The research objective of this thesis was to conduct a holistic evaluation of an operational information system. By holistic evaluation we mean that an equal focus was placed on both the system system perspective and its users user perspective, in the actual environment where the system and its users function contextuality. In addition, the methodological objective of the study was to test a new research approach in a real life setting. The participants of the study were twenty newspaper journalists employed at Göteborgs-Posten GP. The information system NewsLink is a manually indexed full-text database containing all articles published in GP since 1994.

The paper aims to find out how staff and users at two public libraries and one Internetcafeuse Internet. The purpose has been to find out what they find and how they use the informa­tion they retrieve. The studies are based on eight longer interviews with the staff and 33 shorter with the users, who also were observed for a week. The paper includes a background chap­ter about Internet, search tools and the studied places. The following chapters are about pre­vious research, our survey and a discussion with the results, literature and our opinion.We have found out that Internet is usually used for information retrieval.

The purpose of the study is that based on focus groups with personal assistants understand how self-determination and participation, expresses itself in work with the users. The study has a focus on the concepts of power and help and social citizenship in the context of self-determination and participation. We are interested to explore how personal assistants reason and argue about different design cases and situations related to self-determination and participation in the relationship with the users. For this study we have used a qualitative method and to collect our data we have used focus groups and different design cases (vignettes). To analyze our data we used the theory about power and help and the theory about social citizenship.

The purpose of this master's thesis is to study how librarians at public libraries make the literature with state supported distribution available through marketing. By qualitative interviews with nine heads of libraries the thesis examines how the library staff in each library market the state supported distribution by the Swedish Art Council. My theoretical framework is based on Philip Kotler's thesis on marketing. My conclusion is that the library staff rather market the library as whole, than focus on just one specific type of books. The attitudes toward the state supported distribution are a mixed one, but the library staff is glad for what is given..

The aim of this thesis is to examine how four decision makers at a University College and a library director at the same University College perceive the profile, image and identity of their library. This University College library is used as our main example. We have evaluated the main example in relation to two other University College libraries, in order to obtain a deeper understanding of how these library directors view their own libraries and to attain a more multi-dimensional view of the main example of our study. Our intention is to analyse the current situation, not the past nor the future. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with decision makers and library directors have been conducted.

This Master?s thesis is about the public library development in a rural district, in this case Bergunda, a large rural district in Kronoberg?s County in Småland in Sweden, existing 1952 ? 1970. The main question is; how the public library develops in Bergunda large rural district 1951-1970. The main question is divided up in sub-questions: the district uniting in 1952 and 1971; personnel; lending; library housing and the public library structure. In 1952, there is one public library, Bergunda public library, and four study circle libraries.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to analyze the relation between the discursive formation and the optical formation in the public library-apparatus. An ongoing individualization process in the library field and in society at large is used as a backdrop in the analysis. Discourse analysis is used as a method to explore the main Swedish library periodicals Biblioteksbladet, Bibliotek i Samhälle and DIK-forum. All issues from the years 1999 and 2009 have been used as material. The main analytical instruments applied in the analysis of this material are Michel Foucault's terms dispositive, apparatus and diagram.

The aim of this thesis is to study social tagging in an OPAC by looking at the tags of Ann Arbor District Library?s catalogue. In this thesis I analyse the possibilities of social tagging. The main questions to be answered are what is the distribution of tags in different categories, what are the differences between fiction and non-fiction and how do the social tags differ from the terms of the professional indexing practice. Studying 500 tags I find that subject matter was the most frequent category for tags assigned to fiction and non-fiction.

This bachelor thesis explores the library collaboration "HelGe-libraries" goals, guidelines and strategies for their resource sharing of library books and digital resources. The questions asked were: What does the resource sharing look like when it comes to media and services? What goals and guidelines do they have for the resource sharing? What common strategies do they have for the resource sharing? What challenges have they encountered with resource sharing and how have they dealt with them?The theoretical framework consists of Jennifer Rowleys theory of innovation strategies for libraries and Rosabeth Moss Kanters theory on the art of alliances. The method used to collect material was interviews and document analysis. Four informants were interviewed.My study concludes that the "HelGe-libraries" has formulated goals for their resource sharing and that the resource sharing is connected to their goals.

This is a master thesis about the reconstruction of Bibliotheca Alexandrina. With a hermeutical approach utilizing literature review and interviews it examines how the library have come into existence, and what the Swedish efforts have been to help the project along. Using a mainly structural perspective, the major factors examined are world politics, Egyptian society and library values. The conclusion is that myths about the ancient library of Alexandria, the city of Alexandria itself, world politics, a more stable Egyptian society, improved world and Egyptian economy, an improved Egyptian reverence for reading and writing, less censorship, more freedom of speech and Egyptian national pride all have contributed to new library. Swedish efforts by Sida, the Swedish Institute in Alexandria, FAV and SWEBA have mainly been in the areas of information technology, education of Egyptian library staff and childrens literature..

The aim of this study has been to investigate actors? methods for acquiring information that is necessary for their profession, with a focus on the more random methods they might possibly use. The study is based on the following questions: What information needs do actors have in relation to their profession? Which methods do actors use to procure information? Which information systems do actors use? What role does the library play in the actors? acquisition of information? Through an interview study with 10 informants a picture is formed of the actors? information behavior. With the help of theoretical ideas regarding random methods of acquisition, we describe which information needs actors have and how they acquire that information.

The main purpose of this thesis has been to investigate librarians opinions about the need for and possibility to use non-roman script in library catalogues. We have also investigated the routines of handling materials in non-roman scripts in two Swedish libraries. The investigation was made in the light of the recent shift in character set in the Swedish National Library Catalogue Libris. This change will enable use of multiple writing systems in the future.Our findings are that a multicultural society requires special consideration to the needs of citizens who speak other languages than the majority of the population. This becomes difficult when the languages spoken have a different writing system than the one used by the majority.

The purpose of this masters thesis is to evaluate bookmobile service as a decentralised library service. I have made a qualitative interview survey, with seven Swedish municipalities participating, all providing bookmobile service in their rural parts. The purpose with the interviews is to examine their bookmobile service. I have also studied articles on bookmobile service, and decentralisation through small library units in library journals, to get an insight into how the work with decentralised library service is done in Swedish municipalities. In this thesis answer is sought to the following questions: - Which decentralised library services are suitable for inhabitants and institutions in sparsely populated areas, considering factors such as number of inhabitants, proportion of old people and children, demographic changes, economy, possibilities to cooperate with other municipalities? - What is the current bookmobile service situation in Sweden, taking seven municipalities in the region of Småland as a starting point? My conclusions are that each municipality must decide which decentralised library services that best suites their needs.

The aim of this study is to examine how important a factor the environment and the interior is to the creation of a user-friendly children?s library. In this study, environment is taken to mean the furnishing and the equipment in the children?s area at the library. The environment plays an important role in society today and because of that this is a current topic.

The aim of this study is to investigate variations of conceptions among prison librarians, concerning mediation of information from an ethical perspective. We have performed interviews with nine librarians and used the phenomenographic approach when analyzing the material. Sixteen categories of conceptions were found, distributed on four aspects of the phenomenon, the act of mediating information to inmates. The results show a variety of conceptions among the librarians. The four aspects cover conceptions about the inmates as users of the library services in prisons, conceptions about the information need of the inmates, conceptions concerning policies, guidelines and laws and conceptions about information access in the prisons.