The aim of this Master's thesis is to examine and analyze what discourses about children that can be found in three Swedish culture publications, and also to identify the different social roles that are attributed to children in these publications. The theoretical and methodological background is discourse theory, as described by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Additional theory used is social constructionism and Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse theory. Three questions are asked: What discourse/s can be found in these publications? What do these discourses tell us about the view on children within the library domain? What social roles are attributed to the children in the texts and what consequences do these have for the power configuration between children and adults? Furthermore there is a discussion concerning what effects these discourses might have on the direct and indirect reception of children in the library. 84 articles from three publications - Biblioteksbladet, DIK-forum and Barn & unga – are analyzed, and four discourses concerning children are identified: the discourse of the idyllic child, the discourse of the indigent child, the discourse of the resource receiving child and the discourse of the equal child. Four social roles are also identified: groups in exposed positions, babies and small children, gender and pupils. The analysis shows that the unequal balance of power between children and adults is maintained and reproduced within the discourses, and is very rarely challenged.
The purpose of this master's thesis is to describe the expansion of Sundbyberg public library during the decade 1954 to 1964. Our focus of interest is the library’s concentration on public relations in 1954. During the experimental year 1954 a public relations librarian, Bianca Bianchini, was employed. Her task was to introduce the library to the citizens of Sundyberg who were not already using it. As a background to this concentration on public relations we also describe the early development of the public library in Sundbyberg. Development work in public libraries has been dependent on local initiatives and enthusiasts since the libraries were a voluntary part of the municipal activity. In this thesis we focus on some of the more important actors in this respect and the structures they interacted with. By using an actor-structure approach we try to explain why people took certain actions and the effect they had on the course of events. The method we have used is mainly to examine and analyze source material, which consists of newspaper clippings, minutes of the municipal council and interviews with people who then worked in the library. We have found that the main reason for the concentration on public relations in 1954 was the surrounding structures on a national and local level, such as the strong Swedish economy, an increasing interest in public relations and a committed board of Sundbyberg public library. But we can also see that the commitment of the various actors likewise played an important part.
This thesis is a systematic review of the Swedish healthcare and hospital-library’s authorities on the consumer health information. The goal is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses that are inherited in two professions (medical and LiS) with two completely different perspectives on mediating information. The method used is a mix between conceptual analysis of the Swedish term “patient information” and a Critical conceptual analysis, according to Fairclough, of published native theses and international professional journals. Conclusion of the thesis is that although the nursing and medical staff has the necessary medical expertise it does not, in many cases have either the time or skill to completely satisfy a patient or his/her next of kin´s information needs when exposed in a uneasy situation as when in need of treatment or help in any kind. The hospital librarian on the other hand does have the intermediating skills and most often the time to explain complex treatments or medical procedures, but the lack in medical or nursing expertise. In a perfect setting there is an inter-professional cooperation which brings a lot of positive results. The problem today is often to overcome the gap in awareness of one and other that exists in a modern Swedish hospital.
Bibliografin innehåller litteratur som ur någon aspekt beskriver åldrande och samhällets äldreomsorg. Skönlitteratur och facklitteratur som utkommit på svenska under åren 1977-1981 är medtagna i förteckningen.
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. We also carried out a questionnaire over the Internet to obtain the users' point of view. While the amount of answers to the questionnaire was limited, we nonetheless decided to submit the results. Based upon our research we found that the major reason, from the superior and the initiator, to starting a service like this was the opportunity to find a new way of communicating with users. Among the staff, the expectations were mixed. During the creating process the most important steps were educating and establishing the product among the staff. After the incorporation of the product into the daily work at the library, we find that the product is working well and fulfilling its purpose as a communication tool. The staff as well as the users find it useful and appreciate its availability. For the staff it has changed the routine of daily work, but the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
The purpose of this study is to examine the role social media can play in a school library context, based on a theoretical model, called “A new model for the public library in a knowledge and experienced society” by Henrik Jochumsen, Dorte Skot-Hansen and Casper Hvegaard Rasmussen. The bachelor thesis aim to answer three research questions, they are as follow: Which request of social media is there by teachers and pupils at a high school library? Which social media is the most requested by teachers and pupils at a high school library? And should the library services for teachers and students be improved if social media were used at a high school library? The methodology used for this study was an inquiry investigation. My findings are presented in a context of previous, related research and the study shows that teachers and pupils are well informed of what social media is and they use social media when they are at school. The thesis also shows that the unit I study, a vocational training unit, is more or less interested in what the school library can do for them with social media. They seldom are at the school library and they seldom use the teach platform were they can find library services. This result can open up for the school library to meet the users at a new arena with for example social media.
