The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to describe how Swedish public libraries use Web 2.0-tools and their experiences of using the tools. Focus of the study lies in the contact between public libraries and their patrons on the Web 2.0-tools. For the purposes of the study, the use of weblogs and MySpace were chosen for examination. The methodology used for this study was qualitative interviews.

Since the abrupt ending of the Cold Wars the international system of politics has been dominated by the unipolar United States. Leading scholars within structural realism sees this stage as just a temporary condition for various reasons. They also target China as aspirant to embody the role of a balancer against USA and pole in a bi- or multipolar system. Some even argue they are destined for superpower.With the help of realisms definition of power I estimate U.S., China's and India's capabilities and judge their potential superpower. I then go on to connect structural realism and role theory to estimate their different statuses in the system.

Obese horses with insulin resistance are often also afflicted with laminitis. Horses with these symptoms are given the diagnosis equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). Signs of insulin resistance are excessive accumulation of adipose tissue on the neck, around the withers and on the dorsal area of the hindquarters. Insulin resistance means that the function of insulin is defective and does not stimulate glucose uptake by the cells in the body in the correct way. This will result in an increased insulin release.

Today, social media is used mostly by people in their private life. However, companies are more and more tapping into the area of social media. To this date, mostly B2C companies have been successful in their social media strategies. This qualitative thesis aims to investigate how B2B companies can benefit from using social media as a means to communicate and build relations with their customers. The medtech industry has been chosen as the object of study.Through depth interviews with people in the medtech industry and social media experts, data has been collected in order to answer the questions of (1) how ready customers in the medtech industry are to receive information through social media and (2) how companies can build the best possible social media strategy.

In the era of urbanization and globalization, many small, rural and post-industrialcities struggle for growth. The competition for citizens and visitors is intense, andone commonly used strategy is to promote the city to a target audience. Placemarketing, however, is homogenized to a great extent. Marketing thus seems likea useless approach, yet almost every city does it.By using discourse analysis and institutional theory, this essay aims to explainwhy the city of Kramfors markets itself. There are several problems arising due tothe marketing of places, especially concerning the discrepancy between the city?simage and identity.

In my exam-project, ?For Götha Kendo Club ? an athletic clubs new graphical profile? at HDK ( School of Design and Crafts ) i chose to redesign the visual identity of Götha Kendo Club, a kendo-club in Gothenburg. Kendo is a japanese fencing sport, where swords of bamboo are used, together with protective armor.My work consists of a new logotype for Götha Kendo Club; three different posters for recruiting beginners; a website layout, presented with a pdf-file; and a beginners folder, with an introduction to kendo.The aim was, not only to give Götha Kendo Club a new fresh look, but also to attract a target group to the sport, namely people who are interested in competition, exercise and athletics.To achieve this I created a though look where tension and focus was the lead; using only three colours, red, white and black, and with progressive typography set in with the modernistic HouseGothic typeface I created this fresh and exciting look. The photography by Ida Nordung where shoot with white backdrop, creating a hard contrast to the dark clothed kendo models.Finally I collected rules and guidelines for the graphical and visual elements of Götha Kendo Club new style in a graphical guide..

The aim of this thesis is to fill a knowledge gap regarding how online players use libraries, their attitude towards libraries and what they want out of future libraries. We see it as a problem that the library world of today does not have much knowledge about an audience that is so prevalent in society.The theory used in the thesis is Henrik Jochumsen, Casper Rasmussen Hvenegaard & Dorte Skot-Hansens model that divides libraries into four functions. The four functions are meetings, knowledge, inspiration and experiences. In the analysis we added a suggested fifth function, a digital space, giving the digital interaction and information needs of today´s society. The method was focus groups on online forums for gamers.

The aim of this study is to examine the possibilities to use gamification to reach thepolitical goals for the transportation system in the Stockholm region. The study has aninterdisciplinary approach and is based around two main building blocks: gamificationand the transportation system in the Stockholm region. The first part examinesgamification. This includes contemporary use, debate, academic definition and aninvestigation of how gamified applications should be developed. One of the mainfindings is a suggestion that gamification should be seen as a process rather that a setof predefined game mechanics that can be applied to any activity.

