning youth and different aspects of information seeking such as the information seeking process, information seeking on the web, criticism of the sources and how pupils interact with other people in order to acquire information. The method that has been used is group interviews. Twelve pupils from an independent school without access to a school library have been interviewed in groups of three.

The aim of this thesis is to examine how high school students use their school library for their information-seeking. The theoretical framework is based on Louise Limbergs three categories of students views on information-seeking and Andrew Large and Jamshid Beheshtis three categories of students choice of information systems. Qualitative interviews were used and seven high school students were interviewed. The empirical material was compared and divided into 9 categories. The results show that the students see the school library as a place where they can search for information, but its also considered to be a good place to hang out between lessons to study or to meet friends.

In order to respond to a more complex community planning with increased cooperation and public participation, a common language and a common model to be used as a base for the communication process is needed. The thesis behind this dissertation for a master's degree is that a virtual 3D planning portal would respond to this need. Why and how are explained and described through studies of communication- and perception theory as well as technology and recent research. The introduction concludes that a broad participation and a transparence towards underlying information are important foundations for the coming work with the model. The first four chapters of the theory part show the benefits of using natural signs in our mixed cultural society, instead of the more arbitrary symbols. Using visual landscapes for storing information is motivated by the flexibility of our visual memory and its ability to understand complex connections.

The aim of this literature review was to describe how the literature presents parents? need for information and how parents perceive the information from care personnel when their child 0-18 years of age is diagnosed with diabetes. The literature search was performed in the databases PubMed and Cinahl. Thirteen articles that met the inclusion criteria were studied. The results showed that when a child is diagnosed with diabetes the whole family faces a new situation and the parents are in great need for adequate information from care personnel to be able to deal with the new life situation and participate in the care.

This thesis deals with the information needs and information provision of teachers in compulsory school, from a role theoretical perspective. The object is to investigate teachers opinions on their information needs and information provision. The following questions have been used to approach the problem: Which are the information needs of teachers in compulsory school? How do teachers get the information they need? Which difficulties and deficiencies do teachers experience in their information provision, and what does the ideal situation look like? The theoretical frame of reference consists of a model of the information seeking of professionals, which is based on role theory. Qualitative interviews have been carried out with nine teachers.

An information audit identifies, among other things, organizations information resources, the information flow and the needs of the information users. The purpose of this masters thesis was to describe the management of information within a local unit of Borås municipality by putting an information audit-method in practice. The focus was on three issues: What information needs could be seen in the organization? How does the information flow through the organization? How does Sugan Henczels seven-stage model serve as a tool to map the management of information within the local unit? The study only described the situation at a certain time at the chosen organization. The seven-stage information audit model was revised and adjusted to the studied organization by only carrying out four of the seven steps: Planning, Data collection, Data analysis and Data evaluation.

The main purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of information needs of eight vocational studies teachers at the Handicraft Programme at a senior high school. I have analyzed the teachers? needs of information and the empirical material has been collected through interviews with eight vocational studies teachers. To analyze the interviews I have used Lars Höglund and Olle Persson?s model for information needs and a model for information sources.

In this study the semi structured interview method was used to explore what kind of knowledge one In State Authority: The Migration Board, and three Non Governmental Organisations: Red Cross, Save the Children and ISS- International Social Service have about the situation for separated children. Another purpose in this study was to explore if people who are close to the children are working for the best of the children and if their cases were treated with legal security. The result shows that the children?s cases are not treated with legal security and some of the children suffer psychologically from separations from the families and other children need new families because they were maltreated. The result also shows that there are signs that separated children are discriminated compared to children with a Swedish background..