In the USA, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) seldom have sufficient resources and infrastructure to support faculty and student research or doctoral education. In contrast, doctoral/research universities (DRUs) have extensive resources and infrastructure to support research and doctoral education. istoricHBoth HBCUs and DRUs have talented faculty and students, and collaboration between faculty and students and HBCUs and DRUs has the potential of increasing the physical and intellectual resources brought to bear in research and student education. However, not all collaborations are successful. We studied four instances of collaboration among HBCUs and DRUs to investigate points of tension, identify successful practices, and gather suggestions for improving existing and future collaborations between institutions with different cultural heritages and organizational priorities.
Strategic planning is a critical issue for higher education academic libraries, especially in developing countries like Ghana, due to limited financial resources and the rapid change in the information environment during the last several decades. Theory-testing case study methodology was used in this thesis to examine strategy formulation and implementation in building the digital collections of the University of Cape Coast Library (UCCL) in Ghana. The main question the study attempted to answer was how did the DL strategic formulation and implementation processes used by the UCC in building its digital collections compare with the Mintzberg’s strategic formulation and implementation framework? The instruments used for data collection were the key informant interview technique and document reviews. The results showed that, during the formulation phase, two aspects (resources and aspirations of senior management) were emergent. During the implementation phase, five aspects (achieving results, processes and behaviour, standards, motivation, and personal) were emergent. All other elements of building the UCC digital collections were planned during both the formulation and implementation phases. Although the basic technical architecture for the digital library is in place, inconsistency between organizational objectives and the values of the management group was identified as a problem in strategy formulation. Digital library staff reported that cost of using Information Communications Technology (ICT) facilities, frequency of power outage, obsolete digitization equipment, interconnectivity problems, and high cost of internet connectivity inhibited their work and regular student access to digital collections. Although the emphasis on students and learning is laudable and apt, there seems to be lack of focus on research support beyond digital collection building, despite the fact that research excellence is one of the UCC’s key priorities. Opportunities exist for improving feedback mechanisms between the users, digital library staff and the university management; and inclusion of social media tools in the digital library project.
This Master’s thesis has governmental cultural policy in focus and concludes a textual idea analysis of the governmental bill Time for culture. (Tid för kultur.) The aim of the study is to examine how the government is seeking legitimacy concerning the cultural policy. One of the starting points is that the society has changed over time in terms of for example increased globalization and multicultural and even the market adjustment is more evident. Also the economical basis in the society is different nowadays. These changes form challenges concerning the governmental cultural policy. The theoretical starting point for this thesis is based on a theory by cultural policy researcher Geir Vestheim. The theory claims that cultural policy is instrumental. The forms of instrumental culture policy are either qualitative, social, economic or democratic. The method used in the study is idea analysis. Ideal types based on a model by Vestheim are used to examine the different forms of instrumental culture policy and arguments in Time for culture. The study wants to explore which forms of arguments and instrumental cultural policy that can be seen in Time for culture. The result of this study shows that the different forms of instrumental cultural policy occur to varying extent in Time for culture. Most prominent are the economical arguments. Particularly when it comes to the cultural policy that concerns the role of the culture in the development of the society. One conclusion drawn is that the government is seeking legitimacy concerning the new cultural policy mainly throughout economical arguments.
