Mobile television ( TV ) is a relatively new and unknown field of communication. Thus, role players in this field of communication find themselves in a new context for relationship. This raises the question as to what the key challenges in the relationship between content providers and users in mobile TV involve. More specifically, the following questions should be answered. Does mobile TV display particular characteristics of new media? If so, then how could content providers meet the challenge of understanding the user profile in mobile TV as a new medium? Also, how could content providers meet the challenge of adapting content provision according to the user experience of mobile TV as a new medium? This research paper explores these questions through means of an explorative literature study of relevant sources. Firstly, it provides a conceptual framework of mobile TV as well as an understanding of mobile TV within the greater context of new media. Secondly, it presents a means to understand the user profile in mobile N as a new medium. Lastly, it presents practical aspects that need to be considered when providing content for mobile TV as a new medium. The findings of the study can be summarised as follows: (a) Mobile TV portrays particular new media characteristics, such as, digitalisation, interactivity, hypertext, dispersal and virtuality. (b) A market-led approach should be employed in order to understand the user profile. (c) Mobile N content production should be integrated into the production process with the requirement that it is of a high quality and meets the technical and feasible limitations of the medium. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Mediation of fiction for adult users in Swedish public libraries is a subject which has been little studied from a theoretical perspective. The motivation for this thesis was based on this realization, and the opinion that actual library users too seldom get their voices heard in library and information science-research. The thesis analyzes interviews with seven library users in which they have been asked to talk about the librarys work with mediating fiction. The answers are analyzed using a discourse analytic approach to see how the librarys work with mediating fiction is constructed in the users talk. Two main discourses are identified, one authoritative and one neutral. In the authoritative discourse librarians are talked of as experts who have the knowledge to guide users to the ”right” literature. In the neutral discourse the librarians role is to be open to all different kinds of literature that may be demanded by users. In librarians talk, as seen in previous studies, the mediation of today was often talked of as oriented towards performative experiences and a more personal role for the librarian. The traditional roles of librarian as mediator and user as recipient were being loosened up as there was talk of more user engagement in the mediation. This way of talking about the mediation however, was not that evident in the interviews with users. One could say that the users had a more conservative view. The public library does'nt have to be either a place that only values high quality literature or only happenings and user engagement. It should be the library's role to communicate more complex pictures of the library to the public. It should also be a task for libraries and people who do research on libraries to listen to the voices of real users, even if they don't always come with simple answers to how the library should develop their work with mediating fiction. This is a two years master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies.

This thesis examines how images are used and evaluated in a Swedish archival context. Images as of today are very common in society. They are nearly everywhere, particularly in our phones and computers. Therefore the written word is slowly losing it's sovereignty as a carrier of information. With this background the study examines if the images role also have changed in an archival setting. The following work is a qualitative research study that examines three Swedish archives: the Regional State Archive in Uppsala, Swedish Labour Movement's Archives and Library in Stockholm and the Centre for Business History in Stockholm. Furthermore the study examines how the institutions organize images and how they make them accessible for the public. It also examines what role the image play as a carrier of information in the archive. In more general terms the study also investigates what function the image can have for people in society. The comparison of the archival institutions is a methodological foundation for this study. Semi- structured interviews were conducted with archivists from the three institutions and works as the main source. For the analysis this study uses document theory and a few concepts derived from Terry Cook's archival theory, namely evidence, memory, identity and community. In terms with the previous research made on the subject this study comes to the result that images have different terms for archiving than other materials, most specifically papers documents. The examined archival institutions are today using the same tools for organizing images as they use for other documents. This can have negative effects on the ability the image has as a carrier of information. In the long run this could cause the image to become a marginalized part of the archive as a whole. The conclusion this mater's thesis presents is that the image has a potential as a source of information. Especially for groups that aren't previously represented in the archive through traditional paper documents. The image may therefore contribute to the archival pluralism and diversity, as long as the images are treated with the terms they demand as an archival document. This is a two years master's thesis in Archival Science.

The aim of this study is to understand how the staff is working with users with cognitive impairments and how they see at the participation of its users. This can be broken down into two parts, how to reflect on the problem and also how to work actively with it. The reflective part is the opportunities and difficulties the staff will tend to see with participation. The active part is how they are working to develop ways to increase the participation of users with cognitive impairments. Our study is based on qualitative interviews with seven respondents. The theoretical framework we have used for our study is duty ethics and utilitarian ethics. The result indicates that a measure of non-participation is accepted within supportive activities for people with cognitive impairments based on their level of function. We conclude that professionals working with cognitively impaired users make a decision to limit unhealthy and destructive behaviors with the reason that it is for the best long term effect for the user’s quality of life.

