I intend to examine how teachers interpret the purpose of preschools and the national curriculum and how they handle any problems rising due to the fact that the curriculum is just an instructional document and freely interpreted. Personnel working within the school system have different opinions on how to maintain a functional educational activity. How do they interpret the national curriculum and why? Are there any similarities or differences between different teacher?s views and is it possible to approach this in a constructive way? Is it really possible that personnel working at Swedish preschools are unaware of their purpose or is there another explanation?In this study I have worked according to the qualitative method and have been conducting interviews with the possibility to open follow-up questions with room for interpretation. A total of six people on four different preschools have been interviewed and their answers have been analyzed as a whole.The result from these six interviews shows that there are both differences and similarities in their interpretations of the purpose of the Swedish preschool.

This bachelor thesis examines the activities and values associated with automation and technical development at four Swedish research libraries. It does so by applying textual analysis to annual reports and job advertisements from the respective libraries. The study also questions whether some assumptions of automation have changed or remain over time, and includes a short historical discussion in relation to the contemporary analysis. As an added perspective it introduces the methods and philosophies of French sociologist Bruno Latour. The author reflects on the merits of Latour in research of library automation.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine which role public libraries play or could play within bibliotherapy. The study is based on qualitative interviews with five librarians who, in one way or another have experienced bibliotherapy activities. Further, we have interviewed two treatment assistants and one counsellor, who have cooperated with the librarians, to get their view. We have used the following research questions: Which bibliotherapeutic activities, if any, are pursued in public libraries in Sweden, and how do they look upon bibliotherapy? What role do public libraries play/could play within bibliotherapy? Ever since the term bibliotherapy was coined in the beginning of the twentieth century, the definition has been under debate. We have identified four main subjects of discussion.

In Sweden there is an integration policy and a policy for national minorities. The integration policy aims to integrate newly arrived immigrants (nyanlända invandrare), whereas the minority policy aims to maintain and strengthen the rights of the national minorities. The national minorities are though, at times, included into the integration policy, even though they hold a minority status in Sweden. This paper aims to, through discourse analysis, investigate the research question: ?how is the content of integration referred to, when it is related to immigrants, contra when it is related to national minorities?.

Abstract This thesis is based on a case study of the drawn out legal process on the question of establish a limestone quarry in Bunge Ducker in north Gotland (Sweden). The current fields are located next to areas that are protected by virtue of being EU-certified Natura 2000-areas. Despite this, the Swedish governments and courts have not agreed in witch national interest that should be prevail when decisions are made on this issue. This phenomenon are reflected in the judicial process and different court have evaluate information differently in the case. A change among governmental actors where priority is given to the importance of national interest have occur in the later part in the process.

National tests has been carried out in fifth grade since 1996. Spring 2011 is the first year since the start, when it is no longer mandatory for Swedish schools to carry out the tests in fifth grade. Instead the tests will be moved to sixth grade, starting in spring 2012. This thesis investigates what effects the national tests has got on the teachers planning, but also what attitude the educators have to the tests. To solve the subject, teachers that are active in fifth grade and have recently carried out nationel tests in their class, were interviewed.

This thesis studies the Swedish advertising business as an actor in the national formation of Sweden. It argues that earlier research has ignored to see advertising businesses as possible forces of these formations. The essay investigates how this appears historically through collaboration with an informational organisation that had risen due to the Second World War and that was a part of the national defence. I can, by investigating a discussion that focused on this informational organisation and the advertising businesses relation to it, show how the business as an effect of a civic engagement expressed an interest to participate in the informational work. The thesis will also, through the pamphlet Om kriget kommer.

This thesis is an attempt to study whether if problem-oriented teaching implies a moreadvanced use of school libraries than other teaching methods.Teachers have been interviewed about what kind of information they and their pupils need,and where they find their information. Another question is whether the problem-orientedteaching method makes it easier for the pupils to find information in school libraries thanother teaching methods do.The result of the study is that a problem-oriented teaching method creates opportunitiesfor the school library to become an important place for information retrieval. This teachingmethod is a major, but not the only determinal factor. Other contributing factors could beteamwork between teachers and school librarians and the existence of learning aids..

The purpose of this Master's thesis was to examine how and what trainee teachers are being taught about information seeking and school libraries related to problem-based teaching method in compulsory school. The questions at issue were: How have trainee teachers learned about information seeking? How have trainee teachers learned about using school libraries? We also wanted to know which education they have got in information seeking and school libraries. We examined this through both literature and empirical studies. We used a qualitative method in order to answer the questions at issue.

