User education is an important aspect of university libraries' service to its users. This Masters' Thesis is about online user education. The aim of this study is to analyse five Swedish online user courses in relation to information literacy and learning theory. The web-sites were explored through textual analyses to find how concepts of information literacy and learning theory are expressed. The theoretical framework is based on Carol C Kuhlthau's three levels of user education, Paul Ramsden's three theories of teaching in higher education and Christine Bruce's different aspects of information literacy.

This thesis aims to analyse ontology, primarily as the word is used in the context of the Semantic Web. One of the main questions is how ontologies relate to classification and thesauri, two concepts well known within Library and Information Science. The vision of the Semantic Web, a more intelligent addition to the current World Wide Web, has raised the question of how to deal with information scattered over a multitude of locations, stored in different formats, written in different languages et cetera. This issue is in many ways similar to the classical problems encountered in library science: how to classify and categorise large amounts of information. The use of ontologies is one of the main steps leading to the Semantic Web, as well as a tool which can be used in other areas of information organisation and management.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine the importance of public libraries for individuals in their everyday life and to study the differences in views between the individuals. Questions posed in this study are: What do public libraries mean to individuals? Which differences between individuals views of the public library are to be found? What is the reason for differences to occur? The analysis is based upon qualitative interviews with six persons, four women and two men between 31 and 55 years of age. The theoretical starting points are Anderson and Skot-Hansens theory of four different roles of public libraries and Bourdieus theory of lifestyle. The study acts on a hermeneutic attitude.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine three library weblogs to evaluate how they are used and what type of information the libraries publish in these specific weblogs.The following three questions are the basis of this study:? What is the content of the weblogs?? How is the weblog used as a tool by the libraries?? How is the interaction between the library and the readers of the weblogs presented regarding the comment function?The method that has been used in this study is content analysis and the code units have been created during the process. It is mainly a qualitative analysis but it does also contain quantitative elements. With the content analysis, 21 different themes where cut from the three weblogs. These themes where then put into the model of the local library profiles worked out by Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine in what way library users are depicted on images at two academic libraries; the University College of Borås Library & Learning Resources (BLR) and the Gothenburg University Library (GUB). 62 images, from websites and information brochures, are analyzed and the main questions are: How are users represented on images? What activities are shown? What is the difference between BLR and GUB? How can the consequences of the representations be understood? Little is currently known in the LIS-field about how images work as constructors of the social reality. The theoretical and methodological point of departure of the study is discourse analysis, new institutional theory and picture analysis.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to examine the function of public libraries on the social web, focusing on reading promotion and reading stimulation. For an understanding of the larger context regarding public libraries on the social web, we conducted online interviews via email with people in the Swedish library profession, together with a content analysis of various texts on the subject found in library journals and on the Internet. Furthermore to identify the public library's practice on reading promotion and reading stimulation on the social web, we did interviews with librarians at a public library on their use of a blog for this purpose, together with a questionnaire handed out to the library's users on their use and conceptions of the blog.The conceptual framework of this study consists of four key aspects in the theoretical and empirical definition of Library 2.0 presented by Holmberg, Huvila and Widén-Wulff. The results showed that the public library can create a substantial value through its use of the social web, but it?s necessary to have a clear vision of the desired outcome.

The aim of the study is to examine how different factors,such as views on how knowledge is produced and howlearning takes place, effect the way an academic librarymanages space. This is done by looking into how a specificlibrary, namely Library & Learning Resources (LLR) at theUniversity of Borås, by re-planning the building?s structure,design and functions, can support the students? differentstudying habits. The analysis is performed by using a theoreticalperspective built by a model first created by thearchitect Daniel Koch. The model is designed to look uponhow space produces meaning and knowledge.

The aim of this thesis is to mediate to the reader an image of Chinese classification systems and in what way the methods of classification have progressed during time. The tradition of classification in China is very old and dates back more than two thousand years, but it wasnt until the downfall of the dynastic era in the beginning of the 20th century, that Chinese libraries and methods of classification were modernized. This thesis also identifies the development of Chinese librarianship which is of old age since Chinese literature stretches three thousand years back. The main question is in what way the values of three different philosophies are reflected in five classification systems compiled between 1953-1975. The three philosophies are Daoism, Confucianism and Maoism/Mao Zedong Thought.

