Introduction. This paper introduces an emerging area of research, critical studies of reading, that has been identified and developed by the authors. 

Approach. Seven features of critical studies of reading research are introduced and the paper argues for how this type of research can shed new light on historical and current reading practices and reading activities. Examples of studies with such features within library and information science, as well as neighbouring disciplines are presented.

Conclusions. Future directions for critical studies of reading research are outlined, highlighting the possibilities, as well as the challenges for this emerging area of research. 

Purpose The aim of the paper is to create a greater understanding of how people who are blind or vision impaired describe their use of audio-based reading technologies, with a particular focus on how they reason about whether the use of these technologies can be understood in terms of reading.

Design/methodology/approach The study is part of the emerging research area Critical Studies of Reading and draws theoretical inspiration from Document Theory, New Literacy Studies and Critical Disability Studies. The article presents a discourse analysis of how 16 university students in Australia who are blind or vision impaired and use audio-based reading technologies describe this use in semi-structured interviews.

Findings The participants relate to a division between ‘real' reading and reading by listening, where the latter is constructed as an exception and is connected to the subject position of being blind or vision impaired. However, resistance is also noticeable, where reading by listening is constructed as something that is normal, and as a right.

Originality/value The article is a theoretical and empirical contribution to the ongoing discussion on the use of audio-based reading technologies. It presents perspectives from the users of these technologies and argues why a specific understanding of this use is important.

This study aims to identify and analyse how aesthetic reading was problematised in Swedish educational policy 1940- 1962, in order to create a better understanding of the politics of reading in an era that has been of great importance for how reading is understood in contemporary Sweden. The empirical material consists of reports from three school commissions, laying the foundation for the new compulsory and comprehensive school that was introduced in 1962. The reports have been analysed using a discursive methodological framework, focussing on problematisations of aesthetic reading. The main problem that aesthetic reading was meant to solve, according to the analysis, was a lack of aesthetic taste. There is a shift in emphasis during the period from problematisations of what to read towards problematisations of how to read. Thus, the solution to the problem of aesthetic reading during the period transformed from a governing of taste to a governing of skills. Educational and cultural policy shares the problematisation of aesthetic upbringing, made possible by its roots in modernist ideas of general character formation and the ideals of free public education. We argue that research on the politics of reading in Sweden can be reinvigorated by exploring the governance of cultural practices emanating from policy fields other than explicit cultural policy

This study contributes to a growing number of critical studies of reading that are seeking to understand how reading is constructed socially and politically. It addresses issues concerning why certain types of reading are deemed more appropriate than others in various contexts and historical eras. The aim of the study is to explore constructions of reading, reading promotion, and readers that can be identified in Swedish literature policy 2012-2013 in order to make explicit the implicit assumptions embedded in the politics of reading. This is achieved through a discourse analysis of the Swedish Government Commission report on Literature from 2012 and the subsequent Government Bill from 2013. The analysis focuses on the construction of the ‘problem’ that reading is supposed to solve, the subject-position of the reader, and the knowledge practices that underpin the construction of the ‘problem’. The analysis reveals that the main ‘problem’ is the changing reading habits of the Swedish population and the decline in the reading ability of Swedish children and youth. This is seen as a threat to several important societal values, such as children’s learning and development, democracy, “the culture of reading”, Sweden’s economic competitiveness, and the market for literature. Responsibility for the problem is placed on the school system, parents, and the use of computers and the Internet. The remedy is seen as the promotion of the right kind of literature. Furthermore, the analysis illustrates how the subject position of the appropriate reader is formed around the notion of the harmful non-reader. Similar dividing practices are constructed around youth/adult, pupil/teacher, child/parent, and son/father where the latter is expected to make the former a reader and thereby a desirable subject. The analysis also shows how two contradictory knowledge practices are joined together in the policy texts, where seemingly rational, objective, and empirical research is paired with humanistic Bildung values.

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to historicise research conducted in the fields of Information Seeking and Learning and Information Literacy and thereby begin to outline a description of the history of information in the context of Swedish compulsory education.

Design/methodology/approach. Document work and documentary practices are used as alternatives to concepts such as information seeking or information behaviour. Four empirical examples of document work – more specifically informational reading – recorded in Swedish primary classrooms in the 1960s are presented.