The aim of this thesis is to investigate how librarians view marketing of the library using social media and how this can be used in a marketing strategy. The theoretical framework for this thesis is based on the 7 Ps of the marketing mix, SWOT-analysis and SWOT/TOWS Matrix. The theory is based on planned elements that make up a product or service offered the market. We have used our own interpretation of the theories to analyse our material. Our main method has been a web-based questionnaire, the questionnaire was sent to 523 librarians active at ten large public libraries and its related branches. A total of 142 librarians answered the questionnaire, giving it a response-rate of 27.2 %. The results of our study show that librarians are generally positive towards marketing the library using social media. We have found that librarians characterise most activities, done by libraries in social media, as marketing. We have also found that librarians think that social media, as a marketing tool have the potential to reach their users, non-users and the public at large. The age-groups librarians think they first and foremost have the potential to reach using social media is those aged between 13-64 years. We have found that the librarians’ views of different social media, as tools for marketing the library, correlate with their knowledge of the platforms. The more knowledge the librarians have of a platform for social media, the higher it has been ranked. The librarians’ attitudes and attributes can be used in forming a marketing strategy.
The thesis deals with three document retrieval models based on logic: the Boolean model, the fuzzy model and the Van Rijsbergen model. In Chapter 1, the author presents the purpose of the thesis. This is to give the logical foundation of the models, to describe them and to examine them critically. In Chapter 2, some important notions in document retrieval are presented. Chapter 3 is devoted to the Boolean model, Chapter 4 to the fuzzy model and Chapter 5 to the Van Rijsbergen model. These three chapters are organized in the same way. First, the logical foundation of the model is given. Then the model is described, and finally the model is discussed. In a short concluding chapter (6), the author summarizes the proceedings and gives a few new views. In an appendix, an alternative characterization of the Boolean retrieval is given.
This paper investigates two relatively new measures of retrieval effectiveness in relation to the problem of incomplete relevance data. The measures, Bpref and RankEff, which do not take into account documents that have not been relevance judged, are compared theoretically and experimentally. The experimental comparisons involve a third measure, the well-known mean uninterpolated average precision. The results indicate that RankEff is the most stable of the three measures when the amount of relevance data is reduced, with respect to system ranking and absolute values. In addition, RankEff has the lowest error-rate.
Ahlgren, Jarneving, and. Rousseau review accepted procedures for author co-citation analysis first pointing out that since in the raw data matrix the row and column values are identical i,e, the co-citation count of two authors, there is no clear choice for diagonal values. They suggest the number of times an author has been co-cited with himself excluding self citation rather than the common treatment as zeros or as missing values. When the matrix is converted to a similarity matrix the normal procedure is to create a matrix of Pearson's r coefficients between data vectors. Ranking by r and by co-citation frequency and by intuition can easily yield three different orders. It would seem necessary that the adding of zeros to the matrix will not affect the value or the relative order of similarity measures but it is shown that this is not the case with Pearson's r. Using 913 bibliographic descriptions form the Web of Science of articles form JASIS and Scientometrics, authors names were extracted, edited and 12 information retrieval authors and 12 bibliometric authors each from the top 100 most cited were selected. Co-citation and r value (diagonal elements treated as missing) matrices were constructed, and then reconstructed in expanded form. Adding zeros can both change the r value and the ordering of the authors based upon that value. A chi-squared distance measure would not violate these requirements, nor would the cosine coefficient. It is also argued that co-citation data is ordinal data since there is no assurance of an absolute zero number of co-citations, and thus Pearson is not appropriate. The number of ties in co-citation data make the use of the Spearman rank order coefficient problematic.
The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate two pearl growing methods in ISI Web of Science. The methods tested are Find Related Records FRR, an automatic service that uses bibliographic coupling, and Author Keywords AK, where searches are performed using the two first keywords from this field. Both search methods were used on twenty initial documents and the first twenty hits were evaluated for relevance using a binary scale 0,1. The relevance criteria were based on specific information needs connected to every initial document. The measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of the search methods were Precision at DCV=10, P10, and Uninterpolated Average Precision AP. Wilcoxons signed rank test was used to evaluate if there were any significant differences between the two methods. The results showed that FRR achieved the highest average values for both P10 and AP. However, neither of the methods excelled in effectiveness, something that the Wilcoxons test corroborated. When it comes to FRRs results one could state that bibliographic coupling does not always perform well when a specific information need is requested. One reason for AKs results is that keywords can be too wide or too narrow and consequently affect the retrieval of information. If a search starts with a relevant initial document, pearl growing can be a useful search method, especially if both FRR and AK are combined.
