The aim of this essay is to examine fan culture?s role in Swedish public libraries. I have interviewed, via email, six librarians who encounter and use fan culture in their daily work. The theoretical elements of my essay are based on a modified set of theories by Dorte Skot-Hansen that identifies six ideal types of cultural political rationalities. My study reveals that fan culture is used in Swedish libraries as a tool in increasing user participation in library activities.

In this essay I describe the development of my prose work entitled Jorden a?r platt (Earth is flat). In the text we encounter a woman whose 40-year-old brother is diagnosed with lung cancer. The brother has been living a hectic life of drug addiction. The relationship between brother and sister is characterized by ironic distance, but also a lot of love.

In the gaming industry, it has long been popular to combine genres with the aim ofcreating games that bring together the best of several worlds. However, there are stillmany unexplored combinations with good potential.This report addresses the planning and development of a game prototype that combinestwo game genres, turn-based and real-time strategy. In addition to presenting the results,the report also discusses the di culties that were encountered and how they were handled.The prototype contains a working combat system and a basic AI. The prototype ismodular, which means that it is easy for an end user to extend the game with extra content.Most elements that were considered important from the two genres were implemented, butthere is still room for improvement and further development.The result is evaluated by means of quality assurance, a process that is commonly usedin the gaming industry. The response has been generally positive, which indicates thatthe combination has potential and should be explored further..

The purpose is to describe and analyze Handelsbanken?s proftit share system Oktogonen and to investigate how it affects the motivation among the employees and management.The method qualitative case-study has been used. Both primary and secondary sources act as a foundation for the thesis. The primary sources are based on eight qualitative interviews. The empirical material is completed with appropriate theories.

The study was conducted with an landscape approach with an subject related approach in the field of environmental psychology to investigate how road design affects drivers' choice of speed. The purpose was to portray road environments on thoroughfares in urban areas to motivate motorists to keep the speed limit and thus increase road safety for vulnerable road users. The task question was formulated, how can thoroughfares in suburban settings be portrayed to motivate motorists to reduce speed? The study was conducted throughout a literature review of motivational speed measures along with interviews with road design experts at the Swedish Transport Administration. Case studies were conducted on three thoroughfares in the Stockholm suburbs Vallentuna, Upplands Väsby and Danderyd.

The aim of the study was to compare how the population of pine (Pinus sylvestris) and spruce (Picea abies) have changed between 1927 and 2013 in the oak landscape south of Linköping. A field study was carried out in 22 two kilometre lines which also had been studied in 1927. In these lines, which where ten meters broad and had a direction from west to east, the pines and spruces were counted, measured and classified by steam diameter. The obtained result was that the basal steam area (m²/ha) had increased for pine (44%) and spruce (57%) between 1927 and 2013. The amount of trees had increased in all diameter classes except thinner pine and spruce with a diameter of 5-10cm.

The Picture book - text and image in interaction. A study of Tove Jansson's picturebook: The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little MyThis study examines Tove Jansson's picture book The Book About Moomin, Mymbleand Little My, to show relationships between text and image in the narration of thestory. This is done through an analysis based on Ulla Rhedins dissertation The picturebook - towards a theory where the conclusion is that the picture book as book mediumcan be divided in three different picture concepts. The various concepts are; the epicpicture book, the expanding text as well as the genuine picture book. This study hasperformed a text and image analysis showing that the image colors, the differentspreads, landscape scenes and characters' placement, et cetera play a role in placingthe picture book in its concept.Tove Jansson used more than text and image to work out the story of theMoomintroll, Mymble and Little My, there are holes in the picture book that have animportant role, which the analysis will show.

In this study we have analysed from an intersectional perspective two textbooks Historia 1b and Progress Gold A which are purposed to be used as teaching material in Swedish schools in the subjects of History and English. Our question and reason for doing the analysis is to emphasise and make the variety of women in the books visible in order to compare that variety to the one that is demanded by the Swedish curriculum. The analysis is made from an ideology critical perspective and contains quantitative elements. Our conclusion is that the material contains both excluding and including features. Some intersectional categories are well represented while others, like functionality and religion, are not.

The purpose of my report is to create an interest in hand caning and different caning patterns, both for professionals and interested laymen. My hope is that they will use my report as a guide and an inspiration, for techniques such as braiding a cane seat. I also discuss how better to preserve cane furniture and different ways in which to finish it. Weaving is easier than you might believe.Today many people discard old and inherited furniture with elements of hand caning because it is too costly to have it repaired by a professional. Some people also remove the cane work and replace it with upholstery and fabric.

With a base in Ian Manners? theory about Normative Power Europe ? that the European Union is to be seen as a normative power instead of a civilian or military ? this paper seeks to contribute to the discussion about identity by examine the normative elements of the union?s policies towards Russia between 1997 and 2013. Which norms are most important and how does the diffusion look? The findings show that democracy, rule of law and respect of human rights are among the most diffused norms, and this is more than often done by using the Russian interest in economic progress. Over time the European Union has taken on a more critical approach against Russia, while still appreciating their prosperous relation when it comes to trade and energy.

This paper is intended to provide a picture of which associations water can wake in the human mind from the perspectives of garden history as well as from that of environmental psychology. I hope to paint a fairly broad picture of our perception of water that can serve as a basis for discussion and as a starting point for different forms of design work in landscape architecture. The historical perspective emphasizes the importance of water as a condition for the emergence of gardens and in a wider perspective the importance of water in early cultures. Also, I describe a picture of how water has been used throughout the history of gardens from early Egypt to the baroque era. The garden history analyzed from an art historical perspective gives a picture of human associations to water, and the history behind these associations is presented. As a compliment to the art history approach, I have chosen to highlight our associations with water from the perspectives of environmental psychology and evolutionary science.

The controversial phenomenon of ?seeker-oriented? megachurches are currently transforming the American religious landscape. These churches, some housing up to 30,000 worshippers every week, are targeting religious seekers as their primary objective. Their success in attracting and converting those who usually wouldn?t even think of attending church can in large parts be explained by changes in liturgy, the removal of visible theological discussion and use of shopping mall styled buildings, designed to make the religious seeker feel like home.

Two different methods for measuring biogas production were used, gas meter and gasbags. The gas meters were electronic and counted each time a certain gasvolume passed through them. The gasbags collected the gas that hade passed through the gas meter until a manual measuring could be done. The two different methods gave the same result for a volume at three liters but for a volume around 0,2 liters they did not. Accuracy and precision for the gasbags was more exact than for the gas meters even if the method was difficult with a lot of different elements that could affect the result.

With inspiration from Bitzers situational analysis a phenomenografic method has been used, influenced by Brown & Levinsons´s theory of politeness, to find perceptions concerning constraints (in Bitzer´s sense in his model of the rhetorical situation) in Internet-based communication. Based on three qualitative interviews, this essay has found that the perceptions are closely linked to views of what constitutes formal and informal contexts, varying due to the gender or age of the informant. Netspeak is not considered appropriate, with some exceptions, in any formal situation. However, the perceptions regarding decorum in informal situations differ in nature, based mainly on what kinds of associations and connotations are produced by elements found in netspeak. Since perceptions regarding informal situations vary, there is a large risk of misunderstanding, which this essay aims to survey..

The purpose of this thesis is to examine adults? fictionreading habits. The focus is finding out what differencesexist between men and women to study the significance offiction to readers. The study is based on a questionnairesurvey with men and women coming in to a public library.We used Sten Furhammar?s reading dimensions andcategories to describe the importance of the respondentsreading experience and describe the ways that men andwomen read.Our result shows that the genres men and women prefer arenovels, detective stories/thrillers and biographies.