Datorgenererade virtuella världar har gett oss möjligheten att använda många av de kognitivamekanismer som vi använder i den fysiska världen även när vi agerar och kommunicerar i dendigitala världen. De virtuella världarna skapar platser där vi kan samarbeta och umgås, både iunderhållningssyfte och som arbetsplatser.Men de nya möjligheterna skapar också helt nya situationer. När vi tidigare använde vårainre mentala världar för att planera, simulera, minnas och fantisera var det alltid bara en av detänkta världarna som var den aktuella, där vi faktiskt befann oss just då. När man är aktiv i envirtuell värld är man samtidigt närvarande i två helt olika sammanhang.I den här uppsatsen och studien har en grupp World of Warcraft-spelare frågats om hur deupplever sin förmåga att dela uppmärksamhet mellan olika saker. Dels i vardagliga situationeri den fysiska världen och dels mellan den fysiska och den virtuella världen.Tidigare studier av spel och datorsimulerade miljöer har ofta sett avskärmning från denfysiska världen som en viktig faktor för att användaren skall uppleva sig närvarande i denvirtuella miljön.

This bachelor thesis is about civilian marching bands in the province Värmland industrial communities, with a focus on Degerfors, Edsvalla, Gruvön, Nors, Slottsbron, and Vålberg bands. Degerfors, Gruvön, and Slottsbron bands are three corps that still operates concerts and performances. The other three unions are defunct.In Värmland, there were many mills that were operating well into the 1900s, roughly speaking there were about 25 mills in various industrial areas. These mills had operations in glass, iron, and paper, each user had a band at least a brass sextet and today there are only eight bands left in Värmland. Bofors in Karlskoga, Charlottenberg, Degerfors, Dejefors, Gruvöns in Grums, Hagfors, Skoghall, and Slottsbron bands.What is the reason that so many bands have disappeared? To answer the question I have investigated the importance of four factors have had for the unions: finance, recruitment collaboration with the music and arts, as well as cooperation with educational associations.The results show a marked reduction in civil bands, from about 25 corps to eight corps today.

The aim of this essay was to study how the communities work with groups as a support to children with addictive parents, and to increase my understanding of the groups meaning as a support. My main questions have been: How are the child group sessions formed? What kind of experience does the group leaders have regarding their functions? The study is a qualitative investigation that has been turned to prefessionals in the subject area and  is based on 6 interviews and secondary sources. The material has been analyzed from a narrativ theory as well as a salutogent perspective. Research shows that children growing up in an addictive environment often have decreased psychological health and are overrepresented amongst those who developed a future addiction.

Social networks have increased significantly during the latest decades, but what does the cooperation include and how does the network processes look like? Networks are not specific for communities in the 2000?s or for that matter human organisations, but the ability to build networks and introduce more actors to the organisation have become easier with today?s communication technology. The study is about the Norrköping Municipality membership in the transnational network Sweden Emilia Romagna Network (SERN). It gives an insight into how networking and cooperation can be seen by politicians and officials, based on mission statements and the reason why a municipality choose to participate in transnational networks. The study aims to examine how Norrköping Municipality uses the SERN network and what the network have resulted in since the beginning of the municipality membership in 2005. It is a qualitative study which involves interviews with officials and politicians from the Municipality of Norrköping and textual material from SERN?s strategy documents and policies.

Då det finns en upplevelse om att den tekniska utvecklingen tar sig fram med väldig fart, är det viktigt att individerna i samhället anpassar sig genom att uppdatera sina kompetenser i deras arbeten. Med tanke på detta vill vi med denna uppsats försöka skapa en förståelse för om de anställda på en IT-avdelning upplever att den tekniska utvecklingen ändrar förutsättningarna för deras tekniska kompetensutveckling. Detta genom tre frågeställningar som handlar om anställda på en IT-avdelnings upplevelser om på vilka sätt förändringar sker på företaget som berör deras arbete, hur teknisk utveckling förändrar deras tekniska kompetensutveckling och hur de får ny teknisk kompetens. Det empiriska materialet bygger på en kvalitativ metod i form av fem stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna genomfördes med anställda på en IT-avdelning inom tillverkningsindustrin.Undersökningen visar på att de anställda på IT-avdelningen känner ett behov av mer teknisk kompetensutveckling eftersom det ständigt sker tekniska förändringar som påverkar företaget.

