The purpose of this study is to investigate the tendencies among pupils concerning their attitudes towards History and some of the stated goals in the present and in the proposed course plan of History, since there is, probably, a change coming in 2011. The study is built on questionnaires answered by one hundred pupils at a Swedish upper-secondary-school. The results point to the fact that most of these pupils like history, but still they do not wish to make it an obligatory subject, which is a government proposal at the moment. Furthermore, the answers about sources, democracy, the use of History and the consciousness about History, have a clear tendency; there have been too little education about these areas during the pupils former nine years in school, still the pupils think that these are important areas to work with. Moreover, this study shows a disheartening picture when it comes to pupils knowledge of their cultural heritage. Only half of the pupils know which century Gustav Vasa lived in and just a third know what year universal suffrage was introduced in Sweden, two facts that ought to be set in most Swedes? mind..

A large part of research about libraries and library buildings in Sweden has been focused on how the building looks not how it functions with the library. The aim with this master?s thesis is to study how a library building is functioning and how its users are experiencing it. This is studied in three libraries, Kungliga tekniska högskolans bibliotek, Sambiblioteket in Härnösand and Vitterhetsakademiens bibliotek. With the questions of how they were planed, what did the libraries want from the new building and which of these demands were realized.

For my advanced degree in archival science, I have organized and catalogued the Blomqvist family archive.  The Blomqvist family archive consists of records from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 21th century. The records in the archive depict and describe different aspect of the Blomqvist familys life and work. Specific problems and theoretical questions that appeared during the cataloguing of the Blomqvist archive were related to the great presence of objects and photographs in the archive. A discussion concerning the role of objects in archives and within archive institution took place. The problem with cataloguing photographs as well as the problem of searching for photographs in archives, were also discussed.       .

This study of literature from the period 1920-1955 has shown that the profession of gardeners in Sweden went through several structural changes in the early and midst 20th century. The gardeners knowledge, which used to cover the whole horticultural spectra, was due to that no longer appreciated or useful. Prior the 1920?s the gardeners, especially the skilled craftsmen working for the upper-classes, were the ones who led progression in the horticultural field forward and their qualifications were many and diverse. Due to many factors, such as low economic and social status, functionalistic style and the fact that the branch were rationalized and modernized in general, lead up to a point where the gardener of old no longer fitted in, in the much more globalized and modern world of the 1950?s. .

The aim of this thesis is to examine the underlying causes for the opening of Karlstad Public Library. In doing so a theory based on the actor/structure model within social theory is used. The structures and actors are intertwined and therefore need to be analysed together. To do so the theory poses a series of questions that needs to be answered. The method used is document analysis.

By using pollen analysis, 14C-dating and historical sources, I studied the history of vegetation and land use at an abandoned forest settlement near the Lade summer farms in the parish of Mora, Dalama. The aim of this paper is to investigate the agricultural establishment and development, the effects of this on forest vegetation, and the origin and development of summer farming. The analysis of pollen in a peat core revealed that a settlement was established at Lade around 1000 AD. Cereal cultivation, hay-making on the mire and extensive forest grazing were intro-duced as a complete agricultural system. Pollen analysis and the presence of ancient fields suggests that cultivation took place on permanent fields. Barley was the main crop, but rye and hops/hemp were also grown at the settlement.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the tendencies among pupils concerning their attitudes towards History and some of the stated goals in the present and in the proposed course plan of History, since there is, probably, a change coming in 2011. The study is built on questionnaires answered by one hundred pupils at a Swedish upper-secondary-school. The results point to the fact that most of these pupils like history, but still they do not wish to make it an obligatory subject, which is a government proposal at the moment. Furthermore, the answers about sources, democracy, the use of History and the consciousness about History, have a clear tendency; there have been too little education about these areas during the pupils former nine years in school, still the pupils think that these are important areas to work with. Moreover, this study shows a disheartening picture when it comes to pupils knowledge of their cultural heritage. Only half of the pupils know which century Gustav Vasa lived in and just a third know what year universal suffrage was introduced in Sweden, two facts that ought to be set in most Swedes? mind..

This thesis investigates young people´s (16-21) preferences in reading through a survey including interviews and questionnaires. The groups attitudes towards reading and libraries, their reading and library habits, and to what extent eight libraries had bought the preferred literature were also examined. Some reports from the 80´s were used to find the changes. The result shows that youngsters read and visit libraries somewhat more frequently. Trivial literature is not as dominant, more teenage-books were read.

The aim of this Master thesis is to study the public libraries' function as a place for people to meet. Four major questions are taken up: + Do the public libraries have the function of a meeting place? + How important do the librarians and the visitors find the libraries possible function as a meeting place? Do they think that this function is important? + What differs the public libraries from other places in society when it comes to the function of a meeting place? + What differences are there between a larger and a smaller library when it comes to the function of a meeting place ? The basis of this study are interviews with employees at a province library in Jönköping and at a smaller library in Sjöbo in Borås municipality. Our study deals with the history of public libraries, its functions as a meeting place, its architecture, culture, and statistics concerning numbers of visitors and loans of books. The conclusions that are drawn are that the public libraries have qualifications to function as a meeting place even if that isn't always the case.

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.

This is a chronological comparative study about opinions expressed in the Church of Sweden when the parishes want to change the inside of a church building. Certain concepts in the study are church, holy and holiness.Architecture plays an important role in the design of a church building. Some traditionaltheological terms that should be considered essential are Via sacra, Domus Dei, DomusEcclesiae. My focus is churches from the 19th century. Today the buildings change in a lotof ways; theologically, practically, economically etc.During the 20th century the churches have got a lot of new objects to use in the services andin the church building.

During the late twentieth century, political and societal changes gave rise to an increased interest in performance evaluation in public organizations. This development also affected libraries in the public sector. The main concern for this master thesis is performance measurement in libraries. In this study two different types of libraries are investigated, one public and the other academic. My aim is to find out if and how performance measurement appears in the libraries annual activity reports.

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.

Care and solicitude about Swedish documentary heritage has varied substantially throughout the years. The main purpose of this essay has been to investigate what efforts have been made to preserve rare book collections at public libraries. These cultural policies have been studied from both a national as well as local perspective. What we have tried to explore can be condensed into three questions: What national initiatives have been taken in the past century to preserve the municipal documentary heritage?What initiatives have been taken in the past century to preserve thedocumentary heritage of what is presently the municipality of Jönköping? What value do rare book collections at public libraries represent? The results indicate few national efforts were initially made to preserve rare book collections in the timeframe we studied.

This thesis deals with the question of how and to what degree Swedish history books for schools changed between the early 20th century and the 1960s. The theoretical foundation for this study is a perspective which treats historical accounts as narratives, bringing meaning and orientation to the present. According to this perspective, historical accounts may be divided into four different types of narratives, traditional, exemplary, critical and genetical. The basis for this division is how the narratives use the past to make the present understandable.The following conclusions are reached:That Swedish history books for schools have changed less, and in a moore gradual way than those dealing with general history. There is a growing use of genetical narratives at the expense of mainly exemplary ones.