The purpose of the study was to ascertain the degree of similarity between the expectations for student learning as expressed by faculty, host librarians and students on practica in library and information studies; and the learning outcomes experienced as expressed by students. An attempt was also made to assess the bearing that preparation for and organisation of the practicum might have on learning outcomes. The study thus had four aims: (a) To discover whether the three stakeholders (faculty, host librarians and students) were working towards the same or similar objectives, (b) To ask students what they experienced and learnt in their individual practica, and to compare this with their previously stated expectations, (c) To assess the relationship between preparation by faculty of host librarians and of students, and a successful practicum. (d) To gather information on the importance of aspects of organisation related to practica, such as timing and duration. To meet the purpose and aims of the study five groups of research questions were framed. The first three dealt with the expectations for student learning and learning outcomes in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, as defined by Krathwohl, Bloom and Masia (1964) in their taxonomy. To meet the third and fouth aims of the study two other groups of research questions were framed which dealt with preparation and organisational aspects of the practicum under study. From these five groups of research questions specific interview schedules were designed, appropriate to each stakeholder interviewed and the inter-related investigations which the study comprised. A qualitative approach was chosen as the basis for carrying out the study. The Department of Library and Information Studies at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University of Technology) was selected as the study site. A sample was drawn to represent each of the stakeholders: the DLIS faculty, the host librarians and two cohorts of students. Student samples represented those undertaking a practicum at the end of their course in 1985 (an end-on practicum) and those undertaking the component mid-course in 1986 (a sandwich practicum). A total of 69 respondents were interviewed which produced 88 separate interviews. Personal interviews which were tape-recorded were conducted with each of the respondents between 19 September 1985 and 8 August 1986. A method of collating and analysing the data collected was devised by the researcher and is presented in Appendix V of this thesis. The following conclusions were reached from the analysis of results. While there was congruence between the expectations held by stakeholders for the learning outcomes of students, there was a lack of congruence between the expectations held by students pre-practicum, and their learning outcomes postpracticum. However, there was no marked difference between the outcomes of the end-on practicum and sandwich practicum students. This implies that the timing of the practicum might not be as important to learning outcomes as the individuals' experiences in their host library.

The school library system is the most valuable facility of the school and an integral part of the educational process and a tool for teaching and learning. This study explored the status and role of secondary school library resource centres in resource-based learning in Iringa and Njombe regions of Tanzania. The role of the secondary school library resource centre in the education process has not fully been prioritized and exploited to support resource-based learning and foster the development of deeper understanding, critical thinking and independent learning through the provision of accessible resources in Tanzania. The problem that this study attempted to investigate was the status and factors influencing the condition of school library resource centres which are essential for resource-based learning and consequently affecting the quality of education that learners receive. Given this problem the study examined the current condition of school library resource centres, factors affecting such conditions, the role of secondary school library resource centres in resource-based learning, and measures which should be taken to curtail the problems that secondary school libraries face. This was done to ascertain whether the practices followed by secondary school library resource centres were in line with the Tanzanian Education (School Library Resource Centre) Regulations of 2002, and to establish what strategies could be adopted to overcome the weaknesses of secondary school library resource centres in Tanzania. The study was informed by the resource-based learning model developed by Manitoba Department of Education and Training. The study used a mixed methods approach and a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. The study involved 140 heads of secondary schools, 36 school librarians, eight District Education Officers for secondary schools, a Zonal Inspector of Schools and a Regional Public Librarian. The types of secondary schools studied included public (community and central government), private, and seminary. The data were collected using questionnaires and semi-structured interview guides. The study found that a majority of secondary schools, 89 (62.1%), had no libraries and of those with libraries, 53 (37.9%), the status regarding infrastructure, staffing, information resources, funding, and services was poor. Such poor conditions are a result of inadequate funding, absence of library committees and collection development policies, failure to implement the education policy and the Education (School Library Resource Centre) Regulations, absence of a national school library resource centres’ policy, standards, and an inspectorate at the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to coordinate and inspect the school libraries. This study has also found that the secondary school library resource centres were vital in providing adequate and quality resources and professional expertise to enable teachers and learners to effectively use the resources and services to foster critical thinking and lifelong learning. However, their role in the educational process has been hindered by their poor condition and the consequent undermining of resource-based learning.Remedial strategies suggested by the study to address the challenges faced by secondary school library resource centres, included political will and government support in terms of funding, legislation, policy, standards and the establishment of an inspectorate for coordinating and managing secondary school library resource centres in Tanzania. The strategies are reflected in a new model developed for Tanzania. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to examine the practitioner around reading aloud among parents and children’s librarians. The questions I have been working with is how does the parents habits around reading aloud looks like and why they do it, and how does children´s librarians work with reading aloud and why. The method I have been working with are interviews, both with parents how have children in the age of one to five years old and children´s librarians how works with children in the same age. In my analysis did I use a socio-cultural perspective and also a model made of Dominikovic which describes the interaction between an adult and a child in a reading aloud situation. The result of my survey showed that the parents I was interviewed was reading aloud to their children almost every day, in my opinion are the parents not aware of all the advantages the reading aloud will give their children, they see it more like a tradition they want to give their children. The children´s librarians have a more stated purpose with their activities around reading aloud and that is mainly language development.

