The aim of this master´s thesis is to explore how Stockholms new library´s identity is constructed, and further to relate the case study to a general discussion of the identity of public libraries in Sweden. This is done through analysis of the visions and plans that the planned library is based on. We feel that it is a relevant study since questions concerning the public library's identity are for library and information science as well as the institution. Questions posed in the study are: How is the roles and identity of the planned library described in the texts that form the basis of the project? What characterises the relationship between the present and the planned library? What discourses concerning the public library's identity can we see in the material?The theoretical framework of the thesis is a discourse oriented analysis based on the critical discourse analysis of Norman Fairclough.

Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att undersöka hur de statliga föreställningarna om en fungerande service ser ut och sätta dem i relation till den faktiska utvecklingen på landsbygden, och även att undersöka alternativa lösningar till hur servicen på landsbygden kan bedrivas. Studien har fokuserat på svenska landsbygder generellt och för att söka svar på syftet har statliga myndigheters rapporter och dokument granskats där insikt har erhållits om hur servicen, något normativt bör vara. Genom metoder som kvalitativ textanalys av dessa rapporter, teoretiska ingångspunkter om landsbygdens nya ruralitet och tillgänglighet samt intervjuer med olika aktörer, dels om nytänkande servicelösningar och dels om landsbygdens servicesituation, sätts politik och praktik mot varandra. Det har visat sig att den politiska föreställningen om hur servicen bör vara ej till fullo överensstämmer med verkligheten. För att planera för en fungerande service på landsbygden krävs ett nytänkande med lösningar som beaktar dagens samhälle och det lokala, flexibilitet och innovationsrikedom..

The business potential of software defined radio (SDR) technology is studied by evaluating whether or not its characteristics correspond to those particular to a disruptive technology. The maturity of the SDR technology concept is illuminated by analyzing the opinions and perspectives of a selection of representatives for different stakeholders in the wireless communications market. Characteristics as, for example, the degree of consensus about the utility of SDR technology and the awareness of features and limitations are studied by application of the theory of technological frames. This theory helps us understand how and when technology evolution takes place. Finally we describe the value network structures of some potentially viable application areas for SDR and suggest some possible business opportunities based on SDR technology.This thesis is carried out as a case study and the research data is obtained from secondary sources, such as literature and Internet publications as well as interviews with people well experienced in the field of wireless communications.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and to increase the understanding of the negotiation process between the public- and the private sector in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). I have chosen to explore the first ?real? PPP project in Denmark, the construction of Vildbjerg compulsory school in the municipality of Trehøje.This case study is based upon a qualitative method consisting of interviews with the leading negotiators from both sectors. Two different theoretical perspectives are used to construct the basis of the analysis - The Theory of Public-Private Partnership and Negotiation theory - and serve as a concept instrument.The result of the analysis indicates that the negotiators from the different sectors have problems to get out of their traditional roles as purchaser and contractor ? in PPP they should act like partners.

The purpose of this essay was to look at how the Swedish Prison and Probation Service and the Social Service work with children who have parents in prison and what they can do to ease the contact between the children and their parents. In our study we have used different questions regarding parent role, gender, child perspective, contact possibilities and collaboration. We have interviewed six prison officers and five social workers in Skåne. We have also used previously written reports. Our conclusions are that the parent role is affected by imprisonment and more amongst the women than the men.

Syfte: Mitt val av ämne härstammar från egna reflektioner och erfarenheter av att bo och leva i USA ett antal år. Jag har successivt insett att det är större skillnad mellan våra kulturer än vad jag hade förväntat mig. Med tre barn i skolan är kontaktytan mot utbildning stor och det går inte att undvika att göra jämförelser. Ämnet för uppsatsen landade i en jämförelse av serviceerbjudanden med skola och omsorg som tillämpningsområde. Syftet med uppsatsen är att med marknadsföring och service management som teoretisk bas beskriva och analysera serviceerbjudandet gentemot barnfamiljer i Virginia och Sverige.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine and analyse how the public librarys mission is interpreted and formulated in a selection of library related journals. The journals are both international scientific referee journals from the LIS field and journals with a closer connection to the practitioners within the public library field. The idea is that these journals can be seen as windows to an academic theoretic perspective on public libraries, as well as to the practitioners way of talking about the librarys mission. The study also aims to examine if there is a difference in the way that the librarys mission is interpreted and discussed among theorists and among practitioners within the field. The theoretical starting-point is Ernesto Laclaus and Chantal Mouffes discourse theory, and the method is text analytic.

