The aim of this master thesis is to investigate how the OPACs Online Public Access Catalogue used by public libraries have adapted the features and possibilities offered by online catalogues, for the purpose of searching for fiction. This is done by comparing five OPACs to Amazon.com, an online bookstore. The questions investigated are: Have the OPACs developed from the principles of the card catalogue and adapted to the features and possibilities offered by online catalogues, when searching for fiction? Can the library catalogue provide the same features as Amazon.com, when searching for fiction? How do the OPACs use the resources that online catalogues provide when searching for fiction, compared with Amazon.com? The thesis is based on two qualitative studies. The first study presents five OPACs from different library systems and examines which features they have in common with Amazon.com.

AbstractPurpose ? The purpose of this study is to investigate possible reasons for long lead-time in a customer driven production, and how the lead-time can be reduced. To fulfil the purpose the study has been broken down into two questions.1. Whichfactorsaffectthelead-timeinacustomer-drivenproduction?2.

In this essay there will be four text books from grade 1 studied, the first one are from the year 1976 and it will be going forward to the year 2012. The aim of this study is to see how the genders are depicted and represented, as well as what roles the genders are given. I do also want to see if there is a notable change in this over time. I will be doing a study based on the quantity of the contents, and I will also be doing a critical discourse analysis.The result of the study showed that there were more gender-based constructions that referred to women in all of the four books, which indicates that women are represented more often in these reading books. It is most common to portray the genders in their stereotypical roles, which again are present in society, but sometimes these roles are depart from what?s present in society.

The purpose of the study was to examine if intrinsic motivation and work commitment to the organization differs between permanent doctors and hired doctors. The total of 63 doctors who participated in the study made an internet-based survey with 21 questions taken from the Basic Need Satisfaction at Work Scale and 3 questions from the section ?work commitment? in QPS Nordic. The main results of the study showed that permanent doctors perceived a higher level of intrinsic motivation on all the three needs autonomy, competence and relatedness. Furthermore the result showed a tendency that permanent doctors perceived a higher level of work commitment to the organization then hired doctors..

Regionalization has become a catchphrase in European countries during the last twenty years with the establishment of the European Union. An ideational development has occurred during time towards emphasing more politicially powerful regions with the idea of new regionalism. Sweden represents a deviant case study, where regions historically have been politically weak and where Sweden has been characterized as a strong unitary state. The aim of this paper is to analyze the political debate in the Swedish parliament concerning the implementation of a stronger regional level (storregioner) during 2007-2010 and to determine if the debate can be characterized as a case of depoliticalization. The theory of depoliticalization have been introduced by Richard Katz and Peter Mair to explain why political parties through external pressure from europeanisation and globalization tend to become more consensual with similar political agendas, leading to a diminished the lef-right scale.

Beef production in Sweden has traditionally been about rearing of dairy calves to slaughter. With reduced number of dairy cows and accordingly less dairy calves for slaughter, there has been a need for new forms of beef production in Sweden. In Västerbotten there are good conditions for beef production with a high feeding level of roughage due to favourable climate. The aim of this thesis is to, through interviews with ten farmers with beef production in Västerbotten, study what and with how much they feed their animals and link the results to production level. The thesis begins with a literature review where the general feeding standards and feeding recommendations for beef cows and growing cattle are examined.

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to examine whether the individual influence at the working place leads to the perception of decreased stress. Also I looked at whether stress and individual influence is affected by the employees age, sex or employment years. Previous research shows that individual influence decreases stress but strangely enough do the research show that individual influence seem to decrease in today?s work environment. This research is quantitative with questionnaires, answered by 74 civil servants working in a department in the municipality of Karlstad.

   Samhället står i ständig förändring, och vi lever i ett informationssamhälle där vi ideligen kommer i kontakt med olika former av texter, vilket har fått till följd att det ställs andra krav på människans läsutveckling. Då forskning har visat på minskad läsförmåga hos elever i årskurs 4, ansåg vi det intressant att utveckla kunskap om hur elevers läsintresse kommer till uttryck i och utanför skolan, vilket också är studiens syfte. I denna studie har kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod kombinerats. För att få svar på vilka förutsättningar som har betydelse för elevers läsintresse utanför skolan, genomfördes en enkätundersökning. Elevernas enkätsvar användes som stöd när lärarna därefter intervjuades.

