The aim of this thesis is to map the current internal information flow at Volvo Uddevalla, to detect obstacles in the flow and to find out how these obstacles can be avoided. The aim is also to describe how a corporation, in this particular case Volvo Uddevalla, creates knowledge and use information. The study is performed in order to create a base for the coming implementation of a new information standard. The method used is conducting an information audit investigating the current management of documentation according to the changes that have to be made to carry out the claims from the standard. The investigation is made by way of interviews with 16 of the employees at Volvo Uddevalla. The study shows that knowledge is created at Volvo Uddevalla through a process involving the employees needs, the way the information is stored, organized, distributed and used. It also shows that information is used at Volvo Uddevalla in order to create knowledge, to generate understanding of a phenomenon and to support decision making, on an individual as well as a company level. The study also shows that information at Volvo Uddevalla flows without problem on a daily basis, but that the absence of overview and control of the flow creates problems when individuals can not be reached. Although the interviews showed that most of the personnel dont experience the current information situation as problematic, the information audit detected some gaps in the corporations communication. This study points to these gaps and gives suggestions on how to overcome them. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate how a group of academic librarians perceive distance learners as a user group. We have in our study been influenced by phenomenography, which is both a set of theoretical assumptions and a methodology. The theoretical frame of reference consists of Carol Kuhlthaus different levels of education and Michael Buckland´s information barriers. Using a qualitative method consisting of nine interviews with academic librarians and structural factor such as academic library policies, we have been able to conduct our study. The results of the study are presented in grouped categories of quotations that reflect various perceptions. The results of the analysis show that distance learners are perceived as a heterogeneous group living either in a sparsely populated area or in a larger city. The academic librarians have different perceptions of distance learners needs, their knowledge of computers, their study habits and their service demand. In their pedagogical role, several of the academic librarians implement a user perspective and they perceive their role as very important. Concerning Kuhlthaus levels of education we have found that the lecturer is the pedagogical role that most of our informants fulfil. According to the recorded library policies, distance learners are entitled to the same service as students on campus. This is something, however, that does not completely correspond to our informants perceptions. Some informants agree, while others claim that they will never be able to achieve this since distant learners have different conditions compared to students on campus. Another perception is that the distance learners always get more service since they are always treated different to campus students. / Uppsatsnivå: D

This thesis is a case study which describes the automation of a university library in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of the case study is, firstly; to find out which actors and factors have started and influenced the automation and the implementation of ICT at Makerere University Library in Kampala, Uganda. Secondly; it also discusses if the automation has changed the librarys condition. The empirical material consists of fifteen interviews with librarians and students. The empirical material itself has functioned as a base when discerning the analytical themes. The analysis has been done with the help from the theoretical frame and from literature about automation of library services, with focus on the developing world. The discussion is based on the two research questions. The results show that the librarians and the donor society were the most important influences starting the automation. The technology has changed the condition of the library and the librarians have to face new tasks and working routines. There is an OPAC available in the library and computer labs with Internet access. The access of information has improved, although the most important thing for the automation to be successful is student training. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this masters thesis is to, from a queertheoretical point of view, examine the possibilities to classify the subject homosexuality in three different classification systems. The three systems that have been analysed is the Swedish classification system SAB, the Universal Decimal Classification UDC and Dewey Decimal Classification DDC. The analysed editions are updates from the beginning of the 1970´s until today. The emphasis has been on how well the systems correspond to the changing society. We found several differences between the three systems, but also some resemblances. During these 30 years the main placing for homosexuality have been in the section for medicine, and later on the section for social science, in all the three systems. SAB have not during these 30 years classified homosexuality as a mental disease that both UDC and DDC have and still do. However, in DDC there has been a gradual change of opinion about homosexuality. From the 1970´s when it clearly was a mental disorder to, in the late 1980´s, when it was made equal to heterosexuality. In the UDC on the other hand almost nothing happened for 30 years. Homosexuality was only seen as a disorder until the beginning of the 21^st century. Then they also upgraded homosexuality from a disorder to a natural sexual feeling equal to heterosexuality. Although SAB has not classified homosexuality as a disorder, it is the only system out of the three that has not made it equal to heterosexuality. / Uppsatsnivå: D