Objective: From the patient?s perspective describe communication difficulties, which can arise, and how they are handled in their contact with public health care and illustrate their needs of communication.Method: A study of literature was carried out to receive a background and an insight in previous research concerning the subject area. Twelve women with hearing loss was asked to complete a questionnaire, with open questions, regarding communication difficulties in health care situations.Sample: For the literature review, scientific papers were selected via the database, PubMed using relevant keywords. Seven were selected for closer review. For the survey study twelve women were asked to participate which ten of those responded.Results: The study of literature shows that communication difficulties occur in public health care between patients with hearing loss and the nursing staff.

AbstractThe intention of our study was to examine the meaning of home of elderly women and men and how they experience their getting older. We also wanted to see how elderly women and men experience to receive home-help-service in their own home. The study was based on qualitative interviews with elderly women and men. The informants were five women and four men between the ages of 60-84 years. They all had everyday help from the home-help-service.

Abstract This essay is written to answer the questions of why, how and against who employees in the service sector use humour, charm and flirt in the interaction with their customers. The service management research is quite extensive, but despite this the research partly misses studies around why employees tend to act in certain ways while interacting with their customers. To understand the reasons of why they act in these particular ways, we need to know which factors that can be crucial when it comes to the employees? behaviour in these situations. By knowing the underlying reasons of using a special way to communicate with customers, it is much easier to achieve a clearer overview of the subject.

This study deals with religious independent schools and its impact on society. The purpose of this essay has been to examine what various teachers from both religious independent schools and public schools have for perception of religious independent schools. The questions highlighted in the study is the teachers´ general view to religious independent schools, teachers´ perception of the Education Act " a denominational education, but a non- denominational teaching", and what teachers believe to be segregated or inclusive.The study has consisted of five qualitative interviews with different teachers, where three of them work at religious independent schools, while the other two teachers work in public schools.The study shows that there are prominent differences of approach to religious independent schools. Teachers who work at religious independent schools avert criticism of religious independent schools and argue that teaching in religious independent schools do not differ appreciably from the public schools. Instead can religious independent schools serve as a good alternative to the public school.

In the late 20th century there has been some changes in the public sector. These changes are described as New Public Management. When ideas from the private market is transferred to the public sector, for example to regard citizens as cus-tomer. Central in this paper is the use of term customer in the Swedish public sec-tor. There are two questions in the paper; which possibilities has a disappointed customer to effect the public sector, and what may happen with democracy, the common good, when the citizen becomes a customer?To answer the questions I study two different cases, Svedala kommun and the tax department, Skatteverket.

People play games now more than ever before. While the digital gaming industry dominates the market, boardgaming has been living in its shadow. Board games offer a physical tangibility and a social experience that can be found in few digital games. How do we create a tool that further builds upon those strengths? The purpose of this study is to examine the possibility of developing a service that consists of an mobile application and board game events to promote social face-to-face interaction. Focus has been on the social face-to-face interaction in the context of a board game session.

In the aftermath of three high-profile honor killings the social service administrators became strongly criticized for their lack of skills and knowledge when it comes to dealing with honorrelated cases. In order to fix this lack of knowledge and to respond to the criticism from the society, the Swedish government allocated resources to train administrators in social services to improve their knowledge of honor-related violence and know how to handle clients who are victims of honor-related crimes.The aim of this study is to examine how social service administrators perceive their professional knowledge regarding to their work in honor-related cases. How they perceive their competence and discretion in relation to the work of honor-related problems and their perception of what resources the organization has to provide training and skill development in this area. The study shows that the social service administrators experience that there has been a development of knowledge in some areas regarding their work with honor-related cases but that there still exists an uneven distribution in terms of knowledge between small and large communities in Sweden..

This thesis explores how public art is received by the general public in Borås, Sweden. As a point of departure it was assumed that a study of the local papers would offer an accurate insight in to the debate of public art. Hence, press clippings were chosen as primary source material together with the works of art. The questions addressed in the study are: what is written in the local daily press about public art? Who writes in or makes statements to the local dailies about public art? Textual analysis is the predominant method employed while hermeneutics is the underlying theory.