The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine and present the programmes and activities of school library centres in order to see what functions (purposes) they can fulfil in a municipality and also if and how they can contribute to school library development. In order to fulfil my purpose I have made qualitative interviews with five librarians from school library centres. The theoretical framework is primarily based on David Loertscher?s.

This thesis deals with the supranational organization of European trade unions. The European trade union movement is, via its umbrella organization the ETUC, an institutionalized social partner within the European Union. The ETUC is a very diverse organization with great potential of conflicting interest among its members. This thesis therefore seeks to explore the dynamics and interest heterogeneity of the ETUC. Drawing on previous research and literature it formulates a number of hypothesises to test what variables that influence the member organizations policy preferences (i.e.

BAKGRUNDEN OCH PROBLEMDISKUSSION: Design som företeelse har fått alltstörre betydelse för näringslivet och samhället i helhet. Allt fler företag inser designenspositiva inverkan på verksamheten och väljer att arbeta medvetet med det. I samband med attbyggnader ökar kraven på designens funktion, räcker estetiken inte längre, designen måsteprestera mer och visa att den är praktisk och effektiv att tillföra i en byggnad. Designassocieras ofta med stora kostnader men vilka positiva värdeeffekter skapar designen igengäld?SYFTE: Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva de värden design kan framkalla i enbyggnad, samt att försöka förklara sambandet mellan betraktaren och vilka värden den villframhäva i design.

In this essay we have approached the problem with retailer brands that copy marketing leaders to get consumers attention in the storeshelf. We have sought to explore how much a designed package would change the consumers opinion of a brand and if this effect is different depending on if the brand is a retailer brand or a market leader. Also we sought to find if this effect would be greater with a salient color on the package. We made a quantitative study and with regression analysis we found that a designed package did have effect on the consumers opinion of the brand, and that the design with the salient color made the biggest effect..

Chronic illness is associated with conditions that may result in psychological ill-health in the adolescence. Consequently there is a need for development of preventive psychosocial support interventions for this target group. The objective was to develop, implement, and evaluate the effect of supportive intervention group program for teenagers suffering from chronic illness - aiming at increasing quality of life and supporting mental and physical health. Method: Six different intervention groups were conducted between 2007 and 2011, age 13?17.

This report describes the design and implementation of a multi-master, packet based protocol for small and tiny microcontrollers where resources are limited. The protocol was named "Tiny Controller Network" or TCN for short. The protocol is meant mainly as a control bus for automation and sensor acquisition applications but due to its flexibility can also be used for other purposes as well. It borrows some of its functionality and design ideas from the well known CAN bus and Modbus but also has a number of major differences like the use of standard hardware and time synchronisation. One of the key aspects during the design was the use of very little system resources and common on-chip hardware peripherals like a UART.

GCM is a product information management system which handles data for consumer packaged goods. GCM was developed during the middle of the nineties and was acquired by Prevas AB in 2004. The GCM application relies on the services provided by the organization GS1, which supplies global specifications and validations for trade items across several sectors. GCM is updated regularly due to the frequent changes in specifications from GS1. However, the overall graphical user interface design has not been redesigned during these years.This dissertation studies possible improvements for the webpage that handles product data in GCM.

Today, many people have the need of contemplation due to higher stress levels in every day life compared to before. By examining the conditions of a secularized place of contemplation in greenbelts close to residential areas, I hope to contribute to a more balanced picture of how we utilize our greenbelts in the future. This kind of place is not a common phenomenon in our everyday outdoor environment.I have taken my starting-point in the traditional memorial and by that means been able to study the design of an existing delicate environment intended for mourning and contemplation. In this paper I review foremost the secularized place of contemplation in greenbelts close to residential areas from two central questions. First I examine its possibility to function as a place for mourning and contemplation.

Att köpa ekologiskt är ingen ny företeelse, men i takt med att både e-handel och efterfrågan på ekologiska varor konstant ökar så behövs det stöd för designers för att kunna möta dessa utmaningar. För att kunna designa e-handelswebbsidor med ekologiska valmöjligheter krävs förståelse för användaren och dess behov. Genomatt kartlägga målinriktade beteenden går det att påvisa när en användare är mottaglig för ett ekologiskt val på en e-handelswebbsida. En mental modell byggs utifrån användares målinriktade beteende och denna kan användas som stöd av designers för att förstå när en användare är mer mottaglig för ekologiska val på en e-handelswebbsida. Denna studie resulterar i en identifiering och kartläggning över när en användare är mer öppen för ekologiska val..