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 / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate how actors involved in a municipal's adult education view students access to information- and library resources. The adult education in the municipal is on contract which means that there are several different actors involved in the realization of the adult education. The raised questions in this study deals with; libraries role within adult education, students needs for becoming information literate and where responsibilities for students access to libraries lies. We used a qualitative method which includes interviews with two principles, a controller, three pedagogues and a librarian. The empirical data is analysed against taxonomies and categories which originates from the theories of David Loertscher and Christine Bruce. The major finding in this study is that documents concerning tender procedures are of great importance. The public libraries are supposed to take part in the municipal adult education and the interviews show that students should recognise and know how to use different types of information sources. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this master's thesis is to describe and analyse the origin and development of the libraries in the town of Värnamo, between the years 1908 and 1960, when a new modern public library was inaugurated. The method I have used is, to a great extent, examining and analysing source material from the archive of the municipality in Värnamo and the popular movement in Jönköping. As a background to my study I describe the development of the Swedish society, from the end of the nineteenth-, until the middle of the twentieth century. I also describe the local development of Värnamo, during the same period. Furthermore I also give a general description of the progress of the libraries in Sweden during the same time. In the analyse then, I compare the local and the national development of library activities. The municipal library in Värnamo was founded in 1920. At that time the working-class movement and the International Order of Good Templars both had their own libraries, since about a decade ago. The libraries co-existed for many years, before they were united into one in 1955. The municipal library gained a professional librarian in 1953. These two things were of great importance for the modernisation of the local library activity. As the library moved to modern, appropriate premises, in the recently built People's Palace, the town of Värnamo had obtained a real public library. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine how the images of librarians are conceived and held by the public. It has often been claimed that librarians are subject to widely spread negative stereotyping. My purpose is to study the nature and origin of these stereotypes. Since popular media is one source of these stereotypes and images I have chosen to look into how librarians are characterized in 20 Swedish novels written between 1982-2002. The questions this thesis aims to answer are: What images of librarians occur in the novels? How are the tasks of the librarians respectively described in the novels? How are female and male librarians respectively described? The analysis of the novels is then compared with interviews with three professional librarians about their view of their professional role and their perceptions of its status and image. In the analysis I have come to the following conclusions: The images of the librarians in the novels are often very stereotyped and in most cases the image produced by the writers is a negative one. In most cases the librarians work is described as unqualified labour. Female and male librarians are often seen as persons with a non-typical gender behavior. The views that emerge in the interviews differ completely from the images represented in the novels. The informants speak of the varied, challenging and qualified nature of their work. They did not identify with the negative librarian stereotype, but were aware of its existense. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how young women create their feminine gender positions in relation to their reading. Using qualitative research methods the empirical material has been collected through so called reflexive interviews with eight young women aged 15-17. From their statements the empirical material has been divided into five themes that are important to the young women, as well as to the formulation of the problem. This constitutes the model of analysis. The analysis has been conducted through an examination of these themes from a gender theoretical perspective and through the application of theories about reading and gender. The results are also seen from the view of research within the Library and Information Science and from other disciplines presented in the thesis. The conclusion is that reading plays a role for the young women in forming their gender identity and has a strengthening effect on their self-esteem. It is associated with all sorts of emotions of which anger is the most prominent and often leads them to take a stand. The reading also has a developing function giving them experiences and helping them discover the world while identifying with the characters in the literature. To study and learn proves to be important in forming dreams and ambitions for the future. Finally my research shows how their roles as good girls have importance for every theme in the analysis and in every aspect of the young womens reading and creating of feminine gender positions. / Uppsatsnivå: D

Library and information science students often ask themselves if their education will be sufficient and adapted to the work tasks they will meet with as future librarians. It is the aim of this Master thesis to investigate LIS-graduates' experiences of the transfer from academic studies into professional life. The thesis thus treats four questions: I: What problems, if any, does the LIS-graduate experience when first employed? 2: Does the recently employed librarian feel that the academically obtained knowledge is applicable in professional life? And, if so, how does it apply? 3: Does the new employee find that there are areas in which his/her academic education has been insufficient? 4: What is the general attitude towards LIS-graduates' education among colleagues and is the library staff prepared to provide the necessary instructions? The investigation is performed through interviews with eight LIS-graduates, all of whom have recently started working as public librarians. The analysis is based on the concepts of competence, qualifications, work skills, knowledge and in the processes of formal and practical learning. The results show that the education has provided the students with intellectual skills well adapted to library work. In some areas, however, knowledge is lacking, e.g. in reference work. The results also show that in the libraries the new employees are well received, helped and instructed by their colleagues. / Uppsatsnivå: D