Usability studies are not a central field of research in library and information science. Although literature in library and information science treats the importance of usable user interfaces quite extensively, the literature does not significantly treat potential problems in measuring usability. The aim of this master thesis is to investigate, through a critical analysis, the methods used when conducting usability studies in library and information science. The critical analysis is based on potential problems in measuring usability identified through a literature review from the field of studies Human-Computer Interaction, the concept of usabilitys original domain. The material which is to be analysed, is chosen from one library and information science journal Journal of the American Society for Information Science and technology.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to investigate the female reader of science fiction literature, a genre by tradition dominated by men. Through qualitative interviews with seven female science fiction readers, the relation between the reading and the readers? lives, as well as their concepts of the science fiction genre and the community of science fiction readers, was examined. The main theoretical framework used for the analysis was Yvonne Hirdman?s gender theory, Judith Butler?s concept of identity and Louise M.

This paper deals with how science teachers in the Swedish secondary school choose the content in the education they give to the pupils. What are the reasons for their choices and what do they think of the purpose of science in secondary school? Through interviewing science teachers the investigation shows that there are three different views of how to choose content in the science education: one focuses on the processes of science itself, one integrates the socio-cultural aspects and one emphasizes the interests of the pupils.

Technology evolves quickly, with innovative ideas growing everywhere. Still, no technology is anywhere near challenging the mouse and keyboard for navigation of your standard computer. This study focuses on comparing the traditional technologies of mouse and keyboard with the new technology of gestures - in this case Leap Motion - in purpose of finding how the usage differs and what the potential users want from the competing technology. The experiment was executed in a controlled environment, with as few external factors as possible. We found that although the test subjects found Leap Motion fun, the test subjects do not want to surf the web with gestures.

An increasing number of scholarly publishers are beginning to make their journals available electronically. At the same time there is a growing amount of exclusively electronic journals freely accessible on the Internet. These are facts that librarians have to take into consideration.This master's thesis aims to describe the electronic journal and its role in Swedish academic libraries. In a review of current literature about electronic journals, the authors discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and their impact on scholars, publishers and libraries. To investigate the situation in Sweden, a questionnaire was sent out to 43 academic libraries.Questions were raised about the selection and acquisition of electronic journals, access, technology and economy.The results show that almost half of the 35 responding libraries offer electronic journals to their users.

In my paper I have compared popular science and neutral science regarding language and construction. My task was to find out if there are differences between the language of popular science and that of scientific science. The purpose of my paper is to answer four questions1.How do the authors present the bogbodies and the mummies in the two categories?2.What does the popular science imagine that you want to read about?3.Is there a difference between the target groups of the two categories?4. Does the presentation of the subject have consequenses when it comes to contents and readers?I have studied how often the authors use drawings, photos, diagrams, maps, and if the titles of the chapters can tell you something about the nature of books.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine the user service discourses in the field of public libraries that can be identified in four Swedish library journals. Also which underlying causes that control the discourses and the consequences of them are examined. Questions in this study are: which discourses can be found, what characterises them, what kind of different discourses concerning technology in society control the user service discourses and what are the consequences of them. The theoretical starting-point is Ernesto Laclaus and Chantal Mouffes discourse theory. The method is text analytic.

Preschool has a long tradition of using picture books, both as entertainment and as a resource for educational activities. In science there are two main application areas. The first one is science concepts and the second is to teach basic science process skills. These skills, observing, communicating, inferring, classifying, measuring and predicting reflects the methods used by scientists. Picture books potential to put science concepts and activities that promote the use of science process skills in a meaningful context, recommends using picture books for this purpose.

Summary The purpose of this research is to find out if technology is being used in pre-school activity, to what extent, in which way and what part the pre-school teachers believe they should have in the process. To gather information for the research, questionnaires were sent out to all pre-schools in a municipality in central Sweden. Based on that information two were chosen for observations and interviews. The work with technology in pre-schools may vary. Some pre-school teachers believe they do not adopt any technology at all when asked and all this because of their own lack of interest or knowledge, while others believe it is contained in all of their educational activities.

The purpose of this study is to explore how preschool teachers succeed in their mission to conduct work that will enhance children's interest and knowledge in technology. The study was conducted by qualitative semi-structured interviews among eight teachers at seven preschools in the same municipality. The method was chosen because I wanted to get as detailed and full answers as possible. I also wanted to find out their individual perceptions. The result shows that most of the teachers think that they have insufficient knowledge to practically work with technology. At the same time they?re expressing that technology is a broad area that sometimes is a little more complicated than it needs to be.

Detta kandidatarbete undersöker science fiction, en av de större och vanligast använda genrerna inom medier såsom spel, film och litteratur, genom att studera dess undergrupper, de så kallade subgenrerna. Dessa är specialiserade versioner av genren i fråga och använder den inom vissa förutsatta ramar, exempelvis hur samhället ser ut eller vilken typ av teknologi det huvudsakliga fokuset kretsar runt. Genom att studera hur subgenrer är beskrivna i The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction kan man avgöra att de består av sex punkter: plats, tidsperiod, karaktärer, teknologi, narrativ och visuell estetik. Dessa punkter har använts som ramverk för att utveckla en ny subgenre; Mystech, där scenarier utspelar sig i vad som kan ses som en typisk fantasyvärld med magi och monster, men där dessa egentligen bara är teknologi majoriteten av de påverkade inte förstår sig på. För att demonstrera Mystech har två olika miljöer utvecklats, både i bild och skriven form. Dessa är två mycket olika skådeplatser för scenarier att berättas i men som trots sina olikheter har nog med faktorer gemensamt för att kunna klassificeras som delar av samma subgenre..

We are in an emerging digital society where we are increasingly dependent on the mastery of IT and digital technologies to better carry out our everyday tasks. They cover everything from keeping in touch with family and friends to pay bills and declare. At the same time there are those who have not learned how to use the new technology and live their lives outside of the digital society. What happens to these people, in a society that is becoming increasingly digitized? Do they take harm by being in digital exclusion? It looks like this are issues that will not become less important as digital technology constantly changes.

The information market is constantly changing. With new and improved information technology more people get access to more information faster. However, the number of people educated to handle information also increases. Business intelligence has for a long time been a well-known tool for companies to be competitive. Because of the increased access to information the competition between companies has intensified and more people have become aware of the advantages of business intelligence and how it can help them compete.

This research is based on the observation that people in the service industry is being replaced by technology.  This insight formed a foundation for the presentation of the problem this essay is based upon. We began to speculate over how tourist information bureaus handle the changes, regarding information technology, in their surroundings when their main task is to inform and communicate with their market. Information technology has created new possibilities for organizations to reach their consumers and it has influenced all kinds of industries. We decided to examine organizations in the tourism sector because it is one of the biggest and fastest growing industries in the world. The entering of information technology in the tourism industry has changed its structure and we want to examine how tourist information bureaus succeed to deal with this phenomenon.The aim with this essay is to examine how and to what extent tourist information bureaus integrate with changes in their surroundings caused by information technology and which values that slip away/ is added by the adaption.

This report discusses how well the competences the master program in Information Technology, given by the Royal Institute of Technology, meet the demands from the business life. It is made qualitative and about 20 companies have taken part to get the results. The study has been made to see how well the three first years and the entire five year master, with different aiming, meets the demands. The results shows that the master program needs to be remodeled to meet the demands in the more ?softer competencies?, which for example is people management and an understanding about economical, juridical and cultural aspects.