The main aim of this master thesis was to see the process of an interactive online reference service from idea to final product. The reference service we have studied is developed and used by the Library of the National Institute for Working Life in Stockholm, Sweden and goes by the name phibi. Our goal was to review the whole realization process from the reasons why a service like this was created, how the service was introduced and implemented inside the organisation and finally what the result and consequences were for both the library staff and for the users of the service. Phibi is designed to be a tool that fosters communication between the library staff and the remote users where the users get the opportunity to be helped with their questions by the library staff although they are not physically present in the library. To understand the process we conducted a case study with 11 interviews of the library staff, the superior and the initiator to phibi.

This master deals with the theme youth and public libraries. The essay is based on observationsand qualitative interviews with young people at the ages of 13 to 16 years old, whovisited the public library of Skara, employees at the library, and politicians in the community.The main issue in the study is; what is and what can be done to increase youth utilization ofpublic libraries. I have emphasized on the media stock, the organization of books, theenvironment and the staff of the library, marketing, specific target group, activities, andcooperation with both internal and external forces.Theories about youth culture and some projects concerning young peoples behaviour in librariesare also presented..

Varför ökar antalet besök på folkbiblioteken medan antalet lån minskar? Syftet med den här undersökningen är att studera vad besökarna gör på Luleå folkbiblioteks huvudbibliotek och hur de betraktar sitt bibliotek. Frågeställningarna är: ? Vad gör besökarna på biblioteket förutom att låna böcker, tidningar och AV-medier? ? Hur betraktar besökarna på Luleå folkbibliotek sitt bibliotek? ? Vilka är det som besöker biblioteket? ? Hur är miljön på biblioteket och vilken inverkan har den på biblioteksbesökarna? ? Är biblioteket också en plats som lockar till sig andra besökare än de som söker det som förknippas med biblioteksverksamhet? För att kunna besvara frågeställningarna har en observationsundersökning och en enkätundersökning gjorts. I analysen har några begrepp från Bourdieu använts.

This two year masters thesis is written in the scientific field of library- and information science. The purpose of the study is to investigate the collaboration between teachers and librarians in different types of school library organisations. Two school libraries with only the school as a target group, two integrated public- and school libraries, one school library division and one public library that provides the school with school library services has been studied. The study takes place in Uppland.The theoretical framework used is based on Montiel-Overall and her four models of collaboration: coordina-tion, cooperation, integrated instruction and integrated curriculum. The first research question focuses on the col-laboration between teachers and librarians based on each of the TLC-models.

The aim of this thesis is to examine discourses about the user category young people in two well-established Swedish library journals between the years 2005 and 2010.The empirical material consists of 65 texts derived from the library journals Biblioteksbladet and Bibliotek i samhälle. By using discourse theory and methodology I discover several different ways in which young people are categorized in the library context. As a complementary theory I have analyzed the material from an intersectional perspective. The result shows that young people most of the times are defined by adults. Several characteristics such as creativity, interest in modern technology, messiness and need for support are repeated in the descriptions of the young, suggesting that there is clear idea of how young people are.

This study aims at contributing to the studies of political implementation. The theory of implementation claims that local implementation that meets the demands of national policies is close to none existing. By examining the implementation of industrial policy in two Swedish municipalities that differs in location, prosperity and political believes I am putting the theory to the test. If the test were to show that the implementation is rather well executed in these two cases, where the risk of failure is great, the questions about whether the theory is valid or not will rise.By interviewing the two local government employees in charge of the work with industrial policy, and studying their strategic documents I got my answers. This by looking at their work but also their attitudes towards the national policy in terms of understanding the policy, being able to work with it, and wanting to work with it.

This study examines the closure of public libraries, and the nonprofit organizations takeover of them as a phenomenon. The aim is to understand why the nonprofit takeover is common and what the takeover symbolizes and if the discourse in media invokes the views on libraries and the profession.Interviews were made with librarians, politicians and representatives of a nonprofit organization to study different sides of the phenomenon. Other empirical data were found in local and national newspapers and media-channels. I discovered that public libraries are highly valued by both politicians and the community. The study also showed that a library in a community makes people feel valued.

