The Open Access (OA) movement came to be as a reaction against the enclosure of information resources, facilitated by new distribution technologies. The purpose of the OA movement is to make research results freely available. The aim of this master´s thesis is to increase the understanding of how libraries outside of the academic sphere and within research institutes relates to OA. As a theoretical framework I created two different ideologies, the OA ideology and the nonsharing ideology. I also conducted six interviews with librarians. Through an idea and ideology analysis I relate the materials to the two different ideologies. The theories used concern information commons and gifting economies. My study shows that the informants have different views of the OA ideas depending on what aspects that is in question. Especially when it comes to economics and copyright issues the informants express a great degree of criticism against the traditional publishing models. In some other aspects the informants relied on the traditional publishing and thereby on the nonsharing ideology. The idea to make research results freely available was positively viewed upon by many of the informants. They sometimes plan and have ideas connected to the OA ideology. In a few cases they also work with OA materials, but the context that the libraries functions within makes it complicated and sometimes less urgent than it is in the universities to adopt to OA to a larger extent.

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine how public librarians, including school librarians, express themselves about librarians in library journals. Questions asked in the study are: How is the knowledge, tasks and roles of librarians described? How do the librarians describe their own and others perceptions of librarians? Are there any contradictions in how the librarian profession is described and if so, what are they? 56 articles from three Swedish library journals, Biblioteksbladet, bis and DIK-forum in the period from 1990 to 2007, are analysed. The theory and method used is discourse analysis. Concepts from Ernesto Laclau’s and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse theory, such as elements and nodal points are used in an analysis model in four steps. The results show that the knowledge of librarians is described with such words as information, literature, tacit knowledge and their ability to systematize and organize. Tasks and roles described are mostly related to the pedagogical aspects of the librarian profession, such as teaching, conveying and guiding. Two positions are distinguishable in the discourse, information and culture. Both are important parts of librarians’ work, but the information tasks are sometimes seen as too dominating at the expense of the cultural aspects of the librarians’ work. The contradiction can also be seen in how perceptions about librarians are described. The librarians express, often in a negative tone, that others mostly associate them with books. They also express that they need to be more visible and become better at communicating the knowledge of their profession.

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to study attitudes and standpoints among a few librarians towards literature with state supported distribution provided by the Swedish Arts Council. By qualitative interviews with librarians at five different public libraries, the thesis examines which attitudes that flourish concerning the titles, how the circular of books is treated, where the titles belong on the literature map and if the system is producing a standardisation of this literature and if the conception of quality is relevant. We also study how the librarians relate to intentions of the Swedish Art Council with the distributed titles and how they regard their availability. Our theoretical framework is based on Hans Hertel’s model of five literary circulations and Theodor W. Adorno’s thesis about the cultural industry and the standardisation of culture. The theories were used to put the state supported titles and the system in a larger context. Our conclusion is that it is a complex question with mixed emotions among the involved librarians. The attitudes are both positive and negative, and the incorporation of the distributed titles in the libraries collection of literature depends on which attitude they take. The state supported distribution system is also losing some of its legitimacy because of a broader selection of literature. The interviewed librarians mean that the selection made by the Swedish Arts Council is taken both from popular and quality literature. The librarians ask for more guidance from the Swedish Arts Council, publishing houses and authors in their work with those titles. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to study how university teachers look upon information literacy, what they consider the professional role of the academic librarian and how they value cooperation between the two professions. The methodology is based on qualitative interviews and is inspired by phenomenography. A limited number of qualitative interviews has been carried out in order to describe the attitudes and opinions of the university teachers related to my issue. I have also used the results of two theoreticians, Monica Hansen and Berth Danermark, who have studied cooperation between different professional groups. Since it is two different professional groups which meet in a situation of cooperation, I have also chosen to investigate “the faculty culture” where the point of departure has been the research of Larry Hardesty. One result of my study is that all the teachers have a similar conception of information literacy. All the respondents mention the ability to retrieve, evaluate and use effectively the information needed and they also mention the criticism of the sources as important elements in the concept of information literacy. My research also shows that all the teachers have a positive opinion of cooperation between librarians and university teachers. As favourable factors in a collaborative situation the teachers mention personal contacts and common goals. As negative factors the respondents point out lack of time, insufficient marketing, economic cutbacks, digitalization, conservatism and individualism. Some teachers also point out that it is two different professional cultures that meet and a cultural clash could then occur. The results of the study also show that teachers have confidence in the professional abilities of librarians, but, which all my respondents emphasize, their personal qualities are equally important. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this masters’ thesis is to investigate how public librarians perceive privacy in connection with new technology in libraries. The main research questions are: - How do librarians experience the phenomenon privacy in the library?- How do librarians experience the relation between privacy and technology in the library?- What does this say about the relationship between privacy, technological development and library work?The study was performed with a phenomenographic methodological approach. The material consists of qualitative interviews with eight librarians who work at public libraries where the technology RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) has been implemented. The material was analysed according to a model of four phases which finally lead firstly to outcome spaces and lastly to the result. The result consists of perspectives that show that librarians experience privacy in the library, mainly in connection with library patrons. The majority of the librarians also experience a connection between privacy and technology in the library. A few librarians experience that the main threat against privacy only comes from the outside of the library. All of the experiences are either problematic or unproblematic in relation to the perspective they represent. / Uppsatsnivå: D