Findings. In the recordings, the reading style students use is similar to informational reading in contemporary educational settings: it is fragmentary, facts-oriented, and procedure-oriented. The practice of finding correct answers, rather than analysing and discussing the contents of a text seems to continue from lessons organised around print textbooks in the 1960s to the inquiry-based and digital teaching of today.

Originality/value. The paper seeks to analyse document work and documentary practices by regarding “information” as a discursive construction in a particular era with material consequences in particular contexts, rather than as a theoretical and analytical concept. It also problematises the notion that new digital technologies for producing, organising, finding, using, and disseminating documents have drastically changed people’s behaviours and practices in educational and other contexts.

The paper explores problematisations of reading in current Swedish literature policy through a discourse analysis of the Swedish Government Commission report on Literature from 2012 and the following Government bill from 2013. The analysis focuses on problematisations of the reading citizen and the knowledge practices that have made these problematisations possible. A central problematisation is the declining reading literacy of children and youth, threatening children's learning and development; democracy; "the culture of reading"; Sweden's economic competitiveness; and the market for Swedish literature. This problematisation produce dividing practices around problematic non-readers and themore desirable readers. Other dividing practices can be identified around youth/adult, pupil/teacher, child/parent, and son/father where the latter should educate the former about the virtues of reading. Underpinning these problematisations are knowledge practices where instrumental policy actions, based on seemingly rational, objective, and empirical research is paired with humanistic building values.

I detta projekt har vi analyserat inspelade svensklektioner från slutet av 1960-talet med fokus på hur läsundervisningen organiserades. Resultaten visar att faktaorienterad informationsläsning gavs stort utrymme vid denna tid. Möjligheterna att försjunka i skönlitteratur var däremot få. Idag ses faktaorienterad läsning ofta som problematisk och som en ny företeelse som hänger samman med teknikutvecklingen. Vårt projekt visar att denna typ av läsning är en del av en längre tradition.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce a dialogically based theory of documentary practices and document work as a promising framework for studying activities that are often conceptualised as information behaviour or information practices within Library and Information Science (LIS).

Design/methodology/approach An empirical example – a lesson on how to read railway timetables – is presented. The lesson stems from a research project including 223 Swedish lessons recorded in Swedish primary schools 1967-1969. It is argued that this lesson, as many empirical situations within LIS research, can fruitfully be regarded as documentary practices which include document work such as reading, rather than instances of information behaviour.

Findings It is found that the theoretical perspective of dialogism could contribute to the theory development within LIS, and function as a bridge between different subfields such as reading studies and documentary practices.

Research limitations/implications The framework is yet to be applied on a larger scale. This would require a willingness to go beyond the entrenched idea of information as the core theoretical concept and empirical object of study within LIS.

Social implications The theoretical framework offers a view of the relations between individuals, documents, and social contexts, through which it is possible to explore the social significance of core LIS concerns such as reading, literacy, and document work.

Originality/value The theoretical framework offers an alternative to the monologist, information-based theories and models of people’s behaviours and practices prevalent in LIS.

Introduction. This paper problematises how children are categorised as a specific user group within information behaviour research and discusses the implications of this categorisation.

Methods. Two edited collections of papers on children’s information behaviour are analysed.

Analysis. The analysis is influenced by previous discourse analytic studies of users within information science and by the sociology of childhood and the discourse analytic concept of subject positions guides the analysis.

Results. In the children-focussed discourse of information behaviour research, children are described as being characterised by distinctive child-typical features, which means that similarities between children and other groups, as well as differences within the group, are downplayed. Children are also characterised by deficiencies: by not being adults, by not being mature and by not being competent information seekers. The discourse creates a position of power for adults, and for children a position as those in need of expert help. Children are also ascribed a subject position as users of technologies that affect the group in various ways.

Conclusions. It is suggested that information behaviour research would benefit from shifting the focus from trying to explain how children innately are and therefore behave with information, to creating understandings of various information practices which involve people of a young age.