The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to examine the information needs of reporters at a Swedish daily newspaper, and see if they are met by the information resources provided by the newspaper. It examines if there are resources which are not used and why. The examination is based on Henczel’s model for information auditing. The method used is five qualitative interviews with reporters and 25 inquiries are sent out as well. Two interviews with people working with information management on the newspaper are also conducted. The theoretical framework consists of Taylor’s theories about information use environments, Byström’s research on task complexity and how it affects information use, and a discussion about information, knowledge and knowledge management. The result shows that reporters’ information needs are vast and vary a lot depending on what kind of issues they write about. Most of the information needs are met without the information resources provided by the newspaper, although certain resources are considered very important by some of the reporters. There are also unused resources. Reasons for this are that they do not contain the kind of information needed by the reporters, that reporters do not know they exist, or that they are not updated.
BarnOPAC is a Swedish library interface for children. It was launched in public libraries in Sweden in 2001 and has now become a part of library software equipment in several public libraries. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate the interface BarnOPAC on the basis of the childrens perspective. The questions raised consider: how children experience and handle this interface, how library staff experience it and what viewpoints librarians have on childrens use of it. For this purpose we implemented a user study including eight children using the interface in a school library. We also sent questionnaires to some librarians, who are responsible for BarnOPAC in their respective public libraries. The investigation is made by qualitative methods, in the form of observations, interviews and questionnaires. A document study has also been made. Literature regarding investigations on children in association with OPAC´s, computers and information-seeking is presented, and later used in the analysis. We refer to relevant theories about information need, information-seeking behaviour and social-cultural ideas. Our findings show that both the children and library staff have many opinions differing about the interface, which results in various ways of using it. We also noticed that several factors can possibly have impact on childrens opinions and ways of handling the interface. These factors are: - The childrens reading and writing skills - The childrens computer skills - The intellectual availability of the interface - The physical availability of the interface - The childrens information needs and their interests - Marketing of the interface - Interaction and co-operation
The purpose with this study is to examine what kind of support there is for school libraries at the selected independent upper secondary schools and how these schools ensure that libraryservices is available to their students and their teachers. The purpose is also to examine what attitudes the administrators of the schools have to school libraries and teaching in information seeking. A qualitative method with interviews was used to fulfil the purpose. As a theoretical basis of the study Loertschers taxonomies of the school library media program and Limbergs three levels of pedagogic research were used and the interviews were analysed with these two theoretical frameworks as a background. The result of the study showed that neither one of the three examinated schools has a school library which means that they use the public library instead. The problematic area is the lack of rules within the school library field and the fact that the independent schools do not show any interest of cooperating with the public library. The conclusion is probably to make an agreement between the schools and the public library and to make the administrators literate about the positive effects which come out of a well provided school library.
The aim of this masters thesis is to explore a mediators practical procedure during booktalks. The main question is: Why do librarians have booktalks and what does it mean to have booktalks for children? In order to answer our main question, we have used these three questions: - Why do our interviewed librarians have booktalks? - How do our informants prepare their booktalks and what do their presentations look like? - Do our informants have any follow-ups of their booktalks and if so, how do they do that? To limit the thesis, we have concentrated our study to Swedish public libraries and to children in the elementary school. We have conducted qualitative interviews with three librarians who do booktalks for children as a part of their job. The thesis theoretical basis is Aidan Chambers theory about the Reading Circle and especially the parts enabling adult and selection. The study shows that the main reason to why our informants do booktalks is that they want children to enjoy reading books. Since there are no follow-ups of the booktalks, our informants can never be sure that their work is getting through to the children.
