The aim of this essay is to examine fan culture’s role in Swedish public libraries. I have interviewed, via email, six librarians who encounter and use fan culture in their daily work. The theoretical elements of my essay are based on a modified set of theories by Dorte Skot-Hansen that identifies six ideal types of cultural political rationalities. My study reveals that fan culture is used in Swedish libraries as a tool in increasing user participation in library activities. As a tool it is used first and foremost to attract young people to the library and to present the library as an environment that is welcoming to all cultures and all kinds of users. Interview responses suggest that there is a high demand for events connected to certain types of fan culture. I also draw the conclusion that the use of fan culture in a public library setting is facilitated by the interactiveness afforded by Library 2.0 tools.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how libraries use thetools and ideas from library 2.0 in their reading promotionwork. We also want to include how librarians motivate thisuse and whatever merits and faults they encounter. We haveperformed document studies and interviews which we thenanalyzed with qualitative content analysis. Our theoreticframework in this study which we also used as a part of ourcoding scheme in the analysis was a model over the conceptlibrary 2.0 developed by Holmberg, Huvila, Kronquist-Bergand Widén-Wulff. This model describes seven aspects oflibrary 2.0 which is users, participation, library and libraryservice, web and web 2.0, social aspects, technology andinteractivity. We can see that there is a multitude of toolsthat can be connected to library 2.0 and reading promotionbeing used by the libraries we investigated. The library toolswe found most relevant for our study where blogs, useradvice, catalogue and chat. Even if the libraries could offerthese tools there were widespread issues with low userparticipation. We think this may remove the possibilities forthe tools. The web sites with high user participation had astrong focus on the social aspect among the users andlibrarians. We think this may be of importance but requirefurther research. / Program: Bibliotekarie

With the advent of a range of social networks, librarians all over the world have startedto ask themselves how this new technology can be used as a way to market theirlibraries. Today's information websites and search engines are difficult competitors forlibraries and information centers, and are forcing traditional information institutions tomarket themselves in new ways.Marketing theories have traditionally concerned themselves with money transactionsand marketing of specific services and/or products. Relationship marketing theories, onthe other hand, focus more on the relationship between the customer and the companythat produces the product or service. These two parties are seen as co-producers, andrelationship marketing theories tend to focus more on a win-win situation, than on thecompany gaining power of the customer. The relationship is the important thing, and thetheories concentrate to a great extent on how to nourish these relationships.This paper is a discussion about whether Facebook as a social network is a usable toolfor library marketing. Since both libraries and social networks are all aboutrelationships, we chose to make use of a relationship marketing theory to investigatethis. This theory was Evert Gummesson's theory about the most important relationshipsin marketing.The literature we have used in our analysis shows different meanings when it comes tohow to best, if at all, market a library on Facebook. The conclusion is that there is notone correct answer and every different library has to explore what is best for them. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to find how and if tags are used in Swedish library catalogues. Two different library catalogues from two different vendors were studied. One is from the Swedish company Axiell and the other one is from Open Library Solution. The tags were gathered from twenty books that were tagged in both catalogues. The books were a mix of both adults and children’s literature, and these were also from different genres.The following questions are asked: What features are user tags in comparison with classical indexing? What types of books are the most tagged? The theoretical framework of the thesis is based on F.W Lancaster´s theory about indexing.The result of this bachelor thesis is that tags are mostly used to identify the content of the books and the most popular type of tags is those who describe the content of the book. They are also used to identify what the books are or are used for, as a prizewinning novel or in an activity at the library. The group of users who are using tagging the most seems to be fantasy readers and possibly the library staff. The bachelor thesis ends in a discussion if libraries can learn from them what makes tagging interesting for library patrons.

This thesis aims to describe the genre of librarypodcasts that have emerged in Sweden since 2013.Through the overall design of a comparative multiplecasestudy, the two pioneering examples ofCirkelpodden and Bibliotekspodden Solen are beingdescribed and compared, in order to contribute to abetter understanding of what these radio productionsconsist of, on what reasons they have been establishedand finally what this practice based on more explicitjournalistic working methods might implicate for theprofession of the public librarian.Thirty-three programs of Cirkelpodden andBibliotekspodden Solen published during 2103–2014 andtwo semi-structured interviews with the librarians ofthe podcasts are analysed through quantitative contentanalysis and qualitative thematic analysis. Thetheoretical framework is principally based on WiebeBijker’s model of two different ways to perceivetechnology: the deterministic view as an autonomousforce, and the constructivist view as an instrumentcontrolled by man.The results show that the main reasons to adopt thisweb 2.0 media format was to improve the library’straditional ways to talk about books. Besidespresenting books and problematizing the inhold of it,the podcasts were used to enhance the job satisfactionand to promote the library. The main conclusion ofthe study is that the these library podcasts could beinterpreted as expressions of an ongoing movementfrom a traditional conveying role of the publiclibrarian, towards a more content producing role, inwhich the podcast is used as an strategic instrumentfor exposing the librarians expertise and for exertingliterary criticism.