Since a few years back, the term Bildung seems to be having a renaissance in Sweden, and it furthermore, in the new Swedish Libraries Act 2013, became an objective for the libraries to “promote interest in Bildung”. As the act neither defines the term Bildung nor describes how the libraries are to promote interest in it, the purpose of this study is to examine this objective. Since previous research on Bildung and public libraries is sparse, when the adjacent term “folkbildning” is not included, this study is delimited to public libraries. To investigate the objective of the public libraries to promote interest in Bildung, two preparatory works of the Swedish Library Act 2013 were analyzed. The main themes of these documents were identified using qualitative content analysis. These themes were then interpreted based on the term Bildung. A definition of this multifaceted term was made in the theoretical part of this study. The history of the term, focusing on the period of the Enlightenment and the Romantic era, was accounted for, and central ideas and philosophical traditions identified. Seminal thinkers being, among others, Immanuel Kant, Wilhelm Humboldt and Friedrich Hegel. The main result of this study is that the fulfillment of the principal objectives of the public libraries creates favorable conditions for the objective to promote interest in Bildung. The challenges to this is increased economic and politic influence or control, or that the intrinsic values of Bildung is not upheld.

This focus group conversation on how some publiclibraries in the Gothenburg area have beendeveloped to meet the needs of future, over timefrom the 1960’s to the present planning of a newlibrary, shows that older common sense notions stillhave an considerable influence even in todaysplanning. The closer you get to the present andplanning for the future, more use of discursive toolslike theories and modeling are talked about ashelpful in clarifying communication and structuringhow and what to do. The study use a socioculturalstance on collective remembering by Wertsch and andialogical approach on focus groups by Markováand Linell.

This study investigates the role of public libraries in creating and promoting integration. More specifically, the aim of this thesis is to contribute with knowledge about how public libraries can help newcomers. During the last few years Library and Information Science scholars have conducted several studies in order to gain better knowledge regarding newcomers’ use of the library and their information practices. Fewer studies focus on the way librarians understand and describe their practices. This study aims to be a contribution in this direction, investigating librarians’ descriptions of their practices. Moreover, this study aims to understand the way librarians perceive and describe their professional identity in relation to their work with newly arrived people. The study is qualitative. The empirical data comes from semi structured interviews I conducted with seven librarians who work with newcomers. Data has been analyzed with narrative method. The findings show that library staff tends to establish with newcomers meaningful relationships based on reciprocity, curiosity and openness. Concerning the description of the daily work they conduct for newcomers, three “pillars” has been identified: the social work and the work with languages; the pedagogic work; the work with literature. Moreover, among the elements that enable and facilitate librarians’ work emerged communication and cooperation with external partners. The three “pillars” that resulted from the analysis are also indicative of the way respondents perceive their professional identity in relation to the work they conduct for newcomers. Concerning this last aspect, this resulted in an internal discussion between what should be considered as part of the profession and what should not. The profession of librarianship, in fact, is traditional but even wellconnected to the society. Societal changes generate change in the way libraries perceive their role and identity. Finally, all study participants are aware of the importance of the work they conduct and of the crucial role that libraries may have in the lives of many newcomers.

