The aim of this thesis is to study the phenomenon of read/write OPAC by looking at how students at Pennsylvania University use PennTags in order to influence document descriptions in the library catalogue. The main questions to be answered are to what extent PennTags is being used in different subject areas and what users contribute to document descriptions through tagging in different subject areas. Studying the posts created by a sample of PennTags users from a quantitative approach I try to find out if there is reason to believe that the activity of users and users? possibility to make meaningful contributions are dependent of the subject matter being dealt with in documents described, as anticipated by the theory of pace layering. I find that user interest in influencing the library catalogue through PennTags appears to be low in general, with exception for in the subject areas of the main classes Language and literature and Social sciences in Library of Congress Classification.

The explosion of new digital media puts pressure for developments within copyright law both in Sweden and internationally. These developments are taking place on two different international areas: (1) WIPO which is a part of the UN family and (2) the EU where a new directive on copyright law is being prepared and probably implemented during 2001. The aim of this thesis is twofold: (1) to study which considerations libraries must make when handling the new digital media both under today's copyright laws and under those which are being developed internationally. (2) What will be the consequences, for Swedish libraries, if the new EU-directive on copyright law is implemented in Sweden? By analysing current copyright laws, international treaties and the proposal for a new EU-directive as well as the national debate the thesis brings attention to a number of central issues for libraries.

The object of this master thesis is to question why the sheet music heldby libraries is not used more than it is. I have mainly studied the inc idenceof any cooperation between the music schools and libraries,whether there has been consultation on the purchase of sheet musicand whether the music schools borrowed sheet music from the libraries.For the thesis qualitative methods were used in the form of interviewswith ten leaders in music or cultural schools in Sweden. The mainstudy has been focused on the library and music school in Vänersborg.To compare my results and draw conclusions I have used the work ofSanna Taljas: Music, Culture and the Library: an analysis of Discourses.The result of the study showed that there is very little cooperation betweenthe library section for music and the music school. The greatestinterest for cooperation appears to come from the library personnel.Both the library and the music school personnel claim insufficient timeand money for their lack of cooperation..

The purpose of this essay is to investigate the construction of sexuality in Swedish school libraries through the lens of Foucault?s concept of power/knowledge. Five libraries were investigated, using two kinds of method: discourse analysis of titles, classification codes and subject headings of sex education materials, and qualitative interviews with librarians working at each of the libraries. Most sex education materials were classified within the medicine section, illustrating the continued authority of medical discourse in matters concerning sexuality. Books for younger audiences were often written for either boys or girls, reproducing a binary understanding of gender.

?The modern library in the network society?A study of cultural politicians and librarians opinions about libraries' use of social mediaSocial media is becoming more and more interacted in our daily lives and Carlsson (2013) argues that today's libraries have undergone major challenges in the digital information technology's entry in the library arena. The new technology has led to sum up in one question: how a library should relate to the digital information technology, the issue has applied in particular the social communications media, such as Facebook, Twitter and more. The purpose of this paper is to examine the culture of politicians and librarians 'perceptions of public libraries' use of social media linked to the libraries and their democracy promotion efforts. This is analyzed from Castells theories about the network society and the digital divide.In summary, the study concluded that the majority of the culture politicians and librarians believe that social media is a part of the future of the library.

The main aim of this master thesis was to see the process of an interactive online reference service from idea to final product. The reference service we have studied is developed and used by the Library of the National Institute for Working Life in Stockholm, Sweden and goes by the name phibi. Our goal was to review the whole realization process from the reasons why a service like this was created, how the service was introduced and implemented inside the organisation and finally what the result and consequences were for both the library staff and for the users of the service. Phibi is designed to be a tool that fosters communication between the library staff and the remote users where the users get the opportunity to be helped with their questions by the library staff although they are not physically present in the library. To understand the process we conducted a case study with 11 interviews of the library staff, the superior and the initiator to phibi.

Bitcoin is a digital currency that is used by people all around the world. The goal of this paper is to give an idea about how much trust there is in bitcoin among its users. This paper has used an online survey aimed at bitcoinusers and a content analysis to collect data about this trust.The conclusions show that there seems to be some trust in bitcoin as a technology and this is based on that the users have a good understanding about how bitcoin works. They also share their knowledge about bitcoin to people around them. The trust between people in the bitcoin network on the contrary doesn?t seem as high because certain technological properties hurt this trust.