In a society where adults set the conditions for children?s play and generate modern and at times technically advanced products, fundamental characteristics like simplicity, opportunities for motor skills training and learning tend to be neglected. Owing to this, the Linköping-based company Time In wants to introduce a new multifunctional product, which differs from other products in shape and function and lives up to the often overlooked, basic characteristics in a toy.With Time In as the assigner, the purpose of this master thesis has been to use simple means to produce a "learning by playing" concept. Since Time In sells toys and products suitable for children in nurseries and preschools, the development of the products has therefore included a study of nursery and preschool environments.The thesis has been carried out within the Product Design subject area at the Department of Management and Engineering at Linköping University. Concept development has been done in three phases: the Preparation phase, the Design phase and the Presentation phase.

Partnering is a new and exciting way of cooperation in the Swedish construction industry. In countries like Denmark and the United Kingdom the concept has been developed during a number of years while the Swedish construction industry has been more reluctant.Partnering is seen by many as the solution to the problems that often occur in design and build contracts. Many others believe that it is a way for the big entrepreneurs to gain unfair advantage. Never the less the concept is fast getting more and more appreciation, especially in the region of Karlstad where many new buildings are built that way.We have focused on the new development of Carlstad Conference Center (CCC) which is currently built with a partnering concept. The main method that have been used in this thesis are interviews with personnel on different positions in the project.

Nordic Marine Sauna AB has, since 2005, designed, manufactured and sold floating saunas. Theproduct are characterised by a well thought thru and appealing design and its high quality. Thecompany is now intending to open a new business area by starting a subsidiary, NordicSubmarine Sauna AB, which will design submerged saunas. The expected customers are leisureand conference centres as well as customers that seek an experience out of the ordinary.Due to the products technical complexity a master thesis was adverted. The task was to do aninvestigation whether such a product is technically viable.The job involved research of existing products and constructions material as well as designingthe product with CAD and FEM-programs.

The product "urinal funnel" for women has fascinated me for a long time. Not only because it solves a practical problem in a simple way, but also because it challenges our definitions of gender and behaviour. This report describes the process of making a new design for a funnel, taking material, ergonomics and construction in consideration. It also includes structuring a launching of the product in Sweden. It starts up with a large amount of information gathering, both by interviewing testgroup-perticipants, but also by researching and evaluating the range of existing funnels.

The purpose of this project was to to find a way for textile patternsto talk about its own, and our, inevitable death. By doing so I hopedto incorporate questions about transience into daily life.I assumed that from a decentralized background position, patternson everyday objects have a unique ability to pose complexquestions that can be interpreted over time. The investigation wasinspired by how russian constructivists looked at everyday objectsas equals, and let them carry the spirit of the revolution.In the process I tried to find out how, and if, a philosophicalmessage can be transmitted through design and how differentcomponents of a pattern can work together to express that message.Resulting in two textile patterns with textile motifs, my workshowed that design definitely can raise metaphysical questions andmay as well have an advantage over art when trying to reach peoplein their own reality..

Bakgrund och problem: Designens potential som strategisk resurs har på senare tid börjatuppmärksammas allt mer. I takt med att designanvändandet ökar i företagens differentieringsarbeteökar även behovet av kunskap om hur företag på bästa sätt kan tillvarata och utnyttjadesign som ett effektivt konkurrensmedel. Tidigare forskning kring företags motiv och argumenttill att outsourca design eller bygga upp en intern designavdelning är begränsad. Därföransåg vi det viktigt att detta område uppmärksammades och studerades grundligare.Syfte: Studiens syfte är att identifiera och beskriva skillnader och likheter ur ett design managementperspektivmellan tre tillverkande företag som använder någon typ av industriell designi sin produktutveckling. Två av dessa har interna designavdelningar och ett företag köperin design på konsultbasis.Metod: Fallstudier omfattande tre tillverkande företag har genomförts.