The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to analyse how a particular reading activity in a post-war Swedish comprehensive school, was part of the larger social and political project of the welfare state, and tied to the notion of good citizenship. Thereby, and secondly, the paper aims to illustrate how dialogical document theory enables the study of reading, and possibly other types of document work and practices. The analysis of a speech by a teacher about what can be learnt from a short story during a Swedish lesson in a primary school in 1968 illustrates how document work such as reading activities are value-laden, and tied into ideologies and political projects. In this specific case, reading is in dialogue with the political project of realising the democratic and egalitarian “People’s home” which, somewhat paradoxically, required the disciplining of its young citizens. It is concluded that a dialogical document theory, which focuses on document work as it unfolds in localised activities and at the same time on situation-transcending documentary practices, can be useful for studies within Library and Information Science on reading in both utilitarian and pleasure oriented empirical contexts.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse empirical studies regarding the use of digital talking books (Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) books) as well as the possibilities and limitations that users with print disabilities encounter when using these books. Upon fulfilment of this purpose, it is also possible to identify research needs in the area of talking books.

Design/methodology/approach An analysis of 12 empirical studies concerning the use of DAISY books is conducted. The concept of affordances is employed in the analysis, which focuses on: users of talking books, talking books as objects, and the social settings in which talking books are used.

Findings First, the reviewed literature indicates that the navigational features of the DAISY talking book appear to provide unprecedented affordances in terms of the users’ approaches to reading. However, the affordances of talking books depend, to some extent, on whether the users have visual impairments or dyslexia/reading and writing difficulties. Second, the reviewed literature illustrates that the affordances provided by talking books depend on the settings in which they are used, both in terms of specific social situations and wider socio-political contexts.

Originality/value Although the need for assistive reading technologies, such as digital talking books, is large, research in this area is scarce, particularly from a user perspective. This paper describes the results of those studies which have actually been conducted on this topic and highlights areas that require further study.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore how students construct narratives of themselves as information seekers in a school context where their descriptions of their information activities are assessed and graded.

Design/methodology/approach: Blog posts on credibility judgements written by 28 students at a Swedish upper secondary school were analysed through a bottom-up coding process based in the sociocultural concept of narratives of selves.

Findings: Two tensions in the students’ accounts are identified. The first tension is that between the description of the individual, independent student and the description of the good group member. The second tension is between describing oneself as an independent information seeker and at the same time as someone who seeks information in ways that are sanctioned within the school setting.

Research limitations/implications: The study focuses on a specific social practice and on situated activities, but also illustrates some aspects of information activities that pertain to educational contexts in general. It explores how social norms related to credibility judgements are expressed and negotiated in discursive interaction.

Practical implications: The study highlights that when information activities become objects of assessment, careful consideration of what aspects are meant to be assessed is necessary.

Originality/value: The study is based on the idea of information activities as socially and discursively shaped, and it illustrates some of the consequences when information activities become objects of teaching, learning, and grading. 

The talking book is a type of assistive technology where original print text is audio recorded and marked-up in order to make it accessible for people with print-disabilities, such as visual impairments or dyslexia. In this pilot study, we explore the implications of remediating a written text, the script of Shakespeare’s King Lear, into spoken text. We compare two readings of the play: a talking book version; and a commercial audiobook recording. We examine intonation choices in an excerpt from the play in the two readings. The analysis shows significant variation in choices of intonation, and thus the meanings that are produced in the two versions, resulting in not one but two King Learplays. One implication of such variation might be that different styles of narration demand different ways of reading. The results point to the need to explore howintonation makes meaning for actual talking book readers in situ, where meaning-potentials are realised through the interaction and encounter between the text, the reader(s), the social settings in which they are reading, and the material properties of talking books.

This study explores how various meanings are attributed to the term facts in Swedish schools and how this may shape conditions for students’ learning. The understanding of information activities as social, communicative, and discursive, which motivates the study, is informed by a sociocultural perspective of learning and information interaction. The study re-analyses empirical data from four previous research projects, where material was collected through various qualitative methods, mainly interviews, observations, and document analysis. The material involves 14 classes from preschool to year 12. The data is analysed thematically. In the material, 565 occurrences of facts are identified and categorised. Three themes emerged inductively. The analysis generated three themes. Firstly, facts are associated with specific genres or modalities. Secondly, facts are seen as distinguishable, external, and tangible. Thirdly, facts come across as having strong connections to neutrality and they were viewed as evidence. The analysis shows variation in how the study participants talked about facts. Despite the dominant associations, each theme displays more complex meanings of the term, which indicates that it cannot be equated to how the term has been used as an analytical term in previous research. The frequent use of the term facts can be understood as a result of the strong focus on students seeking and using certain types of information for writing school reports. The results show the importance of information researchers adopting an open and explorative approach to the meaning of language used in school activities that they study.