The purpose with this essay is to enlighten the comprehension of the school librarian’s perspective of his/ her function, mainly when it deals with assisting work with pupils who have reading disabilities and in which ways the school librarian should encourage the pupils. The thesis is based on two research questions. How does the school librarian define what a school library is and its obligations? How does the collaboration between the school-librarian and the teacher operate? In order to acquire answers for these questions I conducted a semi-structured interview with schoollibrarians working at public primary schools. As an empirical point of departure, I applied a theoretical reading-circle model by Aidan Chambers combinated with Kerstin Rydsjös och Anna-Carin Elfs three different ways of observing reading: Chambers’ model is based on six different phases and these are: To pick, to read, time, place, reaction and response and adult support. The result of my study brings about a great many different views linked to the school librarian's role, the most dominant part is about the school librarian’s most important task, and that is to guide pupils when it comes to picking out the most adequate books so they can start developing better skills in the reading stage.

Den här uppsatsens syfte är att belysa HBTQ arbete på folkbibliotek i Norrlands glesbygd, hur de arbetar och vad som påverkar det arbetet. För att göra detta så används semistrukturerade intervjuer som metod. I det första kapitlet introduceras ämnet och syftet. Queerteori lyfts upp och några viktiga begrepp definieras. Det andra kapitlet behandlar tidigare forskning, det tredje kapitlet metod. I det femte kapitlet presenteras resultatet och i det sjätte kapitlet kommer slutsatser och föreslag på fortsatt forskning. Sist kommer innehållsförteckning och bilagor. Syftet uppfylls genom en analys av de berättelser som framkommer vid intervjuerna. Respondenternas berättelser visar på en bredd av erfarenheter, arbete med regnbågshyllor och regnbågsflaggor på böckerna. Flera aspekter av deras arbete belyses, bestånd, bemötande, programverksamhet, utbildning och fortbildning. Faktorerna som påverkar HBTQ arbetet varierar mellan de olika respondenterna. Gemensamt för alla är brist på tid och pengar. Satsningar från högre instanser ger möjlighet till god påverkan. Men intresset för HBTQ arbete från omgivningen har stor påverkan på huruvida satsningarna kan ha någon effekt.

This thesis addresses the creation of accessibility for people with disabilities at Swedish public libraries. The focus of the study was to investigate how libraries adapt their activities to meet the needs of people with disabilites. I was also interested in the barriers that the libraries experience in that adaptation and the libraries’ different views on opportunities for improvements in that area. The material used consists of a web survey and qualitative interviews. I used a univariate analysis and a thematic analysis as analysis tools. The analysis was based on theories from library and information science and disability studies. I found that Swedish public libraries have a thorough understanding of the importance of the creation of accessibility for people with different disabilities. However, the results from the survey and the interviews displayed a general lack of knowledge at the libraries about the needs of different members of this group.  That lack of knowledge was identified as a barrier for the accessibility at the libraries. Other barriers for inclusion and accessibility that were identified involved financial restrictions, lack of technical resources and nonexisting cooperations in municipalities and with different disability organisations. The study also showed that libraries, in their creation of accessibility for this group, tend to give priority to the access to the physical library and to literature, rather than to prioritise technical tools or program activities.

Litteraciteten bland Sveriges barn och ungdomar har under de senaste åren haft en sjunkande trend vilket har föranlett staten att arbeta fram nationella riktlinjer för läsfrämjande insatser. En av dessa insatser är projektet Bokstart och syftet med studien är att studera hur bibliotekarier har arbetat inom projektet utifrån ett läsfrämjande och demokratiskt perspektiv. Teorin utgår från ett sociokulturellt synsätt på lärande som ser kunskap som något som erövras i samspel och interaktion med sin omgivning. Studien följer den kvalitativa forskningsmetoden och insamlingen av empiriska data har skett med fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med efterföljande tematisk analys av det insamlade materialet. Resultatet av studien visar att bibliotekarier anser att högläsning är en användbar metod för att öka litteracitet men att den måste bedrivas utifrån ett medvetet förhållningssätt. Vidare anses interaktion och dialog mellan den som läser och den som lyssnar som nödvändigt för att språk- och läsinlärning ska främjas och bibliotekarierna ser det därför som viktigt att undervisa de vuxna i barnens närhet om olika språk- och läsutvecklande metoder. Vidare ser bibliotekarierna även läsfrämjande insatser som viktiga utifrån ett demokratiskt perspektiv eftersom en demokratis medborgare måste vara litterata för att aktivt kunna delta i nyhetsflöden och samhällsdebatter.