This Master s thesis deals with the display of library media, whether it is conceivable and desirable to draw inspiration from the retail business when displaying articles. The questions asked are: are there, in the retail sector, well established display ideas and - if so - what do they look like? Are the similarities in conditions, between the branches, sufficient? In conveying the ideas to libraries, are the potential differences not obstructive? Is there, among librarians, a positive attitude towards further development of library display techniques? The results were achieved by interviewing shop window dressers and librarians. In addition, a survey was sent to the library managers of 65 public libraries in southern Sweden. The results show that there are established ideas and methods of displaying materials, and that the ideas are manifested in frequently used techniques.

This study focuses on the encounter between the academic librarian and the academic library user with a specific need for information. The aim of the study is to examine the process of mediation of information and to uncover any inherent problems or systemic inertia that may occur within that process.Special attention has been given to information-seeking behaviour in the digital age and the possibility of viewing information literacy as a meta-literacy. The difference between the surface web and the academic invis- ible web is also investigated. Empirical data was collected by the use of ethnographic fieldwork at the Karolin- ska Institutet University Library over a period of five weeks. The data is analysed using actor-network theory as a point of departure.

The aim of this two years master thesis in Library and Information Science is to examine how librarians and library managers in the three Stockholm suburbs of Alby, Fisksätra and Rinkeby think and reason about the role of public libraries in the integration process. The aim is also to examine whether their perception differ from that of local politicians at the municipal level. The theoretical framework is Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hanses model for analysis of the local library profile, and Jose Alberto Diaz theory on the integration process. The method used is qualitative interviews. The interviews were recorded and the content was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results of this study show that the library services in the three suburbs, rather than being stipulated by the legal demand for special services towards immigrants, are based on the needs of the local population.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to describe the information behaviour of six adults with dyslexia with focus on how they handle information problems. The data consists of literature and interviews with six persons with dyslexia. The theoretical framework used in this study is Anders Hektors theory about human information behaviour as well as concepts and theories from the library and information science field. Ten information activities are used to describe the informants information behaviour. Answers are sought to the following questions: · How do the informants describe their backgrounds and their reading- and writing disabilities? · What problems do the informants meet in the context of information in their everyday lives with reference to ten particular information activities? · How do the informants solve these problems? The study showed that the main problems for the informants appeared to be difficulties with reading and spelling, problems with the appearance of the information, lack of time and stress while reading and writing as well as problems with lack of awareness about dyslexia.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role social media canplay in a school library context, based on a theoretical model,called ?A new model for the public library in a knowledge andexperienced society? by Henrik Jochumsen, Dorte Skot-Hansenand Casper Hvegaard Rasmussen.The bachelor thesis aim to answer three research questions, theyare as follow: Which request of social media is there by teachersand pupils at a high school library? Which social media is the mostrequested by teachers and pupils at a high school library? Andshould the library services for teachers and students be improved ifsocial media were used at a high school library?The methodology used for this study was an inquiry investigation.My findings are presented in a context of previous, relatedresearch and the study shows that teachers and pupils are wellinformed of what social media is and they use social media whenthey are at school.The thesis also shows that the unit I study, a vocational trainingunit, is more or less interested in what the school library can do forthem with social media.They seldom are at the school library and they seldom use theteach platform were they can find library services.This result can open up for the school library to meet the users at anew arena with for example social media..

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the differences between the traditional way of conducting a reference interview and the electronic way. The main questions of this thesis are: How does the electronic reference interview appear in comparison to the traditional one? How do the librarians experience the differences? Is quality affected in the electronic reference interview? Examples from Fråga biblioteket Ask the Library have been used in this study. The method used in the investigation is based on qualitative interviews in combination with studies of relevant and recent literature. The librarians interviewed all have experience from both traditional and electronic reference work.

The Swedish Library Classification System, known as the SAB-system, can be viewed as a product of the cultural and social norms and values in Sweden during the time in which it was created and subsequently reviewed. The main purpose of this master?s thesis is to examine the archaeology section J in the SAB-system, in order to observe if values and norms within this discipline had any impact on the Swedish Library classification system. Our intention is therefore to verify any correspondence between the choice of topics and hierarchical structure of that section, and the values and norms that ruled the Swedish society during the 20th century at large but with particular emphasis to the academic discipline of Archaeology. At the present, Archaeology is often disputed as a value-free interpretive science.