Sten Jonsson wants to start a production of an advertising catalogue for small companies in Sweden. Acatalogue where the advertisingcost is so low that most of the companies can afford to participate. Thecompanies who will advertise should be manufacturing companies in trades of carpentry, sheet metalworkshops, forging workshops and engineering workshops.The catalogue will facilitate for the manufacturer to reach the costumer without any middleman.Without a middleman creates a possibility for an opinion about the product at the same time as theprice can be held low. A catalogue of this type would benefit the marketing of the companies at the sametime as it would generate an occasion for innovations.The possible target groups are property companies, construct companies and farmers.A market research has been carried out contained a postal interview and a phone interview. Themarket research carried out to get an understanding in what the companies think about the idea butalso to see if the companies are in interest of advertise in the catalogue.

An impulse or unplanned purchase is a decision taken on the spot without further consideration or reflection. It is the spur of the moment that influences the purchase rather than a deliberated decision. Being loyal to a particular brand means a mutual relationship between customer and company created over time which may result in the customer experiencing a higher value and thus prefer a particular brand before another.Bulk confectionary can be characterized as an impulse product because it is purchased at times without any time of consideration or planning. The question that arises is whether all bulk confectionary purchases are unplanned? Through this study it shall be examined whether any brand loyalty actually exists regarding bulk confectionary; does the customer plan its confectionary purchases in beforehand or do most of them occur through impulses? Furthermore, the study will highlight who the customer is of bulk confectionary in Sweden.The survey was conducted through a combination of a quantitative and qualitative method.

In the project Echoing Nature i have searched a design for an exhibi¬tion concept. That visualizes the natural phenomenon of self-assem¬bling materials in a simplified way. My question is, how can you emo¬tionally re-connect the modern man to nature and raise awareness. I assume my thesis that the experience of a natural phenomenon can inspire us to see a bigger context, provoke curiosity and generate an initial sense of belonging to nature. The result is an interactive sculp¬ture that consists of 3-dimensional Tetris blocks.

This study examines how farmers certified by KRAV face proposed regulations on organic soils put forward by KRAV economic association among others, and how they are affected economically. These soils are, from an environmental perspective, interesting as a target for production regulations as they cause greenhouse gas emissions through decomposition of organic material when cultivated. The regulations advocate that organic soils should be grown with pasture where soil cultivation is only allowed every fith year which implies that possible adjustments of cultivation have to be made in order to fulfill the regualtions. Collection of data have been made through a questionnaire sent out to 574 farmers certified by KRAV. The answers have been analysed using a decision making model and statistical findings suggest that proportion of organic soils, type of production, economic conditions and farmers? goals and values have an influence on whether the regulations and potential cultivation adjustments have been considered or not.

In today's globalized world it is essential to achieve goal congruence within a multinational corporation despite the distances between the headquarters and subsidiaries. A case study has been performed to examine how control of sales units within a Swedish multinational corporation is achieved. Otley's framework has been used in the study to provide an overall picture of the control system where the analysis is based on five areas: key objectives and goal evaluation, strategies and plans, target setting process, incentives and motivation as well as information flows. To complement this framework, theories of convergence and divergence by Busco et al. have been used as well as theories of hierarchical control and self-control by Holmström.

More relevant price comparisons between groceries are possible. This study points outone possible path through an example. The purpose of this approach is to develop amodel in a realistic context. The main assumption behind the proposed model is thatprice always has to be compared to quality. The model (algorithm) starts with a basketwith the cheapest goods.

The project team has chosen to carry out the project itself. This is to be able to work more flexibly in the product development process and not be guided by some guidelines.Every day, we read in the media about a new truck burglary. The problem has become so common that we do not even notice it in the media. Each year the theft of 1 billion of Sweden and the entire 82 billion in Europe in 2008. This is an increase of 10 billion by 2007.