Begreppet medie- och informationskunnighet (MIK), eller som det ursprungligen heter på engelska media and information literacy, används allt flitigare. Även om Unesco definierade samlingsbegreppet så sent som 2011 har biblioteken sedan länge uppmärksammat dess innehåll.I denna skrift visar Svensk biblioteksförening på forskningens relation till MIK-begreppet, i synnerhet den biblioteks- och informationsvetenskapliga (B&I) forskningens. Nio forskare från tre lärosäten bidrar här med sina perspektiv på MIK i förhållande till biblioteksvärlden. Tillsammans bildar folk- och skolbibliotek, forsknings- och högskolebibliotek, sjukhus- och fängelsebibliotek, special- och myndighetsbibliotek ett unikt rikstäckande nätverk av över 4 000 kunskapscentraler. Dessa är en resurs för att möta vår tids ökade behov av medieoch informationskunnighet hos hela befolkningen.

Den här rapporten presenterar resultaten av fyra enkäter som under 2012 och 2013 besvarades av folk-/barnbibliotekarier, sjuksköterskor verksamma vid barnavårdscentraler (BVC), barnbibliotekskonsulenter och barnhälsovårdsutvecklare över hela Sverige, med avseende på samverkan mellan de två institutionerna folkbibliotek och barnhälsovård. Enkätundersökningen, som är den första i sitt slag, genomfördes som en del i projektet Samverkan BVC – bibliotek för barns språkutveckling – forskning och best practice vid Region Halland. Syftet med rapporten är att utifrån de två institutionerna, folkbibliotek och BVC, identifiera och beskriva gemensamma metoder i arbetet med små barns språkutveckling, samt nivåer av samverkan. På detta sätt skapas en grund för metodutveckling och förbättrat samarbete. Rapportens övergripande slutsats är att det förekommer samarbeten som fungerar väl, men att det samtidigt finns stort utrymme för utveckling vad gäller samverkan mellan institutionerna kring små barns språkutveckling. Följande sex insatser bedöms som viktiga: 1. Att på den lokala nivån fortsätta utveckla samarbeten kring föräldrautbildningar och se bibliotekets medverkan i denna som en integrerad del av föräldrautbildningen, snarare än som ett separat inslag. 2. Att på den lokala nivån i alla samarbetsprojekt arbeta med gemensam planering, tydliggörande av mål, syfte och ansvarsfördelning, marknadsföring, samt en strukturerad och dokumenterad uppföljning och återkoppling. 3. Att på den lokala nivån genom användarundersökningar följa upp hur satsningarna uppfattas av såväl föräldrar som barn. 4. Att på den lokala nivån utarbeta skriftliga överenskommelser mellan institutionerna vad gäller formerna för samarbete. 5. Att på den lokala och regionala nivån i högre utsträckning arrangera gemensam och regelbunden fortbildning. 6. Att på den lokala, regionala och nationella nivån arbeta mot att utveckla stödet från kommunala bibliotekschefer, samt att förankra samarbetet på en politisk nivå.

25 år av tvärvetenskaplig, internationell forskning visar alltjämt att bemannade skolbibliotek som samspelar nära med undervisningen kan ge högst meningsfulla bidrag till elevers lärande. Det menar sex forskare vid institutionen för Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap vid Högskolan i Borås. I en lång replik (7/10) i debatten om skolbibliotek, där Gabriel H Sahlgren generöst presenterar färdiga och kategoriska lösningar på svåra och omstridda metodologiska problem inom samhällsvetenskaplig och tvärvetenskaplig forskning, bemöts vårt tidigare inlägg (4/10). Vi noterar att Sahlgren, som professionell opinionsbildare med uppdrag att finna argument för en fri skolmarknad, framhärdar i sin övertygelse om att en enda indisk studie är en bättre indikator på hur skolbibliotek i Sverige kan fungera, än den helhetsbild som övrig forskning presenterar. Skälet för detta är att den indiska studien använder sig av en experimentell metoddesign. Studien ifråga finner inget stöd för att anta att orsakssamband finns mellan förekomsten av skolbibliotek och elevers studieresultat.