In the library community there is a continuous discussion about enhancing user interactivity on library websites, according to the principles of Web 2.0, called Library 2.0. The purpose of this thesis is to study how librarians conceive Library 2.0. The focus is on the study of the librarians’ conceptions of user interactivity on the website, and if the librarians conceive that their professional role is affected by Library 2.0. The study is implemented methodologically by interviewing six librarians and using phenomenography as an approach. The result showed several variations of descriptive conceptions that were divided into two conceptive categories. These two categories, A and B, are seen from three perspectives, the library as an institution, the librarians’ professional role and the librarians’ view of the user. Conception category A showed that Library 2.0 influences to a great extent, category B showed that Library 2.0 influences to a small extent. Examples of that influence are that Library 2.0 is a state of mind that permeates all library work. The professional role will be more individualized and that Library 2.0 will affect the relationship between librarian control and user influence. The user perspective shows conceptions that the social interaction will benefit in a democratic manner. The conceptions that Library 2.0 will influence to a small extent are not as prominent. The difference between category A and B indicates that Library 2.0 is conceived as something ideological as opposed to a technical tool. The results exhibit that Library 2.0 influences the library and the librarian. / Uppsatsnivå: D

This qualitative study is based upon interviews with librarians. It investigates the librarians’ opinions on material adapted for disabled people and examines strategies used to market user friendly services for the disabled. The study explores librarians’ views about streaming directly on the internet. It adopts a broad scope, including legal regulation and guidelines set by authoritative bodies. Special attention has been given to the Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille and their projects for utilizing broadband technology as a means of facilitating downloading and distribution from digital talking book archives. TPB is now testing some “streaming talking books” intended for direct listening on the internet. All the senses by which people ‘read’ are described in a separate subchapter” Reading: look – listen – touch”. The study also examines Michael Buckland’s theories on accessibility and barriers expounded in his publication ‘Information and Information Systems’, concluding that the perceived obstacles for the disabled wishing to utilise on-line library services are less significant now than when Buckland’s work was published in 1991.

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to describe how Swedish public libraries use the online social network Facebook and its functions. Our focus of this study lies on how the librarians use the network and what experiences they’ve made. The questions we wanted to answer were:•How do the libraries in this study work with Facebook and its services? •What do the interviewed librarians think about working with Facebook as an instrument?•What pros and cons can be identified from working with Facebook?The methodology used for this study was qualitative interviews. Three interviews were conducted with librarians that have the main responsibility of their respective libraries’ Facebook-page. The theoretical framework for this thesis is constructed by theoretical ideas about user behavior online in terms of marketing and the generative web. The results of this study indicate that Facebook serves the different libraries’ needs well. We have observed a positive attitude towards Facebook, and the interviewed librarians correspond with the ideas of Facebook as a playful and creative instrument. The network is a resourceful means to connect with the libraries’ patrons even outside the library. This study will prove significant for the future studies regarding the use of Facebook in Libraries. It could also prove useful for libraries that are thinking of starting a Facebook-page.

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine attitudes and standpoints amongst librarians at the Swedish public library towards literary awards and awarded literature. The questions posed in the study are: What attitudes are expressed amongst these librarians towards the Nobel Prize in literature, the August Prize and literary awards and awarded literature in general? What significance do the Nobel Prize in literature, the August Prize and other literary awards have concerning purchase and display at these public libraries? How is awarded literature perceived and how do they talk about it concerning quality and are questions of quality significant? Qualitative interviews with seven librarians at four different public libraries have been done. Theories regarding Jϋrgen Habermas the bourgeois public sphere and Pierre Bourdieu’s terms habitus, field and capital have been used as to explain the library as a public sphere. Concerning quality and value, theories by Barbara Herrnstein Smith have been used. The results of the study indicate that librarians have a positive attitude towards literary awards and the handling of awarded literature. None of the libraries have any specific policy regarding awarded literature though, and it is handled like any other literature of current interest. The awarded literature is of high quality, according the librarians, who also think quality is a criterion that should be rewarded. Librarians are also regarded as a competent group as to evaluate quality and judge literature accordingly.

In these days we can witness a growing number of combined school and public libraries in Sweden. It can be explained as an economy measure or as an attempt to develop the library work. The aim of this thesis is to picture how working in combined libraries affects high school librarians’ own apprehensions of their professional identity. The results are based on in-depth interviews made with four high school librarians, working not only towards the students but also the public. By using a hermeneutic method, my attempt has been to construe the interviewee’s remarks and in that way analyse how the librarians themselves apprehend their professional roles and identities. The theories of the Danish library and information scientists Anders Ørom and Trine Schreiber have been used as analysis tools. A comprehensive summary of already existing studies in this field of interest is given, and is to be considered as a framework to which this thesis’ results are to be seen. The empiric data reveal several different opinions, and by using the theories of Ørom and Schreiber I have made the following conclusions. Two professional identities have been indicated; the teaching school librarian and the traditional cultural intermediary librarian. They both seem to include a strong feeling of service-mindedness. In addition, a third tendency to an indistinct and split identity can be perceived. Despite the lack of conformity that this third identity suggests, the interviewees give the expression that the two main identities cooperate and enrich one another.