One of the main tasks of the Swedish Armed Forces over the past few years has been International assignments, which increased the importance of the Lessons Learned process. Methods of simulator training with computers have become more frequent and the technical ability to collect digital data from sensors has been developed as well. This work demonstrates how the experience of Lessons Learned can be communicated with the computer simulator StriSimPC and how modern technology in future support experiences from the Lessons Learned process at the tactical level in the Army.Currently knowledge sharing consists of several processes and strategies in the Swedish Armed Forces. This is done by written reports, oral presentations and different practical exercises.This case study shows the functions of the simulator StriSimPC, methods of training and how it is used today. The study also describes the future opportunities, where digital metadata acquired from the modern combat vehicles could contribute sharing of experience in the Lessons Learned process.The summarized conclusions indicate that StriSimPC can combine the two strategies for personalization and codification of knowledge transfer to reach a higher level of learning.

The aim of this masters thesis is to explore a mediators practical procedure during booktalks. The main question is: Why do librarians have booktalks and what does it mean to have booktalks for children? In order to answer our main question, we have used these three questions: - Why do our interviewed librarians have booktalks? - How do our informants prepare their booktalks and what do their presentations look like? - Do our informants have any follow-ups of their booktalks and if so, how do they do that? To limit the thesis, we have concentrated our study to Swedish public libraries and to children in the elementary school. We have conducted qualitative interviews with three librarians who do booktalks for children as a part of their job. The thesis theoretical basis is Aidan Chambers theory about the Reading Circle and especially the parts enabling adult and selection.

Research has concluded that meaningless differentiation with trivial attributes sometimes can be a successful strategy. However, the effect varies with respect to certain aspects such as the price of the product and the decision context. How the characteristics of the consumer influence the effect of trivial attributes has until now been unknown. This thesis investigates how the consumer?s level of knowledge and personal involvement influence the effects of trivial attributes on product preferences and product attitudes.

The essence of literature ? it?s voice, it?s meaning? has always been scrutinized of interest to readers and theorists. The language in itself has the power to revolt against and undermine current and dominant hierarchies. This language can also be of a passive nature, accepting existing norms and dichotomies. This paper has the ambition to examine the language, the voice, of Clarice Lispector in her novel A Hora da Estrela (The Hour of the Star).The theoretical horizon from which I will read The Hour of the Star is that of Hélène Cixous, which can be expressed through the term écriture féminine.

Which expectations did leading debaters place on fiction as an instrument in achieving societal changes hoped for by introducing the Public library? How can the value of fiction be described in relation to the mission of the Public library, according to these moulders of public opinion? Place and timeframe for this thesis is Sweden around the years 1905-1912 (period of formation of the Public library here according to the Anglo-American model). Starting point is the assumption that the Public library as a political institution is characterized by an ideological function. It produces meaning and norms, it sets standards of value. Method used is based on close reading and comparison.

In today?s history teaching in Sweden, role-play and historical re-enactment receive littleattention. Even though many students find history as a subject boring and irrelevant, verylittle is done to improve the mode of teaching. My theses is that this could be done bypresenting new ways of teaching and at the same time find a way to make more studentsinterested in history. The main aim is to investigate if there are ways to offer students anexperience of history by carrying out different interactive exercises with a touch of roleplayand historical recreation.

Store windows, as many earlier research studies indicate, is an important factor of the store atmosphere to attract customers into the store. In this study we have narrowed it down and chosen to focus on how different contexts of the store windows will effect customers' evaluation. The purpose is to find out how the context of high creativity and low creativity combined with different time aspect in store windows will affect store image, attitude, entering decisions and purchase intention toward the store. The results are based on a quantitative study where we did an experiment and a field study. The result shows that higher level of creativity is better than lower level of creativity in certain aspects.