Detta kapitel syftar till att presentera en rad institutioner och aktörer inom den svenska skolbibliotekssektorn och diskutera dessa institutioners och aktörers inlägg och påverkan i den samtida diskussionen om skolbibliotekens roller, funktioner och uppgifter.

Syftet med detta kapitel är att presentera aktuell forskning om informationskompetens i skolan. Kapitlet behandlar därigenom forskning inom ett område som anknyter till ett av skolbibliotekens huvuduppdrag, nämligen att främja elevers förståelse för och förmåga att söka och använda information. Forskningen sker med olika utgångspunkter beroende på såväl teoretiska antaganden som syftet med forskningen och vi försöker i kapitlet att synliggöra detta.

Under det senaste decenniet har det i Sverige pågått en debatt om hur barns och ungas läsning förändras och hur läsaktiviteter i skolan bör utformas. Dessa diskussioner tar ofta sin utgångspunkt i förändringar inom medielandskapet och huruvida digitala verktyg är lämpliga att använda i läsundervisningen i den svenska skolan. För att kunna bedöma och förklara lä sandets förändringar behövs historiskt orienterade studier som utforskar de sociala och kulturella förutsättningar för läsning som byggts upp under 1900 - talet. Idag inympas nya tekniker för produktion, distribution och konsumtion av skriven text i den läsk ultur som utvecklades i efterkrigstidens Sverige. Det är genom denna kultur som vi förstår nya medievanor, och som vi kan tolka dem som hot eller löften för läsandets framtid som kulturellt, samhälleligt fenomen.

Relevansen och effektiviteten hos skolbibliotek har diskuterats på DN Debatt de senaste dagarna. Det är glädjande att forskning används som stöd för politisk debatt i detta sammanhang, men forskningsresultaten bör inte användas selektivt för att stödja en viss politisk ståndpunkt, skriver forskare och lärare vid institutionen för Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap vid Högskolan i Borås.

Vad är ett skolbibliotek? Vad kan det vara? Vad bör det vara? I den här boken presenterar och diskuterar fem biblioteks- och informationsvetenskapliga forskare dessa frågor som rör skolbibliotekets roller i nya politiska, pedagogiska och teknologiska landskap. För att förstå skolbibliotekens nutida förutsättningar ses de i ljuset av den svenska skolbibliotekshistorien. I boken ges även en uppdaterad bild av den forskning som rör skolbibliotekets två huvuduppgifter: läsfrämjande arbete och informationskompetens. Det diskuteras dessutom hur forskning kan användas i skolbibliotekspraktiken. Boken vänder sig till skolbibliotekarier, skolledare och andra pedagogiska yrkesgrupper, blivande bibliotekarier och lärare, samt forskare med intresse för skolbiblioteksfrågor.

Forskning lyfts allt oftare fram som en viktig del av professionell utveckling och biblioteksutveckling och kapitlet handlar om forskningens roll i relation till skolbibliotekens verksamheter. Kapitlet inleds med några ord om forskningens och yrkesverksamhetens relation och diskuterar sedan glapp som ibland lyfts fram mellan forskning och praktik. Texten tar vidare upp vilken forskning som uppfattas som relevant för skolbibliotek av olika aktörer och olika dilemman förknippade med forskningsanvändning. Kapitlet problematiserar vad som menas med forskning i relation till biblioteksverksamhet och presenterar därefter några metoder och förhållningssätt för forskningsbaserad skolbiblioteksutveckling. Syftet med kapitlet är att visa en mångfacetterad bild av skolbiblioteksrelaterad forskning och att lyfta fram och problematisera förhållandet mellan bibliotekspraktik och forskning.

