The purpose of this master?s thesis is to examine how some university students, who are using the libraries extensively, use and experience the public and the university library and what they expect from the two different library types. I also compare their expectations with the different tasks and aims of the two library types. To answer this I have interviewed seven students at the department of history of literature at Göteborg University. I have also studied some literature and research related to this subject, for example user studies about students and libraries and the information behaviour of distance students.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to investigate how a public library should sign and organize their resources to make them as accessible as possible to the users of the library. Our theory, Paul Arthur?s and Romedi Passini?s wayfinding theory, is about how people search through information loaded environments. Our empirical material consists mainly of three parts: an inventory of the resources and guiding at Hammarö bibliotek, eight interviews with visitors at Hammarö bibliotek and observations of how visitors use and interact with the library, its resources and guiding.

The myth of the user - a study of the user discourse and its visionariesThis study is a discourse analysis of the visions that implicitly are expressed in different texts about user-centered library theory. Several other studies have analyzed the discourse and conceptualization of how the user is expressed in the library debate. Therefore we have chosen to analyze the visions that are expressed by three different sources: the evaluation of the Swedish GÖK project, which was an reorganization of three different libraries in Sweden (Greenhalgh, Worpole & Landry 1995). The influential book by Michael E. Casey and Laura C.

The goal of this Master?s thesis is to explore the approach and general attitude of public libraries regarding Sign Language Literature. There is a need to study and advance how the deaf can find ways to read in their own language, as it is as important to them to be able to read in their language, as it is to the next hearing person. The purpose is to define and explain the full capacity of the problem. In the process of research, by investigating how library staff approaches and deal with deaf patrons, the nature of the patron-staff relationship is revealed.

The aim of this bachelor?s thesis is to examine what expectations a few, adult, frequent library users have on librarians' competences at a specific library. We also aim to compare how well the library users' expectations relates to how the librarians describe their own competences.The method used to gather the empirical information in this study is the qualitative semi-structured interview. We interviewed six library users and the four librarians who are employed at the library where we placed our study. The results of our interviews were analyzed with the help of a model based on Anders Ørom?s librarian identities.

The main aim of this master thesis was to see the process of an interactive online reference service from idea to final product. The reference service we have studied is developed and used by the Library of the National Institute for Working Life in Stockholm, Sweden and goes by the name phibi. Our goal was to review the whole realization process from the reasons why a service like this was created, how the service was introduced and implemented inside the organisation and finally what the result and consequences were for both the library staff and for the users of the service. Phibi is designed to be a tool that fosters communication between the library staff and the remote users where the users get the opportunity to be helped with their questions by the library staff although they are not physically present in the library. To understand the process we conducted a case study with 11 interviews of the library staff, the superior and the initiator to phibi.

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 thesis deals with the question of why the Swedish Academy Dictionary has its own Library when, for almost a hundred years, it has been located at the University Library of Lund. Looking at the library functions: librarian, users, room and books and their external factors: economy, internal actors, external actors and the development of the Swedish Academy Dictionary helped to shed light upon which relations between these factors have been important in the development of the library. The results show that there has not been a conscious plan behind the Library. A large number of the books in the Library was given by those who have worked at the Dictionary and also by their friends and collegues. Another part was given by the Swedish Academy and was partly gathered when the project was still in Stockholm.

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 investigate how libraries use thetools and ideas from library 2.0 in their reading promotionwork. We also want to include how librarians motivate thisuse and whatever merits and faults they encounter. We haveperformed document studies and interviews which we thenanalyzed with qualitative content analysis. Our theoreticframework in this study which we also used as a part of ourcoding scheme in the analysis was a model over the conceptlibrary 2.0 developed by Holmberg, Huvila, Kronquist-Bergand Widén-Wulff. This model describes seven aspects oflibrary 2.0 which is users, participation, library and libraryservice, web and web 2.0, social aspects, technology andinteractivity.

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..

Spatial design for children nine to twelve years old at the Halmstad City Library. An investigation about the specific needs of the target group and how the child department can be designed to stimulate their experience of visiting the library. The aim was to create a spatial concept from the children?s ideas that inspires to playfulness and lust to read at the library. A more personal goal was to collaborate with an external part to prepare for my future role as a designer within child culture.

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.