The purpose of this thesis is to reveal the age-related norms which control the process of making public archives accessible. It focuses on physical access and visitors at the physical archival institutions. More specifically, it examines which groups are not included in the archival institutions’ target groups and why this is the case, the archival employees’ views on visitors’ needs and the archival institutions’ action space regarding the process of making archives accessible. The theoretical framework for this thesis is a combination of a norm critical and an intersectional perspective. The main method used is qualitative interviews with employees at archival institutions. Two different archival institutions have been examined, which are both departments of public authorities. The main result of the thesis is that there exist normative systems within the archival institutions which favour elderly people and people within the academic world. Age also matters less for people within the academic world. Accordingly, people outside of these groups can be regarded as non-target groups. Factors which can contribute to exclusion are also non-western origin and to be occupied at daytime. The explanations to why some groups are excluded are lack of resources and knowledge, a reactive approach, and the institutions’ opening hours. Regarding visitors’ needs, many visitors need help searching for material and formulating their needs, which they can also expect to be helped with. Needs which the archival employees can not satisfy are extensive reading of handwriting or carrying out research for the visitor. In general, it seems that people within the archival institutions’ target groups are more likely to get the exact help they need. The archival employees have a relatively great action space when it comes to making archives accessible, as the policy documents don’t mention this activity in detail. This is a two years master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the information seeking behaviour of graduate students at Uppsala University, Sweden. Using a qualitative method I gain deeper knowledge of the students’ information behaviour. Method – I interview four master students concerning their information seeking. Two of the students are from the social sciences and two from the medical sciences. Findings – The findings show that students primarily use electronic information resources. The students prefer to access scientific articles electronically, and they rarely use printed books in their studies. The students prefer to use library databases over Google Scholar. The reason for this is not only the access to material, but also that they prefer the more advanced search options provided by the library. Further results show that the students tend to avoid interaction with librarians. Paper type – Two years master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies.

An emerging trend of the healthcare industry is the huge increase in the number of medical devices being used by lay people at home. Home use medical devices range from simple inhalers to very complicated devices such as defibrillators. This research aimed to assist designers in developing home use medical devices by providing information and suggestions regarding lay users and how to address their needs and expectations. For this purpose a qualitative and inductive approach was adopted and several studies were carried out, including: (1) a comprehensive literature review to understand the background of the phenomena; (2) observational studies with 40 lay users (i.e. 10 younger lay users, 10 older lay users, 10 users with mobility and sensory disabilities, and 10 users with cognitive disabilities) in order to identify their characteristics when interacting with products; (3) an online questionnaire survey with 53 designers to understand designers‟ requirements when designing home use medical devices, as well as their expectations for a proposed design support tool; (4) the development of the design support tool; and (5) an evaluation study with 12 professional designers in order to assess the effectiveness of the tool (in a format of a design guidance). This research adopted an inclusive approach which investigated both lay users‟ characteristics and designers‟ perspectives. It has, for the first time, outlined lay user characteristics based on empirical studies with different groups of people. It is also one of few studies focussing on designing home use medical devices; the requirements of professional designers have provided an in-depth insight into the challenges of designing medical devices for use in the home environment. The design guidance, as commended by the designers in the evaluation, was the first comprehensive information source in the UK for the emerging home use medical device field where little support is currently available.

The diploma thesis "Employment Services for Former Substance Users in the Czech Republic in Comparison with Similar Services in Scotland and Austria" discusses the problem of employment of people that used illegal drugs for some time in their lives and now abstain. To get a job and keep it is fundamental for them to be able to prosper in newly started life. Former substance users are characterized with respect to their position in the labour market and the need of social reintegration. Their employability in the Czech labour market is given from the point of view of the clients and workers of the treatment facilities, and from the point of view of potential employers. The possibilities of employment services offered to former substance users are then shown by three projects, i.e. Czech Work and Social Agency of SANANIM, o. s., Scottish Addiction Workers' Training Programme, carried out by Scottish Drugs Forum, and Austrian social firm Fix und Fertig, a branch of Verein Wiener Sozialprojekte. The projects are compared as to their approaches to the problem of employability, basic parameters that employment services offered to the former substance users should take into account are defined, and finally, the possibilities of development of these services in the Czech Republic are outlined.

Background: More detailed usage of incentive therapy (IT) in the Czech Republic is still unknown. On the contrary, theme of drug issues among female users and issue of usage of drugs during their pregnancy period is becoming much more actual in the field of addictology. Particularly, the public is prejudiced and shows stereotyped behaviour against drug pregnant addicts. The first attempts to combine IT and the specific group of drug pregnant addicts have been started by low-threshold facilities like XTP Sananim in Prague and Centrum U Větrníku in Jihlava. Objective: The aim of this thesis is to map the current situation of IT in that facilities which engage in programmes for drug pregnant addicts based on the IT. Methodology: The data were gained by using semi-structured interviews whose respondents work in low-threshold facilities. In the analysis elements from the theory of addictology were utilised. Results: On the basis of statements of interviewees was found that two chosen facilities has clearly defined program of IT and the structured working course with their clients. The both differ in terms of remuneration clients. The main reason, why to start to work on the basis of IT, is a high number of contacts with drug pregnant addicts, which was always the initiative of one worker in a facility...

Starting point: The subject matter of this degree work is Analysis of European Harm Reduction magazines targeting illegal addictive substances users with the exception of marihuana. The research complex is formed from 11 magazines. The common criteria for their selection was a processing of the first number published in 2015. Twenty-nine variables were monitored in all magazines. This work was inspired by Jany Reekers'article (Adiktologie, 2012) where the author tried to map out magazines for addictive substances users all over the world. Aims: The object of this study is to map out magazines for illegal addictive substances users which are published in Europe. The magazines for marihuana users are not subsumed in this work. The further object is to detail the magazines from the viewpoint of formal criteria and do their content analysis. Methods: The analysis of documents, one of the basic types of the research in qualitative approach was used in this study. Acquired data was processed via Coding manual of the printed report about addictive substances and themes which involve them: The appplication for magazines coding which are given for problem illegal addictive substances users (Gabrhelík et A1., 2012). The basic research complex consisted of 11 magazines, 14 magazines were identified. Results:...