Introduction: Information literacy research is characterised by a multitude of interests, research approaches and theoretical starting-points. Challenges lie in the relevance of research to professional fields where information literacy is a concern, and the need to build a strong theoretical base for the research area. We aim to lay a foundation for a discussion on how researchers may approach issues of norms and values in information literacy, through a comparison between selected studies in educational and workplace settings respectively. Method: Eight recent empirical studies on information literacy were selected for analysis; four of educational settings and four of workplace settings. Analysis: A comparison between the eight studies was made with a focus on conceptualisations of information literacy and approaches to issues of norms and values. Results: Two approaches to norms and values in relation to information literacy were identified in the eight studies. The studies conducted with students have a clear evaluative approach, while three of the workplace studies are characterised by an explorative approach. One workplace study has an intermediate position. The evaluative and explorative approaches are then swapped, to examine how relevant each approach is in the context of the other setting. In this way, we are able to discuss underlying perspectives that direct research. Conclusion: Our analysis suggests that well-chosen theoretical perspectives are necessary if information literacy researchers wish to influence professional practice.

Syftet med denna rapport är att skapa en fördjupad förståelse för unga tal - boksanvändare (under 18 år) och utifrån denna förståelse skapa en grund för att vidareutveckla de svenska bibliotekens service till denna målgrupp. Rapporten är skriven på uppdrag av Myndigheten för tillgängliga medier, MTM. Bakgrunden till studien är formulerad i myndighetens Barn- och ungdomsstra - tegi för 2012–2014, där myndighetens arbete med att implementera ett barn - perspektiv betonas. Myndigheten vill genom rapporten utforska talboksanvän - dande barns beskrivningar av fyra teman: 1) läsning, 2) talböcker, 3) sätt att hitta talböcker, samt 4) bemötande på de lokala biblioteken. Det empiriska material som ligger till grund för studien samlades in av MTM:s medarbetare under den första halvan av 2012 och består av nio fokusgruppssam - tal som organiserades av fyra läns-/regionbibliotek, samt Synskadades Riksför - bund. Sammanlagt deltog 51 barn, 30 pojkar och 21 flickor, i åldrarna 9 till 16 år som alla hade någon form av läsnedsättning, såsom läs- och skrivsvårigheter/ dyslexi eller synnedsättningar. Gruppernas storlek varierade mellan 3 och 10 deltagare, och samtalen varade mellan cirka en halvtimme till en timme och en kvart. Fokusgruppsmaterialet har analyserats i tre steg: Först genom en inledande kodning utifrån de fyra teman som formulerats av myndigheten, och därefter, i ett andra steg, genom att sammanställa vad och hur grupperna berättade om läsning , talböcker , att hitta talböcker respektive bibliotek och identifiera likheter och skillnader inom varje tema. Resultatet av denna del av analysen är redovisade i ett eget kapitel och illustreras med en riklig mängd citat. Det tredje steget i analysen innebär att de fyra temana diskuteras utifrån de tre teoretiska begreppen läsningens materialitet , remediering , samt meningserbjudanden . Tre övergripande slutsatser kring hur de svenska biblioteken skulle kunna vidareutveckla sin service gentemot målgruppen unga talboksanvändare dras utifrån analysen: 1. Ett sätt för biblioteken att vidareutveckla servicen gentemot unga tal - boksanvändare är att i sitt arbete betona hur barnen kan använda talböcker. 2. Ett annat sätt att vidareutveckla servicen gentemot unga talboksanvändare är att, från en övergripande till en lokal nivå, föra en kritiskt reflekterande diskussion kring varför det är viktigt att förmedla talböcker. 3. Ytterligare ett sätt att vidareutveckla servicen gentemot målgruppen är att alltid betona vikten av ett professionellt bemötande i varje enskild kontakt med unga redan existerande och potentiellt blivande talboksanvändare.