The aim of this study is to explore local cultural policy documents in the municipality of Gothenburg Sweden, and, more specifically, to investigate the concepts of cultural planning and instrumental cultural policy. Cultural planning is in this thesis seen as a result of an instrumental view of cultural policy. The theoretical framework consists of the theories of Danish cultural policy researcher Dorte Skot-Hansen. She describes cultural policy in urban areas as founded in motives such as economy, social issues, entertaining and enlightenment. A qualitative text analysis is performed in order to see if the purpose of the cultural policies is to focus on cultural planning as formulated in the document Kulturpolitisk strategi ? version 1.0, adopted by the city council in 1998.

AbstractEssay in political science, C-level, by Bo-Josef Eriksson, spring semester 2007Tutor: Susan Marton?Universal morality - does it exist? - A case study of small states foreign policy?The purpose of this essay is to examine how well does realism stand of against idealism when the focus of the study is on small states foreign policy? The essay takes it?s starting point at the debate between the two theories of international relations (IR). Realism is the theory that has had the most impact on the study of IR since the second world war. Idealism has been it?s greatest opponent and the debate is still active even up til this day.My case study of Danmarks foreign aid policy constitutes a worst critical case scenario for realism and therfore my assumptions were that idealism would be the theory that could explain the core-elements of the Danish foregin aid.

Fenomenet med nationella riskbedömningar är relativt nytt i Europa. Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap överlämnade den allra första nationella riskbedömningen till regeringen år 2013. Syftet i uppsatsen är att undersöka om man genom ett policy transfer-perspektiv på nationella riskbedömningar kan se några indikatorer som hindrar policy transfer inom riskområdet. En första, översiktlig undersökning görs genom att jämföra de risker man lyfter fram i sju europeiska nationella riskbedömningar för att se om man kan tyda något mönster. Uppsatsen tog avstamp ur antagandet att geografisk närhet och liknande interna förutsättningar kunde tänkas innebära att man även har en liknande syn på risker som länder i ens närområde.

I have done a comparative gender study of Library of Congress Classification from 1900 and 2001. I have also used a hermeneutic method and ideological critics to find out what picture of women the both systems shows. In my comparative study of the both systems I have found low update of classes which relates to women in the new classification system. Men seem to be a norm in the system, because men are not defined in classes related to both men and women. But many classes related to women are named Women as and Women in The study also shows that women are more related to subjects about family and marriage than men are.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to explore the function of public libraries as arenas for young people's artistic creations. It examines how the public library makes activities based on independent creativity visible, and what activities of this sort imply to the public library. The thesis also relates this to the public library's task in society. The main object of examination is Demoteket, an on-going project in the south-eastern parts of Sweden. In this project Länsbibliotek Sydost co-operates with Reaktor Sydost, a centre of resource in the fields of young communication and filmmaking.

The aim of this study is to examine present forms of interaction between Child Welfare Clinics (Barnavårdscentraler, BVC), and libraries. The study departs from the user?s perspective, i.e. how the parents evaluate the information they are given about the library and its resources to provide information they want in their present and new situation. In two local communities the survey looks into how parents of babies are informed about the library in meetings arranged as part of the information and support program provided by BVC.

With background in the acknowledgement of the current period of major change in the characteristics of traditional Swedish foreign policy, considering the membership in the European Union, as well as the new contextual scenarios that Sweden has been situated in after the end of the cold war, this thesis aims at scrutinizing the Swedish Foreign Policy from 1991 to 2010. The purpose of the thesis is further to localize continuity and change in the ideas which Sweden has explicitly stated in its foreign policy. Based on the theory of institutionalism, the thesis also aims to bring forward plausible explanations built on the main empirical findings. This has been done by identifying different types of goals and means within realism and liberalism as well as categorizing each theory within three ideal types.The chosen research method has been a qualitative text analysis with focus on an ideational analysis. The material on which the descriptive analysis is based upon is constituted by the annual statements of government policy in parliamentary debates on foreign affairs.The results of the thesis show that the ideas that are related to solidarity, consensus and active foreign policy are constant through the period of examination.

The aim of this study is to analyse the Swedish state´s ambition in achieving equality among its citizens. By studying the new urban policy introduced by the government in 1998 from a theoretical perspective the purpose of this essay is to understand the ideational dimensions in this policy project, in regard to established understandings about equality.The theoretical framework on which this study is based consists of two different parts. The first presents dominating models on welfare states, mainly focusing on the socialdemocratic welfare state. The second introduces influential theoretical views on equality, primarily discussing universalism and a differentiated equality view. It also presents theoretical views on how to understand the relationship between the state an its citizens.