A study of the planning and documentation practices regarding programme activity in public libraries in the Gothenburg region
2026 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesisAlternative title
En studie av planerings- och dokumentationspraktiker gällande programverksamhet på folkbibliotek i Göteborgsregionen (Swedish)
Abstract [en]
This master's thesis examines the planning and documentation practices of programme activity in Gothenburg's public libraries. It employs an analytical distinction between visible programme (public events) and the underlying programming activity (professional work processes) to investigate the often-invisible labour required to sustain library services. The study addresses a research gap regarding how tacit and experience-based knowledge is mobilized, developed, and stabilized within library organisations. The research adopts an interpretivist orientation and analyses eight semi-structured interviews with librarians in diverse roles across the Gothenburg region. The analysis is informed by practice theory, the SECI model, and institutional perspectives on organisational learning and documentation. The findings identify a spectrum of practice configurations, ranging from individualized systems where knowledge is person-dependent to more integrated systems where documentation supports knowledge transformation. A central finding is a paradox of internal knowledge management: despite being institutions dedicated to managing information, libraries face significant structural challenges in managing and codifying their own internal expertise. Documentation practices are often selective and uneven, frequently prioritizing quantitative figures for external accountability over the qualitative experiential insights needed for institutional memory. As a result, knowledge sharing remains heavily reliant on collegial dialogue and individual staff members, creating risks of knowledge loss during staff turnover. The study concludes that programming activity must be recognized as a substantive form of professional labour requiring dedicated infrastructural support and deliberate knowledge management strategies.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2026.
Keywords [en]
Programme activities, Programme planning, Programme documentation, Knowledge Management, Organisational learning, Practice theory, Tacit knowledge, Public libraries
National Category
Information Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-35926OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-35926DiVA, id: diva2:2087043
Subject / course
Library and Information Science
2026-07-272026-07-172026-07-27Bibliographically approved