Altmetrics, a subfield of informetrics, is still in development. The aim of this thesis is to explore; the significance altmetrics may have in the LIS field, and to define the new perspectives altmetrics offer in comparison to traditional metrics. The research questions are: - How can altmetrics affect research assessment? - How does altmetrics position itself towards traditional metrics? - How could altmetrics influence the LIS field? A qualitative content analysis was used as a method. The analysis of a sample of ten peer reviewed articles was based on a coding scheme with eleven codes. The sample was selected using Web of Science, Scopus, the Altmetrics Bibliography and chain search model. Kuhns paradigm concept was used as a theoretic framework together with the concepts Technologies of control (traditional metrics) and Technologies of narcissism (altmetrics) developed by Wouters and Costas. The results show a beginning of a paradigm shift in the research assessment field. Technologies of control with traditional metrics as measure of quality co-exist with the Technologies of narcissim using altmetrics for measuring a researchers impact on society. Altmetrics can be regarded as a complement to traditional metrics capable of evaluating research in four new perspectives: To evaluate the whole readership Potentially benefiting narrower fields Evaluation in realtime Evaluation of research products The significance altmetrics may have for the LIS field is to be used as an instrument for information mediation.
The purpose of this thesis is to form an idea about the qualitative value and meaning of reading fiction in a psychological perspective and over a lifetime. Seven women, 68-79 years old, were interviewed about their reading habits of fiction in their lifetime. The material is presented as life stories. I use an inter-nordic research project called the SKRIN project which looks upon reading habits from an individualistic and psychological perspective. I also refer to an American study which focus on reading development with roles readers take in different ages of life written by J A Appleyard. I use a Canadian paper which deals with reading fiction for emotional knowledge written by Catherine Sheldrick Ross. I touch upon two other fields of research; reading in the perspective of gender and reader-response criticism. The method I use is a combination of qualitative interviews, life history method and studies of literature. The study shows that literature of significant meaning is the fictional moods of realism, poetry, romance and detective stories. Particularly memorable books belong to the fictional moods realism and romance. Realism is important for identification, social understanding and social connection. Poetry is read for many reasons among them therapy in crisis. Reading romance appears to be of decisive importance psychologically for women. Detective stories are primarily read for relaxation and escape from reality. Many of the women in the study have been helped by books in different situations in life.
The aim of this paper is to examine the youth library PUNKTmedis' work methods to adapt itself to the youth. Improved communication with this user group is the starting point for the new work methods. We have chosen to view the increased cooperation between the library and the youth as an adjustment to market demands. We have noticed the possible existence of an antagonism between on the one hand the traditional role of the public library of adult education and on the other hand an adjustment to the market demands. Adult education and the adjustment to market demands is seen as contributing to the image of PUNKTmedis. Our theoretical starting points are New Institutionalism and Microculture. New Institutionalism illustrates how organizational ideas from the market affect the identity of PUNKTmedis. Microculture illustrates how the employees and the youth describe the enterprise based on their actual experiences. For analysis, we have used three models. Anderson and Skot-Hansen’s analytical model for the local profile of the public library is used to accentuate the conception of PUNKTmedis of the librarians and the youth. For comprehension of the communication as a work method, the analytical models of Vestheim and Klasson for librarian-user communication are used. We have performed a case study on PUNKTmedis. We have performed four interviews with focus groups of youth and librarians and a private interview with a librarian. We have also performed observations. We have found that what constitutes the unique in the identity of PUNKTmedis is a combination of market adjustment, adult education and direct communication with youth as a workmethod. As a result the youth and the employees think of PUNKTmedis as a meeting place.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of bibliotherapy at hospitals and also what knowledge of and insights on bibliotherapy a few Swedish hospital librarians have. Questions investigated are: What role do the hospital librarians think literature has in the treatment of a patient? What is their view on their role as a hospital librarian and do they believe that they can have a part in the treatment of a patient? Is the concept bibliotherapy commonly used or is there another term in use? How important is the linkage between healing and literature? In this study, the view on bibliotherapy is limited to a hospital perspective. The purpose of the study is therefore to investigate bibliotherapy at the hospital. Six qualitative interviews with hospital librarians were performed at three general or combined general/medical hospital libraries. The study shows that the hospital librarians have little knowledge of bibliotherapy and that none of them work with bibliotherapy in an organized form. Literature and its effect on human health is something they all have reflected on, and several of them believe that part of their work could be conceptualized as bibliotherapy. They are convinced that literature can give a patient satisfaction by easing the long hours of waiting and by supplying a sense of identity and insights. The hospital librarians also consider themselves being representatives of the “ordinary world” as they don’t dress in white coats. An important function would then be that the hospital librarian stands out as a human being of flesh and blood that takes the time to see, listen and talk to the patient from a non medical perspective.