The purpose of this report is to provide an enhanced understanding of young users (under the age of 18) of talking books and, with a basis of this understanding, to create a foundation for the further development of Swedish library services to this target group. This report is written on behalf of the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media. The study background is formulated in the Agency’s Children and Youth Strategy for 2012–2014, in which the implementation of a children’s perspective in the organisation is emphasised. Through this report, the Agency wants to explore how young users of talking books describe four themes 1) reading as an activity; 2) talking books; 3) ways of finding talking books; and 4) the services of their local libraries. The study is based on nine focus group conversations that were conducted by the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media and organised by four county libraries, and The Swedish Association of the Visually Impaired. A total of 51 children participated, including 30 boys and 21 girls aged 9 to 16 years. All participants had some form of print disability, such as dyslexia or visual impairment. The size of the groups ranged from 3 to 10 participants, and interviews lasted between half an hour to an hour and a quarter. The focus group data was analysed in three phases: first through an initial coding based on the four themes set out by the Agency; second by compiling how the groups described the themes of reading, talking books, ways of finding talking books and libraries, and identify similarities and differences in each theme. The results of this part of the analysis is presented in a separate chapter and illustrated with quotations from the conversations. The third phase of the analysis entails a discussion of the themes based on three theoretical concepts: the materiality of reading, remediation, and affordances.Three overall conclusions on how Swedish libraries could further develop its services to young users of talking books are drawn from the analysis: 1. To further develop their services to young users of talking books, Swedish libraries could focus on enhancing their work on children’s use of talking books. 2. One way to further develop the services to young users of talking books is to, on a national as well as a local level, encourage a critical discussion on why children should use talking books. 3. Finally, to further develop the services to young users of talking books, the importance of a professional approach to each individual encounter with potential and future users of talking books needs to be continuously emphasised.

Under de senaste åren har förutsättningarna för de svenska skolbiblioteken förändrats dramatiskt. Förändringarna har skett och sker inom politik, pedagogik och teknik via politiska beslut, pedagogiska praktiker och teknikutveckling. Skolbibliotek räknas som en av tre huvudtyper av allmänna bibliotek i den svenska såväl som i den internationella biblioteksvärlden. De övriga två utgörs av folkbibliotek och högskolebibliotek/vetenskapliga bib liotek. Kännetecknande för ett skolbibliotek är dess uppgift att stödja lärande och undervisning i skolan. Frågan är vad detta betyder, hur verksamhet kan utformas för att åstadkomma detta och hur politiska, pedagogiska och tekniska villkor samspelar för a tt skapa förutsättningar för skolbiblioteksverksamhet. Detta kapitel avser att reda ut sådana frågor och försöka formulera några svar.

Sedan 2001 har Mötesplatskonferensen i Borås årligen samlat praktiker, forskare och utbildare inom det biblioteks- och informationsvetenskapliga området. En av de grundläggande utgångspunkterna för konferensen är att de olika delarna av sektorn har att vinna på en ökad dialog. Mötesplatskonferensen är tänkt som en arena där vetenskap och praktik kan mötas. Möjligen är det så att konferensen också bygger på en idé om att vetenskap och profession sällan möts på särskilt många andra arenor.

Purpose – The aim of this study is to further understanding of the situated activity of seeking pictures. It relates to an ongoing discussion on how multimodal information literacies are enacted in different social practices.

Design/methodology/approach – In order to understand the characteristics of the communication and interactions in the activity of seeking pictures, video recordings from an ethnographic study of primary school children working with problem-centred assignments have been analysed.

Findings – The analysis reveals how the activity of seeking pictures is shaped by the assumption that pictures are different from facts and information; pictures are seen primarily as having decorative functions. The activity is also characterised by playful, yet efficient cooperation between the children; they make the activity meaningful by transforming it into a play and game activity where pictures become important as physical objects, but not as a semiotic means of learning.

Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to the activity of seeking pictures in a specific primary school; however, it shows how modes other than textual modes can be included in the study of information activities.

Practical implications – The study reveals the need for developing methods for enhancing children's possibilities to critically examine and learn from visual material, such as pictures.

Originality/value – Research on information seeking and information literacies rarely focus on multimodal aspects of information activities or the seeking of pictures outside special collections, despite the increased significance of visual material in the contemporary media landscape. This paper shows how studies of multimodal information activities can be designed.

Introduction. This paper concerns the concept of information use. The aim of the study is to understand how information use, as an activity, is shaped when project-based methods are used in primary school. The particular focus here is information use which involves visual information resources. It relates to the overarching aim of a set of studies describing and illustrating how information literacies are enacted and socially shaped in Swedish primary schools. Method. 25 booklets, produced by children at a Swedish primary school when working with project-based assignments, were collected during an ethnographical study. Analysis. An analysis of the relationships between pictures and text in the 25 booklets was conducted. Results. The analysis suggests that the pictures in the booklets are subordinated to written text and their functions are decorative and illustrative. Pictures are seldom used for explaining or narrating. Conclusions. An underpinning idea of the study is to understand information activities as purposeful within the settings where they take place. Given earlier research indicating that project-based working methods tend to be focused on the reproduction of facts and the making of products rather than on contents, it could be argued that the children's use of pictures in this study is purposeful. However, if this use of pictures is a desirable outcome could be a matter of discussion. The findings may be relevant for developing teaching in the multimodal aspects of information use.

