This masters thesis deals with smoke spread via ventilation systems. One aim of the thesis is to investigate and explain the differences in efforts to prevent smoke spread via ventilation systems in different countries. A second aim of this thesis is to investigate how frequently occurring smoke spread via ventilation systems in Swedish buildings are. A third aim is to investigate how uncertainties in input variables to smoke spread calculations will affect the result of calculation. To be able to do this the most important input variables are identified and analysed.

The aim of this masters thesis, based on discourse analysis and organization theory, is to study how individuals in different Swedish cultural organizations- and agencys are working with disaster preparedness.The purpose of this is to examine whether organizational structures affect different persons work, cooperation and practical application concerning disaster preparedness in collaboration with both external and internal organizations.The research shows that disaster preparedness are affected by priority issues as well as financial resources causing consequences for future work concerning this kind of issues.Another problem which is also examined and discussed in this thesis are the problematic approach to personal initiative which today is the leading operation for the organizations to deal with disaster preparedness instead of creating professional titles for the persons handles these complex issues..

This Masters thesis concerns collaboration between teachers and librarians. Three theoretical perspectives, profession, power and legitimacy, are used to analyse the results of written interviews with eight teachers and one librarian at a comprehensive school. We did not find evidence of any deeper collaboration between teachers and the librarian. The effects of profession had little impact on the relation although the involved parties seemed to appreciate differences in education and points of view. The teacher retains power over education and grades while the librarian holds sway over the physical library and the purchase of books and other media.

This masters thesis takes the providers perspective on public library story times for children. The main questions are: What perspectives can the providers have? How does the perspective affect the content and how is the story time drawn up? Five story time providers were interviewed about the purpose of their story times, the methods they used and the content they chose. A model with four criteria was used to analyze the result of the interviews. The criteria were: adult criteria, consideration of the childrens view, pedagogical criteria and literary/story time criteria.

This Masters thesis concerns epistemology in Knowledge Organization KO, as a field of study in Library and Information Science LIS. Using a theoretical model by Birger Hjørland and foucauldian discourse analysis as springboards, this study analyses three epistemological discourses in the practice of KO. The aim of the study is to show how these discourses are constituted and demarcated in relation to KO, as well as to examine how they fit into Hjørlands model. A brief historical outline of some epistemological trends in LIS is sketched, as well as examples of how different epistemological schools influence different parts of KO, e.g. information retrieval, indexing- and classification theory.

The aim of this Masters thesis is, partly, to examine the information needs of lesbians: what discernable information needs they have, how they seek information and which information sources they use. The purpose is also to examine what part fiction plays regarding the information needs mentioned above and how fiction indexing could improve retrieval. The study is conducted through ten qualitative interviews with lesbians as well as through textual analysis. The theoretical framework includes queer theory and theory concerning information needs and uses. The results indicate that lesbians have evident information needs that mostly concern identity.

This Masters thesis work describes a comparison between two different methods for estimation of the down channel (base station to mobile subscriber) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA). The first estimation method, Optimal Feed-forward Channel Estimation (OFCE), is a conventional method that bases the estimates on data that is known to both sender and receiver, so called pilots. The second method, Decision Directed Channel Estimation (DDCE), is an elaboration of OFCE. It also uses user data for estimation. Simulations show that DDCE, in comparison to OFCE, does not attain an improvement in signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) for high bit error rates (BER).

The aim of this Masters thesis is to review Swedens unique law against TV-commercials intended for children under twelve years old. The law has to be abided by TV 4, but not by Kanal 5, so the aim is also to compare TV 4 and Kanal 5 and to see in what different ways commercials are shaped in the two channels. The cultural policy analysis is based on our aim and problem. We have also had the terms semiotic and intermediality in mind together with a model made by the researcher in semiotics Roman Jakobson. The model consists of six different communicative functions.

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to examine the performance of queries that are expanded by synonyms and hyponyms from Svenskt OrdNät, the Swedish version of the Princeton WordNet. Four different types of queries were constructed: a baseline query S1, the baseline query expanded with synonyms S2, the baseline query expanded with hyponyms S3 and finally the baseline query expanded with the synonyms and hyponyms used in S2 and S3. The terms for expansion were picked by hand. The queries were executed in the Query Performance Analyser QPA, a tool used in IR education and in experimental IR research for analysing and comparing the performance of individual queries. 20 topics from the test collection GP_HDINF were chosen for the experiment.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to understand how librarians develop their reference service. The purpose was to find patterns in how librarians work with reference questions. As a theoretical framework we have used research in the reference field. Where do the skills of the search process come from: education or experience? Answers were sought to the following questions: - How different are the search process in practice compared to theory? - Which similarities and differences are there among the informants? - How important was the education in comparison to the knowledge about the libraries collections? - How did the changes in the school system in 1993 influence reference education and what could the consequences be to the reference knowledge among librarians? We sent out a question form and a search question which was answered by 12 librarians in university and university college libraries.

The purpose of this masters thesis is to examine the arguments that are being used when closing and establishing peoples libraries. During the 90:ies, in the community of Gothenburg, 4 public libraries were closed and another 3 public libraries were opened. A possible reason for this change lies in the reform from the city Committee that split the community of Gothenburg into 21 pieces; all with one centrally appointed political Committee. The library activity has since the reform was implemented got worse in some areas, foremost in the already neglected city sections, and better in some areas, which where able to establish new libraries. Argumentation analysis indicates that the arguments used at closure where mainly economical and neither the number nor relevance and validity of the arguments where good.

The aim of this masters thesis is to examine how some childrens librarians in public libraries reason about Wahlströms series books. During the 1970s, there was a discussion about the series books, and the general meaning was, among other things, that the books should not be available at libraries. Therefore, we also want to study if the arguments for and against the series books presented today are any different than those presented in the 1970s. For this examination, two methods have been used. We have done qualitative interviews with nine childrens librarians, and in order to find the arguments presented in the 1970s, we have studied the literature regarding the mentioned discussion.

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate how actors involved in a municipal's adult education view students access to information- and library resources. The adult education in the municipal is on contract which means that there are several different actors involved in the realization of the adult education. The raised questions in this study deals with; libraries role within adult education, students needs for becoming information literate and where responsibilities for students access to libraries lies. We used a qualitative method which includes interviews with two principles, a controller, three pedagogues and a librarian. The empirical data is analysed against taxonomies and categories which originates from the theories of David Loertscher and Christine Bruce.

The purpose of this masters thesis is to find out whether the library can be a way to support integration. To fulfil this purpose we have, by qualitative interviews, obtained information about eight immigrant womens views on and experiences of the Swedish public library. Through the literature and earlier research we have presented a background of immigrants and integration in Sweden along with factors that may influence the integration process. We have tried to give an insight into what is said about the immigrant woman in research and media, which we think affects her life and we also have given a short introduction to immigrant womens life in Sweden today. Of great interest for our essay have also been the public librarys objectives and social role in society.

This Masters thesis work describes a comparison between two different methods for estimation of the down channel (base station to mobile subscriber) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA). The first estimation method, Optimal Feed-forward Channel Estimation (OFCE), is a conventional method that bases the estimates on data that is known to both sender and receiver, so called pilots. The second method, Decision Directed Channel Estimation (DDCE), is an elaboration of OFCE. It also uses user data for estimation. Simulations show that DDCE, in comparison to OFCE, does not attain an improvement in signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) for high bit error rates (BER).