After W.W. II the Social democratic government wanted to modernize and rationalize the Swedish society. The university system was reformed[INS: :INS] to support growth of industry and science. But the reform did not reach Swedish academic library system and it was not well organized. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the reaction of the Swedish academic libraries to the new era in the framework of ideological criticism. The problems I try to find answer to are as follows: What did the Swedish state demand of the libraries? How did the libraries try to respond to this, especially in the discussions about co-operation among the libraries and qualification for librarians? The state required that the libraries answer to the demands of the universities and research, but the authorities did not give so much grant as the libraries required. The state did not understand how the libraries worked, or what their problems were. The libraries tried to solve the problems through co-operation, building up a union-library. The growing interurban loan movement was a part of it, and coordinated book acquisition was the another. Relations between the different types of library were not free from problems, which also influenced the discussions. There were different ideas behind the union-library plan. Some wanted to unite and centralize the libraries in Sweden. Others thought the unified library was a sum of close co-operation among the individual libraries.
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.
The purpose of this masters thesis is to deepen the understanding of the life, survival and canonising of a literary work. In order to do so I investigate how interpretations and evaluations of Doctor Glas 1905, by Hjalmar Söderberg 1869-1941, has developed throughout a century. The study is based on the reception-aesthetical theories of Hans Robert Jauss and Felix Vodicka, and Roman Ingardens theory of the concretizations of literary works. I have, in a phenomenological and hermeneutic way, studied the first reception and the echo of the work, in Sweden, in handbooks, articles, reference books and research. My conclusion is that Doctor Glas by time and different readers has continued to develop so that the work today can be conceived as more complex compared to when it was born, though early interpretations and evaluations still are alive. The opinion regarding the style has always been positive throughout time and different readers. The work has been associated with a wide range of literary works and ideas and very different readers can find something in it that speaks to them. It also seems to stimulate readers to discuss classical issues of life, and it is part of an authorship which, concerning style, was highly valued from the beginning. The work has also inspired scholars to analyse it, paying increasingly interest in the story. This is probably partly the explanation of why the work has survived and has gained a firm position as a national classic, with continuing and long-lasting value.
In this Master we have studied classification system and alternative arrangements of books in a public library. The public libraries in Sweden use the SAB classification system. This system was created nearly a hundred years ago in order to suit the librarians and the Swedish society at the time. Today many library users find the system difficult to understand. This and other factors have inspired a number of libraries to arrange books in an alternative and more user-friendly way. We chose Jönköping public library to study their alternative arrangement of fiction books for children and youth. The purpose was to find out why and how the new alternative arrangement of books was done and where the inspiration behind the changes came from. We also wanted to know how the new shelf system had been perceived by the children and the personal staff. We made interviews with three librarians in the library and a questionnaire to the children who visited the library. In order to get a theoretical background we studied classification and alternative shelf systems in literature and in a few Masters. It seems that the main purpose behind the alternative arrangements in Jönköping public library was to make the library more user-friendly and self-instructive. In both interviews and questionnaire the respondents gave a positive picture of the new shelf-system.
In the years 1996-2001 the European Union`s copyright-directive was drawn up. This directive led to much lobbying activities from both copyright holders and library organisations like EBLIDA and IFLA. The Internet and filesharing networks like Napster had led to strong reactions among some copyright holders. Internet gave people an easy opportunity of accessing copyright protected material. Some researchers of copyright have written books where they state that the copyright holders utilize authors fear of illegal copying to strengthen the copyright laws, and by that benefit economical. These authors mean that record companys for example has an interest in making the authors believe that Internet is a great danger. The copyright debating authors has tried to show that harder copyright laws will lead to the suppression of creativity and innovation. This study assume that librarians would have an interest of debating the copyright laws. This is because harder copyright laws could make the free distrubution of information to people harder. This study examines the arguments of some of these copyright debating authors and will search for similar arguments in some Swedish library oriented periodicals. All relevant articles in every issue of the periodicals has been studied. The results show that the debate in these periodicals have been much lesser frequent than assumed, and that the arguments wasnt much like the copyright were not debating authors arguments. A possible explanation could be that librarians have been so sure that copyright expertise of organisations like EBLIDA and IFLA would handle these questions alone. The knowledge about copyright has probably been too little among regular librarians for a similar debate to come up in the periodicals studied.