Guest editors Anna Hampson Lundh and Jenny Lindberg present an introduction to the special issue on information literacies in Human IT 11.2.

Guest editors Anna Hampson Lundh and Jenny Lindberg present an introduction to the special issue on information literacies in Human IT 11.2.

This paper explores how institutional expectations, in particular in relation to assessment and grading, are visible in Swedish upper secondary school students’ narratives about school assignments which require them to critically evaluate information sources, including participatory media.

This paper presents a study on how primary school educators describe children’s use of ICT. This is done in order to lay a foundation for an understanding of how information literacies may be enacted in Swedish primary schools. The empirical material consists of four focus group con-versations conducted with 20 educators at three Swedish primary schools. The analysis is focussed on how the educators discuss and describe ICT as tools for information activities and as parts of children’s childhoods. Two descriptions of childhoods are identified in the analysis: 1) the good childhood, in which there is room for traditional tools for information seeking such as books; 2) the contemporary and insufficient childhood, happening outside the school context, where digital tools for information seeking and other activities are used. The task of primary school is descri-bed as counterbalancing contemporary childhoods and therefore avoiding ICT. The authors discuss how the implications of these approaches could be limiting for how information literacies may be enacted in primary school.

Introduction: The concept of information needs is significant within the field of Information Needs Seeking and Use. How information needs can be studied empirically is however something that has been called into question. The main aim of this paper is to explore the methodological consequences of discursively oriented theories when studying information needs. The discussion takes its starting point in the model of information needs and question formations presented by Robert S. Taylor in the 1960s.

Method: The empirical material used for exemplifying the proposed methodology consists of video recordings from an ethnographical study conducted at a Swedish primary school.

Analysis: The analysis is guided by concepts based in sociocultural and dialogistic theories and is directed towards question-negotiations in conversations and interactions in naturalistic settings.

Conclusions: Earlier studies of information needs are often based on the idea of an individually constructed actual need as it is presented in the first level in Taylor's model. With an interest in the two latter levels of the model the analytical focus is shifted to question-negotiations which are seen as the results of situated discursive and collective efforts. This shift entails a methodological shift in the study of information needs.

Utmärkande för denna antologi är att informationskompetens genomgående betraktas som ett socialt fenomen som i hög grad är bundet till praktik och kontext. Detta synsätt ger upphov till frågor om hur bland annat biblioteken, universiteten och skolorna betraktar tillgängliggörande, sökande och användande av information. Boken är den första i sitt slag på svenska.

This article investigates negotiations of librarians' expertise in relation to information literacy at the micro-level, specifically in the domain of nursing education. A qualitaitve empirical framework is employed. The study draws on 18 semi-structured interviews, 16 with Swedish nursing students, one with a librarian and one with a nursing professor. Three themes on librarians' expertise emerge in the findings: technical-administrative, information searching and source evaluation expertise. The themes have different foci which are shown to be relatively independent, or dependent on the domain of nursing. The results indicate that it is important for librarians to navigate between two different strands of perceiving information literacy practices, either as generic or as embedded.

This article presents a qualitative study that examines the roles of pedagogues in elementary schools with regard to young children's information literacy. The concept of information literacy is seen from a sociocultural perspective, as a dimension of literacy that varies in different social practices. Further, from this perspective the importance of the mediating functions of tools used in information seeking is stressed. Data was collected from a Swedish village school from one focus group interview and two individual interviews with different kinds of pedagogues. Problem-centred teaching was also observed in five forms with pupils aged 6-8. In the analysis an overarching division or two discourses connected to information literacy emerged. On the one hand, literacy, aesthetic activities and the reading of fiction were the focus and, on the other hand, there was a focus on information literacy, utilitarian information-seeking activities and ICT tools. It is also shown that information seeking is given a certain meaning in problem-centred activities in elementary school. The authors consider that the discourses found in the empirical material might have implications for the concept of information literacy, if they are explored to a fuller extent.