"där jag skulle liksom hitta ..allting..."; mötet mellan privatforskare och Kungliga Biblioteket
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyse the private researchers encounter with the Royal Library, national library of Sweden. The main focus is on answering the two questions: who is the private researcher and what is his/her impression of the Royal Library? These questions are answered from the vantage point of the following theoretical perspectives: library anxiety, Bourdieu, library architecture, gender studies and service management. The methods used are qualitative interviews, and textual analysis using the printout of these taped interviews along with notes and an earlier user study as material. The conclusions are that barriers with staff is the most frequent factor of library anxiety in the private researcher at the Royal Library, and mechanical barriers the least frequent. The private researcher are statistically most likely to be male and 55 years or more of age, which is a group that generally have low levels of library anxiety. The aspects of the Royal Library architecture most significant to the interviewees, are that the building has a sacred, church-like atmosphere and that very few books are visible to the visitor, these aspects could increase the levels of library anxiety. Habitus proved to be an important factor in the encounter. Problems with the quality of the library service provided was mostly due to; lack of space, opening hours, the time allowed to deliver a book from the stacks. Problems originating in library anxiety or any other of the perspectives studied could affect the experienced quality.