Jag försöker vara i alla hyllor
Fokusgruppsintervjuer på en webbchatt om bibliotekariers roller
In this thesis, we are concerned with the many different professional roles that a public librarian, working at a small library, has. More specifically, the purpose is to find out which different roles that librarians believe they have, and which view they have upon those. Furthermore, we are exploring the tendencies that librarians discuss in relation to these professional roles. To pursue this goal, we have used the methodology of focus group interviews, with the unconventional twist that our interviews were done using web chats. This may have the advantage that the informants may present more honest views than when using ordinary interviews due to the anonymous character of chatting. After coding and categorizing the obtained material, the following conclusions could be drawn. The contemporary librarian has many different roles in their profession: reference work and collection development, knowledge organizing, providing culture, student and user counseling, outreaching to groups with special needs, public relations and organizing and disseminating electronic and other information. Some of these roles are quite new, and some of the older ones are disappearing. For example, the information specialist and the counselor are roles that the librarians are using more extensively. In contrast, the knowledge organizer role is often put aside. Unfortunately, many of our informants could not believe in the tools of IT as something that could enhance and enrich their work and their services. More education, both in terms of IT and pedagogic knowledge is needed in order to provide the libraries users with good service.