The aim of this master thesis is to gain greater knowledge of interpersonal communication. This study explores on one hand how interpersonal communication can be used as an important part of reference work in a Swedish electronic synchronous reference service, and on the other how interpersonal communication affects the relationship between user and librarian. By using communication theory and establishing a positive relational contact with the user in the electronic environment, the outcome of the reference encounter can be successful for both the librarian and the user. Furthermore, the importance of recognising relational barriers is of great relevance to the relational contact. The scope of this master thesis is to find what relational factors are used and can be used in the interaction between user and librarian.

The aim of this thesis is to accomplish an understanding on how librarians experience their professional role at private companies. The study is based on qualitative interviews with persons who have a degree in Library and Information science, but does not work as an ordinary librarian. To answer why the respondents work at private companies, this thesis dwells on how the education in library and information science prepares their students to face an alternative career; why the respondents wants to work at private firms instead of a library; if the salary is a key factor in order to choose a career; if the respondents think the companies appreciate their qualifications, and finally, if the respondents think they intrude on other professions' territory? Working at a private company, with a degree in library- and information science, is not, according to the respondents, easy. Although appreciated by their knowledge in the field of information, the interviewees think that the title librarian is hard to cope with.

The librarian profession is dominated by women. The aim with this essay is to find out howmen and women in this field get on together, and how they experience their psycho·social work situation bearing this in mind. Are there any advantages or disadvantages being a woman or a man in this profession? What do the librarians think about the future? Men and women working at five different public libraries, where the domination of women is greatest, have been interviewed. The essay is based on their opinions and experiences.The female and male librarian get on well with each other and have a good cooperation.There are not many advantages or disadvantages depending on the sex in the profession, but the image, status and salary would probably be better, if there were more men in the profession.

The main purpose of this Master?s thesis is to investigate how the transfer from academic studies into professional life is experienced in retrospect by professional librarians. The aim is also to examine in which context the studies in library- and information science in Sweden has been formed. To attain the purpose of the thesis four main questions is being asked: In which context has LIS-studies from the period 1993-2007 been formed? Which competence does the professional librarian consider to be the most fundamental in professional life? Does the professional librarian experience that the knowledge attained from LIS-studies is sufficient for the actual tasks? Which are the differences between tasks at different types of libraries? The study is performed through a questionnaire survey in which 94 professional librarians express their experiences of their LIS-studies in retrospect.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how children experience librarians, their knowledge, assignments and appearance. The children?s thoughts about libraries and librarians in general are also studied. Empirical data has been collected by interviewing children aged 8-12 years old. The method used is qualitative interviews performed individually, in pairs and groups.

The aims of the thesis are to describe ways to obtain information needed for teaching andlearning practical and artistic subjects at a folk high school, to look into which part the library plays in this search for information, and finally, to see what the library can do to meet the information needs existing arnong teachers and students of arts and craft.Qualitative interviews were made with four teachers, seven students and one librarian atone folk high school, providing data for the thesis. The results indicate five main ways to obtain information among the persons interviewed:through books, by their own work process, by sensuous experience, throughcommunication with other people, and by the master of the craft passing on his/herknowledge to the apprentice.In this thesis some suggestions are also given for helping the library to meet the information needs of people involved in arts and craft work..

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine how public librarians, including School librarians, express themselves about librarians in library journals. Questions asked in the study are: How is the knowledge, tasks and roles of librarians described? How do the librarians describe their own and others perceptions of librarians? Are there any contradictions in how the librarian profession is described and if so, what are they? 56 articles from three Swedish library journals, Biblioteksbladet, bis and DIK-forum in the period from 1990 to 2007, are analysed. The theory and method used is discourse analysis.

The thoughts of a common school for all children have been around since the 1800?s but was something that was introduced in Sweden first in 1962. When the curriculum for primary school came in 1980 there was a new concept, a school for all. With a school for all it was aimed that all children should have the right to participation and a common education no matter what needs they could have.During my education I have come across the concept a school for all and that is something that interested me. Today?s curricula and school laws aim to ensure that all children have the right to equal education and inclusion whatever needs you have.The purpose of this study is to find out some pedagogues? thoughts and work around the concept a school for all.

The purpose of this master thesis is to describe the professional and literary life of Karl-Gunnar Wall, city librarian of Katrineholm between 1944 and 1975. Questions at issue are the reasons for Walls literary interests, Walls choice of occupation, crucial personal meetings, the context in which Wall acts, Walls fundamental principles as a librarian and as a critic, and the features comprising Walls life history. The method used is a merely qualitative one called "life history". It is founded on in-depth interviews with the persons involved and emanates from the individuals own story about his life. I have carried out three taped interviews; one with Wall himself, and two with his colleagues.

The subject of this master thesis is the school library and how we find its potential unutilized. We look at this problem in connection to the democratic assignment that the Swedish school has. The purpose is to elucidate what the democratic assignment consists of and to establish the role that the school library ought to have in this assignment. To describe the democratic assignment we examine and interpret the documents that regulate school and library activities today, including UNESCO/IFLA School Library Manifesto and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We use critical ideology analysis because we consider democracy to be a sort of ideology and have a critical view of how the school library is used or rather not used in school.

The purpose of this thesis is to draw a picture of pedagogical work at the senior level with a critical perspective of information and media. As a method for gathering material for the analysis, a case study was made with qualitative interviews together with documents that describe the case. Relevant literature for the subject has been used as an introduction and as a theoretical basis. The literature concerns subjects such as a childrens relation to media, the schools intructions, the role of the school library and some theories regarding learning. The conclusion is that the respondents focus on conversations and reflection regarding the sources of information and its use, and that the childrens adaption of the material is an important factor in teaching.

The intention of this paper was to study the integration between the students from the introductory class, and the students from a regular class. The school we studied called Arlanda Gymnasium. Where we did a study on what the municipality and the school makes for students at the school to be integrated with each other. And what the school does to achieve the educational goals set. We will also see if the school and the municipality meet and comply with criteria such as school work places.

We want to search knowledge in how teachers with a focus on after-school recreation centre estimate how their own competence is used in after- school recreation center and school and what expectations/apprehensions they have on their profession in the future. In our study we have asked teachers with a focus on after-school recreation center how they estimate that their competence has been used in after-school recreation center during the last three years. The method we have used to illustrate this is the Delphi method Nordänger (2009), where we interviewed eight respondents by e-mail. From the responses, we have found that teachers with a focus on after-school recreation center experience that their skills should get more attention in the school. They want to combine care and pedagogy that supports students' physical, intellectual, social and emotional development.

Who is integrating school-holiday home? It is for the teachers, recreational pedagogue or the students? How do the students think and act to keep the different activities apart?My purpose was to study how children sort the day between school and recreational home interactions. The issues were: How do they distinguish between the different activities during the day?  See the students their stay after school program as part of the school day? Who decides whether you have to go to school, and whether you have to go to after school program? And do you really have to?I have interviewed six students at an elementary school, based from a phenomenographic perspective, I've used myself of issues that students have been able to respond from a school perspective and after-school perspective. My interview questions have been comparative in nature, where the same question have given different answers depending on whether the question focused on school or the afterschool program.

This master's thesis reports on our investigation of how the public librarian's professional identity is formed and what it is formed of. We have considered factors such as: education, competence and daily tasks. In order to fulfil this aim we have used a literature study on concepts such as competence, education, professional identity and profession. We have also carried out an empirical study where we have interviewed nine librarians on public libraries. The method of analysis is qualitative.