This article presents findings from a series of research studies conducted between 1998 and 2010 on the way in which knowledge formation occurs through students' own research and on the interaction between information seeking and use and learning.
Skolbiblioteket som en katedral, med dess strama linjer och andäktiga tystnad. Eller som en öppen basar med ett myller av tillrop och färggranna varor. Inom forskningsprojektet Lärande via skolbiblioteket söker man kunskap om kur skolbiblioteket kan stödja barns ock ungdomars förmåga att analysera, reflektera och kommunicera. Kanhända att denna forskning medför en ny metafor, som bättre illustrerar skolbibliotekets möjliga och önskvärda funktion än vad "katedralen" respektive "basaren" gör hoppas projektledarna Mikael Alexandersson och Louise Limberg.
En forskningsrapport från LÄSK-projektet inom Helvetesgapet/Språkrum. I skolnära skildringar beskrivs och analyseras elevers arbete med informationssökning. Mikael Alexandersson och Louise Limberg visar på viktiga utvecklingsområden som handlar om samtal, metodik och delvis nya kompetenser i samarbetet med skolbibliotekarier, lärare och elever. Sammanfattning: Kraven på skolornas förändrade arbetssätt har tillsammans med lokala och nationella satsningar på IKT aktualiserat frågor om textanalys och problemlösning, liksom frågor om informationshantering och källkritik. Att sovra och värdera information utgör en allt viktigare komponent i lärandet. I detta sammanhang framstår skolbibliotekets pedagogiska roll som en förutsättning för elevernas mångsidiga språk- och kunskapsutveckling I denna rapport Textflytt och sökslump visar forskarna Mikael Alexandersson och Louise Limberg tillsammans med Annika Lantz-Andersson, Mimmi Kylemark och Lena Folkesson på viktiga utvecklingsområden som handlar om samtal, metodik och delvis nya kompetenser i samarbetet med bibliotekarier och i utvecklandet av skolbiblioteket som lärande rum. I skolnära skildringar kan vi följa hur forskande arbetssätt förvandlas till ensamma, förenklade situationer med textflytt och sökslumpar. I en skolvärld av obelysta metoder för informationssökning och kritiskt granskande av källor lämnas elever ensamma i samtalet med sina texter och skoluppgifter. Man får en alltför vid ingång till sökningen, satsar på att lösa och redovisa uppgiften och signalerar verksamhet och levererar snygga produkter. Men vad förstår eleverna? Vad lär eleverna?
Kraven på skolornas förändrade arbetssätt har tillsammans med lokala och nationella satsningar på IKT aktualiserat frågor om textanalys och problemlösning, liksom frågor om informationshantering och källkritik. Att sovra och värdera information utgör en allt viktigare komponent i lärandet. I detta sammanhang framstår skolbibliotekets pedagogiska roll som en förutsättning för elevernas mångsidiga språk- och kunskapsutveckling I denna rapport Textflytt och sökslump visar forskarna Mikael Alexandersson och Louise Limberg tillsammans med Annika Lantz-Andersson, Mimmi Kylemark och Lena Folkesson på viktiga utvecklingsområden som handlar om samtal, metodik och delvis nya kompetenser i samarbetet med bibliotekarier och i utvecklandet av skolbiblioteket som lärande rum. I skolnära skildringar kan vi följa hur forskande arbetssätt förvandlas till ensamma, förenklade situationer med textflytt och sökslumpar. I en skolvärld av obelysta metoder för informationssökning och kritiskt granskande av källor lämnas elever ensamma i samtalet med sina texter och skoluppgifter. Man får en alltför vid ingång till sökningen, satsar på att lösa och redovisa uppgiften och signalerar verksamhet och levererar snygga produkter. Men vad förstår eleverna? Vad lär eleverna? Detta är en reviderad upplaga av Fif nr 18.