Dagens unga är skapare av en kommunikationskultur som präglar hela deras sätt att leva och lära, en ny kultur där Internet spelar en central roll växer fram. Detta nät tillhandahåller oss med fakta, information, diskussion, virtuella världar och communities. Arbetet belyser de förmågor ungdomar utvecklar genom sitt Internetanvändande, kompetenser de tycker sig utveckla genom att vistas på nätet och hur det genom Internet går att skapa nya lärandeformer där eleverna möts på ett område som intresserar dem. Arbetet visar också exempel på hur det går att använda sig av Internet i undervisningen och vilken inställning lärare i vår undersökning har till detta. Frågeställningarna vi arbetat med är: Vilka kompetenser skaffar sig unga genom sitt Internetanvändande? Hur används datorer och Internet i undervisningen? Hur ser lärare på Internet i undervisningen? Vilka användningsområden finns det för Internet i undervisningen? För att få svar på dessa frågor har vi bland annat gått ut med enkätundersökningar till elever och lärare i olika högstadieskolor vilka vi sedan kompletterat med en lärarintervju.

Edward Said's book Orientalism (1978) is the most important reference point in the post-colonial theory and describes how the West is dominant over the Orient. There is a clear distinction between "us" and "the other" and the purpose of this study is that, from a postcolonial perspective, focusing on Said's theoretical concepts "the other" and "discourse", examining how two foreign-born people with ethnic backgrounds living in the same place, are looking at themselves, at other foreign-born and native Swedes. My questions to answer this are; ?what are the concepts of "the other" and "discourse" and is it possible to use these concepts to examine how foreign-born people are looking at themselves, at other foreign-born and native Swedes in a specific location??, ?who is "the other" in a place where there are almost as many native Swedes as foreign-born??, and ?how do these two foreign-born people with ethnic backgrounds perceive Norrliden as a place and what effect has that place had on their identity?? I have used a post-colonial philosophical ground and a qualitative approach, focusing on two different interviews with two men, living in Norrliden. In Norrliden almost 50% of the inhabitants are foreign-born were both of the interview-persons are feeling safe and secure.

This study has an integration policy direction as it focuses on the qualification for the new arrivals to quickly establish themselves in the labor market, and how the government's interventions, which in this case is the establishment reform, have affected municipalities and what its role is in this context. The purpose of the establishment reform is to faster the new arrivals integration in to the labor market. The aim of this study is to analyze the interaction factors that is affecting the integration of new arrivals into the labor market by study the professionals opinions on the interplay between involved organizations in two municipalities before and after the establishment reform. Studies have shown that the establishment reform has not achieved its goal and the purpose is to analyze the aspects behind this problem. The results of the study were analyzed with help of the interaction theory and the new institutional theory which is a part of the organization theory. An important aspect in the results of our study is the deficiency with the interaction between the participating organizations that obstruct the new arrivals path to becoming self-contained. In order to identify the problem, the study focuses on the co-operation among two communities in Sweden with the new arrivals way into the labor market.

En känsla för Gud ? Komparativ teologi enligt Keith Ward och perspektiv på religionsteologi.(A feeling for God ? Comparative Theology according to Keith Ward and perspectives on Theology of Religion)We all have preconceived opinions regarding people, cultures and especially religion and religiousness, and according to one´s own subjective formed opinion, they are surely truthful and moral. But my main concern with this essay must be thought of as a brief and personal mapping of Christian belief and it´s rational status in relation to both basic philosophy and the other great religious traditions. Furthermore, I am anxious to widen the perspectives of that which theoretically can be considered substantially real, and the existential consequences that follows on such a study. In doing so I must make sure that it´s properly anchored in history of both philosophy and religion, and of course ? with the general idea of God.