The main purpose of this essay was to study the program "Nationellt stöd för kunskapsutveckling inom socialtjänsten" ("National support for knowledge development within the social services") from the National Board of Health and Welfare on the basis of how such a development, as represented by the program, could affect clients' possibilities to participation and influence within the social services.To respond to the purpose I used the following questions at issue:* How is client participation and client influence defined in the program?* What arguments for and/or against client participation and client influence are stated?* Which patterns and similarities/differences are possible to discern between the municipalities and universities that participated in the program when it comes to client participation and client influence?The study was conducted as a document analysis. I studied documents from the program both on a national and a local level. The essay uses empowerment theories and theories concerning client participation and client influence. The main conclusions were that on the national level the authors of the documents spoke with caution about their view on client participation and client influence and expressed that it had to be balanced against the rights of the citizens and the social workers for example.

This paper investigates the ongoing talks between the Swedish libraryassociation (Svensk Biblioteksförening) and the Swedish Publishers?Association (Svenska Förläggareföreningen) regarding a new payment modelfor e-book loans in Swedish public libraries. The current model allows an ebookto be lent an infinite number of times and for each loan the library paystwenty Swedish kronor to the supplier, Elib, which in turn passes half of thatsum on to the publicers.The reason for the talks is that both libraries and publishers have reason to bedispleased with the current model. For the libraries it has proven to be aneconomic challenge, for the already strained library economies, sincepayment is made directly by the individual library from the media budget.The publishers also have reasons to want a change of model since thecompensation they receive from the libraries is not enough for them tocontinue publishing e-books and making a profit. They argue that to protectthe commercial e-book market the principle of free loans has to be replacedby a model that introduces ?friction? in the form of limitations on how manytimes a title can be loaned.This study is based on interviews with representatives from both sidesinvolved in the talks, along with a representative from Elib and a librarian.An analytical tool has been constructed by the author to aid in the process ofuncovering arguments and standpoints in the interviews.

The focus of this thesis is a specific part of Swedish library policy called library plans. A library plan is a political document created with the purpose of constituting a platform for co-operation between different library systems within a municipality, e.g. through determining and analysing the needs for library activities within municipalities in Sweden.This thesis´ aim is to investigate whether library plans are, or can be used as, a tool for change and thereby increase legitimacy for public libraries in Sweden.We have examined aspects of library plans using theories from change management to determine whether these plans include tools focusing on conditions in organisations that could result in an improved and stronger position in the society for public library. Through the use of theories from new institutionalism we opted for an understanding of the interaction between the libraries and the context in which they are part of.Upon examining 23 library plans, we discovered similarities as well as diversities among them. From our study we have drawn the conclusion that it is important to analyse the specific needs of each different municipality and to consider these individual conditions and needs when developing and composing the library plan.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine attitudes and standpoints amongst librarians at the Swedish public library towards literary awards and awarded literature. The questions posed in the study are: What attitudes are expressed amongst these librarians towards the Nobel Prize in literature, the August Prize and literary awards and awarded literature in general? What significance do the Nobel Prize in literature, the August Prize and other literary awards have concerning purchase and display at these public libraries? How is awarded literature perceived and how do they talk about it concerning quality and are questions of quality significant? Qualitative interviews with seven librarians at four different public libraries have been done. Theories regarding J?rgen Habermas the bourgeois public sphere and Pierre Bourdieu?s terms habitus, field and capital have been used as to explain the library as a public sphere.

This dissertation discusses head librarians in Swedish public libraries and the stress factors which affect them. The aim is to map out potential stress factors which head librarians come across in their day-to-day work. The purpose of the dissertation is to answer the following question: what stress factors affect library managers in Swedish public libraries? The dissertation was conducted through a literature study, informal interviews and a quantitative questionnaire. The results of the quantitative questionnaires show that the factor that produces the highest level of stress is having too many different tasks.

The aim of the paper is to examine how public libraries can develop their services for children with ethnic minority backgrounds as a user group. This is achieved through studying the conditions for library services provided for children aged 9-12 in this group by public libraries in suburbs densely populated with ethnic minorities. The paper uses both a literature review and empirical research on the community libraries in Rinkeby and Rosengård as well as the town library in Lund. Services potentially available to these groups are analysed and discussed in the later chapters. The overall conclusion is that those services provided for ethnic minority children are largely the same as those provided for in children library services in general.