In this essay, a search strategy for citation index is studied. The strategy, which is essentially a citation cycle, starts with documents retrieved by a subject search, wherefrom new documents are identified following the network of citations backwards and forwards in time. Based on the theory of polyrepresentation, the strategy exploits overlaps between cognitively different interpretations of the same documents in order to automatically select references seed documents used as a starting point for the forward chaining. The purpose of the investigation is to evaluate the retrieval effectiveness of the search strategy and to find out whether the strategy can be used to expand a subject search with the help of the network of references in order to retrieve new relevant documents. Two questions are formulated: 1a. What is the difference in precision between the initial subject search and the citation search? 1b. What is the novelty ratio for the citation search? 2. Is there a larger proportion of relevant documents in the overlaps emerging from the citation search, especially overlaps generated by several interpretations? The searches are performed in Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index. Results show that the citation search retrieves additional relevant documents, but that the average precision is low compared to the subject search. On the other hand the average novelty ratio for the citation search is rather high, with an average of 39 %. Very few overlaps on higher overlap levels emerge from the citation search in this investigation. The last question has therefore been difficult to answer.
The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to investigate what prompts student nurses to seek information required to their educational tasks and how they evaluate and utilize that information. The questions addressed in this thesis regard how information retrieval becomes part of student nurses’ social practice; which physical and intellectual tools student nurses make use of in their education; and which mediating resources they use to perform their tasks. Roger Säljö’s sociocultural approach provides the theoretical framework for this thesis. Research findings are that the social practice allows limited capacity for students to look for information according to their own interests. Furthermore, nursing students underestimate their information literacy, but still they succeed in using the available tools to fulfil formal requirements and complete their tasks.
The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine what part and importance electronic games play in the life of girls, how the girls use electronic games and what the girls think and say about their use of electronic games. We also intend to examine what girls have to say about electronic games at the public library. Our attempt is to illuminate and bring knowledge to those who work within the library with the selection, purchase and conveyance of electronic games. Method used in the survey is focusgroup-interviews with girls in the age between 12-14 years in three different schools. The findings are related to four different perspectives, theory of child development, from a gender perspective, theories of understanding how young people use computer games and theories to understand the purpose of public libraries. The material has been analysed and interpreted from these theories and earlier research. Major findings in the study are that girls prefer to spend their time together with friends rather than playing electronic games. Girls tend to play electronic games when they havent anything else to do. The traditional gender roles are very distinct when girls talk about electronic games and gaming. The girls use the games to act out feelings such as anger, frustration and passion. It is very clear in the study that girls tend to connect electronic games with violent games. The studied girls are doubtful if electronic games at the public library will attract girls.
The aim of this thesis is to investigate the possibilities for creating a national interlibrary loan system in Sweden and to see how it could be integrated into an international network . The methods used are both qualitative and quantitative. We have sent inquiries to a number of libraries and we have interviewed keypersons in the interlibrary loan field in Sweden. We have reached the conclusion that in spite of several impediments there is a lot that speaks for a Swedish national interlibrary loan system in the near future. A national bibliographic database is already evolving.
The aim of this study is to investigate parents attitudes towards picture books and childrens reading. The study is based upon qualitative interviews with seven parents, 29-44 years of age, who have children between 3 and 6 years of age. The study is hermeneutic. The conceptual framework used in this study, is Uffe Seilmans categories of different kinds of attitudes towards childrens sparetime occupations, for example reading. These are the authoritarian, the laissez-faire and the democratic attitudes. The results show that the parents generally has a democratic attitude toward childrens reading, which means that they do not intend to control their childrens reading habits or the books that are chosen, but to introduce them into varying kinds of books. When it comes to picture books, they foremost like what their children like. This often implies funny books with funny and gaily coloured pictures. The parents think that it is important to read for their children but do not seem to have given much thought about why it is important. The reasons that are mentioned are foremost of educational character. When it comes to subjects in picture books, the parents often want their children to read about things that pave the way for identification or things from which they can learn about aspects of life. They do not avoid books concerning bad or sad subjects since they want their children to learn about real life.