The purpose of this study is to examine young people’s opinions about libraries using social media for communicative and marketing purposes. There are three research questions: What do young people think about libraries using social media for communicative and marketing purposes? Do they want to interact with libraries in social media and, if so, in what way? Are their opinions and their will to interact influenced by what kind of relationship they have with libraries, their reading habits, and whether or not they use libraries’ digital services? Prior research is divided into three themes: library development, marketing, and young people. The theoretical framework is made up of a combination of relationship marketing, using Evert Gummesson’s three catchwords relationships, networks, and interaction, and the engagement pyramid, as depicted by Brit Stakston. The method used in this study is a mixed mode-study consisting of ten semi-structured interviews and a web survey. The result shows that young people are not a homogenous group and should not be treated as such. There is a great difference if you look at the respondents’ answers as a whole, and when they are divided into different groups based on their relationship with libraries, their reading habits, et cetera. It also shows that young people want to participate and have real influence, not to be asked just for show. Therefore, they should be included in the planning and strategizing for libraries’ presence in social media. / Program: Magisterutbildning i strategisk information och kommunikation

The aim of this thesis is to study social tagging in an OPAC by looking at the tags of Ann Arbor District Library’s catalogue. In this thesis I analyse the possibilities of social tagging. The main questions to be answered are what is the distribution of tags in different categories, what are the differences between fiction and non-fiction and how do the social tags differ from the terms of the professional indexing practice. Studying 500 tags I find that subject matter was the most frequent category for tags assigned to fiction and non-fiction. The tags assigned to fiction were more multi-dimensional than the tags assigned to non-fiction. The tag categories experience and task, which are unique to the social tagging practice, were not used frequently. I suggested that they still had potential to be of interest to users with common interest and taste. The study shows that the users did not, to any higher extent, use the terms of the catalogue. The tags were in general less specific than the professional terms. In the thesis I use communication theory to analyse the social tagging practice and two different terminologies. I find that the social tagging practice has the potential of being a complement to the professional indexing, allowing users to use more associations and their own terms. I find that the manga and anime community used their own terms that in many ways were different from the professional terms. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this thesis is to examine collaborative tagging as a potential asset to libraries by a review of 10 social bookmarking sites and their features, and a discussion of these features’ possible use when the environment changes from the web to a library. Previous research on collaborative tagging is presented, as well as overviews of social bookmarking, folksonomies and the concept of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0. The study itself is presented as a walkthrough of common features and how they work, followed by a schematic overview of which sites have which features. Finally each site is presented in a more detailed manner. An example of social bookmarking within a library, PennTags, is then also described. The results show that there are great differences to be found among the social bookmarking sites, in both features and in which tools they offer. As some features have become more common since previous similar studies, there are also one or two unique features for almost every site. Many of the younger sites have adopted the more social approach instead of being mainly an organizational tool, with an emphasis on features like groups and lists of friends. The analysis uses previous research and the results combined to answer which features could be suitable for a library environment, and how to use them. The conclusion is that many features can be considered useful in a library portal, although not all, and that the motives and preferences of each library affect which features are suitable. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to examine the function of public libraries on the social web, focusing on reading promotion and reading stimulation. For an understanding of the larger context regarding public libraries on the social web, we conducted online interviews via email with people in the Swedish library profession, together with a content analysis of various texts on the subject found in library journals and on the Internet. Furthermore to identify the public library's practice on reading promotion and reading stimulation on the social web, we did interviews with librarians at a public library on their use of a blog for this purpose, together with a questionnaire handed out to the library's users on their use and conceptions of the blog.The conceptual framework of this study consists of four key aspects in the theoretical and empirical definition of Library 2.0 presented by Holmberg, Huvila and Widén-Wulff. The results showed that the public library can create a substantial value through its use of the social web, but it’s necessary to have a clear vision of the desired outcome. The study also showed the importance of seeing the social web as one of several possible channels for the public library's work, and that it can be specifically useful to reach the younger generation. Moreover the study showed that the social web is a useful tool for the public library’s reading promotion and reading stimulation, as it provides beneficial features for conversation.

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to examine virtual reading groups, and which meaning the users perceive that the virtual reading groups offer. In addition, the study inquires which details can be improved to further amend the needs and wants among the users of virtual reading groups. Through these outlines, it is discussed how libraries and librarians can make use of virtual reading groups as a resource. The study is based upon qualitative interviews, consisting of asynchronous e-mail interviews with a total of sixteen members in two different virtual reading groups. The theoretical frames are taken from theories within the research field of reading, ideas about virtual communities and identity construction. The result of the essay shows that the virtual reading groups seem to serve an important role as virtual arenas, where people can come together and discuss their common interest in reading and books. For some of the users, virtual reading groups have a social quality, but it is not a capacity that all of the users experience or even aim at with their membership. Moreover, details that can be improved are said to be the layout on the sites, solutions of technical problems and marketing. For libraries, virtual reading groups can be a useful complement to other services that they offer, since it is a free resource that makes it possible for librarians to meet their patrons and to reach out to new groups through an access on the Internet. / Uppsatsnivå: D