This thesis presents a new way of providing library users with reference services, namely chat (text based digital reference service in real time). Our research questions focus on the role of reference service, a comparison of chat reference to other reference forms, and the interest for real-time, digital reference. Our literature review covered the areas of digital reference and reference theory, the results of which showed that an ongoing debate hardly exists among Swedish librarians on the topic of reference work. We interviewed librarians from the three different Swedish chat reference projects existing at the time of our study. Most interviewees were very positive about chat reference.

The aim of this thesis was to study librarians approach upon reference questions and available resources and also to find out if there is any connection between the nature of the reference question and the choice of resource. The purpose was also to give a deeper understanding of the reference work. Nine librarians were given ten reference questions and their reference work was tape recorded. The study was completed with seven interviews sent by email. Some of the reflections were translated under the headlines of form, subject, time, language and availability.

Nature and culture are often described as opposites, but at the same time nature is often de-scribed as culture and past. This essay examines how nature and the past are culture. I study how 51 people make shifting distinctions between nature and the past in relation to culture, the present and the future. By using the concept of Orientation of Sarah Ahmed I analyze how the informants direct themselves against nature, past and culture through a questionnaire, ob-servations and walk-alongs. I discuss how their ideas about nature and the past differ with their different starting points and are shaped through their physical meetings with them.

Nature and culture are often described as opposites, but at the same time nature is often de-scribed as culture and past. This essay examines how nature and the past are culture. I study how 51 people make shifting distinctions between nature and the past in relation to culture, the present and the future. By using the concept of Orientation of Sarah Ahmed I analyze how the informants direct themselves against nature, past and culture through a questionnaire, ob-servations and walk-alongs. I discuss how their ideas about nature and the past differ with their different starting points and are shaped through their physical meetings with them.

The aim of   the study has been to examine the duality that I seemed to find in Karin   Broos works, primarily on the basis of her renditions of nature. The   objective is to study the duality on various plans and to examine which   traces of Intertextuality that may exist.In the study of the duality   I have taken note of how nature is presented in terms of style and form, as   well as that I have seeked cultural references pictorial and symbolic. I have   also examined the images with reference to Intertextuality. The following   questions has been applied during the work:  How is nature produced in the paintings?  What place occupies nature in relation to the people, in the works?  What is being communicated by nature's participation in the works?As a method, and as a   tool for analysis and interpretation of selected works, I have chosen to use   Panofskys iconological interpretative method. As a guide to seek relations of   intertextuality the theories of  Julia   Kristeva has been useful, which  includes thoughts  that new images are created or re-created   in relation to other images all the time and in new contexts.As a result of the   study I have found some kind of expression of balance, though it did not   seemed to look that way from the beginning.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to investigate how librarians solve difficult reference questions. The aim is to discuss the nature of reference work ? do librarians make conscious decisions regarding search strategies or do they rely principally on their instincts, or simply chance. The thesis is a qualitative study.

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to study how librarians experience reference work. We wanted to get a better understanding about librarians assignments through the study. We chose to limit the study to public libraries, and to the south of Sweden. The questions used in our study are: How do librarians interpret the conception of reference work? What values do librarians have concerning reference work? How do librarians experience reference work? How do librarians look at different roles in reference work? We chose to use a fenomenographically inspired method.

This thesis examines the subject of reference interviews and the ways librarians form an opinion of users information needs. Using literature and interviews with three librarians I look at the questions below: - Why and when are reference interviews needed? - What significance do they have? - What ideas exist about the performance of reference interviews? - Are there any differences in librarians views of the questions above compared to views in the literature? Results from literature studies and interviews show that reference interviews can be important when librarians try to find out more about users information needs. However its neither necessary nor possible to analyse all reference questions. Librarians therefore need to determine if a reference interview is needed or not.

The aim of this master thesis is to study the students usage and experiences of the reference services at the university library at Linköping University. The four questions that I seek answers to are: - What kind of help do the students most often ask for at the reference desk? - To what extent do the students use the reference services for their studies? - What are the students experiences of the help they receive at the reference desk? - What are the students experiences of the treatment they receive from the librarians at the reference desk? I have studied literature that describes reference work and evaluation of reference work. I have also studied Christian Grönroos theory of service quality. I have distributed questionnaires to students at Linköping University.

The aim with this thesis is to investigate how librarians experience communication with children in reference interviews. In today?s interactive community it is meaningful to study how children communicate with the librarian in virtual reference interview as well as in ordinary reference interviews in physical libraries. Focus has been on finding out what children ask about and how they are asking in virtual reference interviews and in ordinary reference interviews, what type of information needs the children have. The study also focuses on which barriers there can be in reference interviews.

Increased interest in nature tourism may be what saves small and dying villages, like Borgsjo? in the county of Va?sterbotten in northern Sweden, from disappearing. The nearly untouched nature in these areas is in many cases an unused resource, since true wildlife experiences are sought by many travelers. The purpose with this report is to investigate if Borgsjo? has the potential and abilities to become a destination for nature tourists, and how this should be done to avoid negative effects on nature, wildlife and culture.

The population over 65 years of age is increasing and health in elderly has been a subject of research for decades but voice function and vocal health has not been prioritized. The purpose of this study is to obtain reference value for the Swedish version of Voice Handicap Index (RHI) and the Throat Scale among people over 65 years of age and assess voice function and vocal health for this age group. The questions were as followed:1) What is the reference value of RHI for people over 65 years of age? 2) What is the reference value of the Throat Scale for people over 65 years of age? 3) Is there a correlation between a self-rated VA-scale on the perceived degree of voice problems, and the self-rated RHI-/Throat Scale result? 4) Does age, gender or previous profession matter for the self-perceived voice?In total 100 individuals participated in the study, 50 women and 50 men, between 65 and 92 years old. The reference value of RHI for people over 65 years of age was 13,4 points and the reference value for the Throat Scale was 7,7 points.

AimThe aim of this study is to examine students' previous experiences of stay in the nature and their experiences of nature in the context of teaching situations in friluftsliv at GIH. It also aims to elucidate how the teaching of friluftsliv at GIH affects their former interpretation about nature. The questions of the study are: What past experiences of stay in the nature elucidate GIH-students? Have the students approach to nature changed according to the education? If yes ? how? What affects students' perception of nature? MethodTo answer the questions, a quantitative approach (questionnaire survey) and qualitative methods (interview study) was used. The qualitative method is based on phenomenology and hermeneutics.

This two years master?s thesis in Library and Information Sciences aims to investigate and put the services of 118100 Svar På Allt (SPA, an SMS mobile question and answer service) and Fråga biblioteket (FB, a library operated e-mail reference service) into the context of the reference encounter. Questions sent to SPA and their subsequent answers are analysed, and part of these questions are forwarded to FB for comparative studies. Both of the formats are compared to the reference encounter as a whole. The framing of the question originates in the assumption that there may be a need for further negotiation of the questions submitted to the aforementioned formats.

This two years master?s thesis in Library and Information Sciences aims to investigate and put the services of 118100 Svar På Allt (SPA, an SMS mobile question and answer service) and Fråga biblioteket (FB, a library operated e-mail reference service) into the context of the reference encounter. Questions sent to SPA and their subsequent answers are analysed, and part of these questions are forwarded to FB for comparative studies. Both of the formats are compared to the reference encounter as a whole. The framing of the question originates in the assumption that there may be a need for further negotiation of the questions submitted to the aforementioned formats.