Wermland was affected by the Spanish flu like the Swedish national average, about a half percentage of Wermlands population would lose their lives to the flu during the autumn 1918. The flu has for many fallen into oblivion. This oblivion is so wide spread that it´s possible to talk about a "collective forgetfulness". The society have selected to remember 1918 for "when the guns went quiet on the western front" and not for the millions who died from the treacherous Spanish flu. The world had already suffered enough from the four years of war that had been fought, thus the victims of the flu would be honored but would soon fade in to oblivion.  When you investigate deeper you get the picture that the national average don´t do Wermland and its cities or rural areas any justice when a large variations seems to occur within regional areas.

The digital era has led to technical advances that have transformed the role of the public library from being a place that is used only through physical visits and material, into also being a virtual space that can be accessed by users from outside the library through Internet-based access to e-media such as e-books and streamed or downloadable audiobooks.The aim of this study is to examine how the role of public libraries in Stockholm County has changed in the process of developing into digital libraries: how this has affected their organisation, work methods and strate- gies, as well as their accessibility. The theoretical framework of the study draws on Michael K. Bucklands theory of information accessibility, which is based on six factors of access that are determined by different types of barriers. The methodology is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Primary data was gathered through an empirical survey, which consisted of a structured questionnaire distributed to most of the public libraries in Stockholm County and semi-structured interviews with selected librarians and experts for further in-depth understanding.

I en tid där allt fler människor bosätter sig i städer har syftet med denna studie varit att undersöka människors gränsdragningar i det urbana och framför allt vilka gränsteknologier som omgärdar det egna bostadsområdet. För att besvara studiens frågeställningar har Charles Tillys (2004) teori om beständig ojämlikhet och Richard Sennetts (2008) teori om sökandet efter gemenskap i den moderna staden varit givande utgångspunkter. Det fall som studerats är Täby kommun norr om Stockholm och i ett vidare syfte har gränsdragningar i kommunen med hjälp av Blakely & Snyders (1997) teori om Gated Communities jämförts med inhägnade bostadsområdens fysiska murar. Genomförandet har utgjorts av kvalitativa samtalsintervjuer i kombination med en observation på plats vilket lett fram till resultatet att det finns både enande och åtskiljande faktorer som omgärdar Täby. Fysiska gränser har visat sig vara det geografiska avståndet och upplåtelseformer och socialt har viljan av att bo nära familjen visat sig vara en stark faktor till att sociala flyttmönster både skapas och upprätthålls.

ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a phenomena that is much talked about in both schools and in communities. Today, there is a conflict surrounding the diagnosis ADHD. A part of the conflict takes part between the sociologist Eva Kärfve and Christopher Gillberg, professor in child- and teenage psychology. The roots of this conflict surrounds the much debated line of what is seen as normal and ?too? different, basically how many children that actually should have the diagnosis.

Summary:The Clinical Training Center at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala uses new methods for educating and training veterinary students. Among these methods are computer programs. The aim of this study was to create an interactive application based on data from horses CT-scanned at the Center for Medical Image and Visualization at Linköping University Hospital. The purpose of this application is for veterinary students to be able to use multidimensional visualization to study equine anatomy. The resulting application named "EQUINE VIRTUAL ANATOMY - Flash in the Tunnel" consists of data from six heads, one left foreleg and a wooden dalahorse.

?SEPARATE WORLDS?. School librarians teaching in information seeking in high school.The aim of this Master's thesis is to study how information seeking is taught in high school and how school librarians describe their experiences of teaching information seeking. Five school librarians from five different high schools (gymnasium) in Skåne participated in the study. The empirical data derives from five interviews and fourteen observations conducted over a period of three weeks.