The purpose of this paper is to examine if employees at Swedish higher education libraries recommend shadow libraries, also known as Black Open Access, to its patrons as an alternative way to find information. We also want to see if there are any common patterns in the attitudes towards shadow libraries in general as well as the usage of them. Data was collected via a web based survey that yielded 239 responses. We found that only a small minority of employees had ever recommended the usage of shadow libraries to patrons and that few situations usually allow opportunities to recommend them. The results also show three themes of attitudes: 1) Employees with no degree in library and/or information sciences and that were already familiar with shadow libraries were most likely to agree with the opinion that information should not be treated as a commodity. 2) Employees with shorter working experience, were already familiar with shadow libraries and previously had referred patrons to them were more likely to agree with the opinion that shadow libraries favor an open and democratic society. 3) Younger employees with a gender identity other than man or woman and that previously had referred patrons to shadow libraries were more likely to agree with the opinion that shadow libraries are an acceptable alternative information source

The Swedish system for higher education has its origin in the 15th century and the founding of Uppsala University. Until the 20th century the Swedish system for higher education was elitist and the education aimed to serve the state with qualified labor, but at this time the system started to transform into an education system available to all. Since the 1970’s until today the government has implemented three major reforms with different objectives. In addition to these major reforms minor changes have taken place continuously. The higher education system has become more and less regulated by the government with these reforms and minor changes. In the autumn of 2006 a new liberal government formed in Sweden, Reinfeldt cabinet, and soon after it decided to analyse how the institutions for higher education in Sweden were regulated. This led to the autonomy reform which took place January 1st 2010. With this thesis I want to analyse the history of the Swedish system for higher education and the implications of the autonomy reform from a perspective of governmental authority and regulations but also using the theories of Governance and New Public Management. Subject for my analysis are three official documents, the directive (Dir. 2007:158), the report (SOU 2008:104) and also the bill (prop. 2009/10:149). I will compare the proposed changes regarding regulations within these three documents and try to classify them relative to each other accordning to their degree of autonomy. The reform is influenced by the theories of Governance and New Public Management with creation of markets for higher education and a higher degree of competition of students, personnel and resources. There is also a difference in governmental regulations between the three subjects for my analysis.