The ever-evolving information technology gives users more opportunities, but also put higher demands on them. The digital agenda of the state and society clarifies the objectives and effects academic libraries? development. E-books influence the development of organizational, economic, legal and political perspectives. At the University Library in Gävle work is ongoing. The process is controlled by the acquisition policy which makes it clear that e-books should be purchased if possible.

The purpose of this bachelor thesis was to gain a deeper understanding of and examine how library blogs are realized at public libraries together with the views among librarians regarding the realization of library blogs.The questions we wanted to answer were: ? How is the library blog realized at the public libraries in this study? ? What are the views among the librarians in this study regarding the realization of the library blogs?The analytical model in this thesis is Connie Crosby?s six steps on how libraries successfully can realize their blogs. Four of the six steps were selected: planning, implementation, marketing and measures of success. The methodology used for this study was semi-structured interviews. Two interviews were conducted with three librarians that have partial responsibility of their respective library blogs.The results of the study show that the process of the library blog can look different in different libraries, and that the respondents had clear views on how the realization of a blog should be done.

The purpose of the following thesis has been to study librarians' attitudes towards comics for grown up people. I have compared the attitudes among the staff in two public libraries in Sweden, Malmö public library and Lund public library. I have conducted five interviews with librarians and observed how the comics are handled in each library. I have also carried out a literary study of the history and theories of comics. Initially a definition of comics is presented, and then an overview of the development of comics and of some theories regarding them is offered.

The main aim of this master thesis was to see the process of an interactive online reference service from idea to final product. The reference service we have studied is developed and used by the Library of the National Institute for Working Life in Stockholm, Sweden and goes by the name phibi. Our goal was to review the whole realization process from the reasons why a service like this was created, how the service was introduced and implemented inside the organisation and finally what the result and consequences were for both the library staff and for the users of the service. Phibi is designed to be a tool that fosters communication between the library staff and the remote users where the users get the opportunity to be helped with their questions by the library staff although they are not physically present in the library. To understand the process we conducted a case study with 11 interviews of the library staff, the superior and the initiator to phibi.

The aim of this study is to examine how the library of the Swedish Tax Agency and the Swedish Enforcment Authority have changed during the last decade. The study is based on qualitative interviews with the librarian in the two goverment agencies? primary library and four personel from three different office libraries. The result shows that the libraries hasn?t changed drastically in their role over the last decade but instead slowly decreased in use in relation to online databases..

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to examine how some university students, who are using the libraries extensively, use and experience the public and the university library and what they expect from the two different library types. I also compare their expectations with the different tasks and aims of the two library types. To answer this I have interviewed seven students at the department of history of literature at Göteborg University. I have also studied some literature and research related to this subject, for example user studies about students and libraries and the information behaviour of distance students.

The main purpose of this Master thesis is to illuminate the understanding of local politicians regarding the public libraries and the librarians. We argue that the local politicians´ opinions regarding public libraries and librarians influence the way they act and react in their roles as politicians.In order to achieve the aim of this thesis we focused on following questions:What are the opinions of the politicians:- regarding themselves in relation to the public library?- concerning public libraries in general and its functions especially in the municipalities of their own?- concerning the librarians and their work in a public function?What are the conclusions to be drawn regarding the politicians´ interest and commitment to public libraries in the politic daily-life of the municipalities? Our empiric material consists of qualitative interviews with six politicians elected in two municipalities in the interior of Västerbotten, a northern sparsely populated district. In order to distinguish the various opinions that emerge from the material, we apply a phenomenographic approach. The analysis result we present in three conceivable categories in order to express the different opinions.In general our study points at a positive and favourable attitude to the public library, and all the respondents assume that the municipality ought to offer this service.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to examine the theories and visions of five futuristic projects at children's libraries in Sweden and Denmark to investigate if these projects have approaches that are significantly different from today's best practices of the libraries and the current theories behind the children's sections.More specific questions are also asked:Are the projects taking advantage of the children's perspective or is it the adult vision of children's needs that is governing?Are the projects promoting collaborations with other actors, thereby facilitating a future development of the children's library by others than librarians?The comparisons reveal that new methods and tools are beeing developed, while the traditional ambitions and views on children and children's needs are essentially unchanged. The role of the library as a social room and meeting place has increased, while its role as a place for finding and transferring information has been challenged by Internet and home computers. The library can still compete as a public place offering relevant contents and assistance by attentive, well-educated adults.In conclusion, the futuristic projects are expected to promote greater variations between children's libraries, by presenting literature, media and information in many different and more innovative ways. Such greater diversity and multiplicity would allow the libraries to market themselves with a clearer message in order to compete with other (commercial) activities for children..