The purpose of this Master's thesis is to examine whether a web-based library catalogue is to be considered user-friendly. We have examined this from a user-perspective by interviewing users of a web-based catalogue at a public library. In order to get a picture of the user-friendliness of a catalogue, the thesis is centred upon the following questions: How is a web-based catalogue used? What problems do the users experience? How is the catalogue perceived by its users? Since the producers of these catalogues now are taking into account the research upon human-computer interaction, we are also interested in finding out whether a web-based catalogue is more user-friendly than a more traditional OPAC. We do this by comparing the results of our examination with earlier studies of OPAC use. In this thesis we show that users of a web-based library catalogue are positive towards the catalogue and find it easy to use. They are satisfied with their search results, even though they do not choose the most appropriate search path. In this way, we can consider the catalogue user-friendly. On the other hand, we have found that users experience a lot of problems when searching a web-based OPAC - the same problems that are identified in earlier user-studies. These problems include expressing search queries (especially subject queries), understanding how the search is carried out and the meaning of keywords. Considering this, a web-based library catalogue is not more user-friendly than a traditional one. / Uppsatsnivå: D

Vid campus Skellefteå är två universitet verksamma, Luleå Tekniska Universitet och Umeå Universitet. Här studerar cirka 2600 studenter på fristående kurser och program däribland datorgrafik, nätverksteknik, sjuksköterskeprogrammet och socionomprogrammet. Enligt bibliotekslagens paragraf sex ska det vid varje högskola finnas ett högskolebibliotek. Campusbibiblioteket i Skellefteå kallas Skeribi och ligger på campusområdet. Syftet med min undersökning är att kartlägga studenternas användning av Skellefteås campusbibliotek. Undersökningen begränsas till att gälla studenterna vid fyra olika program; datorgrafik och nätverksteknik vid LTU Skellefteå samt sjuksköterskeprogrammet och socionomprogrammet vid UMU Skellefteå. Jag ville undersöka hur studenter vid nämnda program använde campusbiblioteket för att sedan jämföra resultaten programmen emellan. Jag vände mig till sammanlagt fyra klasser för att genom enkäter undersöka studenternas vanor och attityder kring campusbiblioteket. Skillnaden i biblioteksanvändningen bland de deltagande studenterna var störst mellan teknikprogrammen (datorgrafik och datornätverk) och socionom- och sjuksköterskeprogrammen. Studenter vid datorgrafik- och datornätverksprogrammet besökte campusbiblioteket i mindre utsträckning än socionomstudenter och sjuksköterskestudenter, och när de gick till biblioteket var det främst för att studera. Även socionomerna och sjuksköterskorna använde biblioteket som studieplats, men de bad om hjälp med artikelsök och utnyttjade bibliotekskatalogen oftare än teknikstudenterna. Utvärderingen har utgått från fyra bakgrundsvariabler: utbildning, tidigare biblioteksvana, avstånd mellan hemmet och biblioteket samt kön. Den variabel som enligt min undersökning påverkar studenternas biblioteksanvändning mest är programval. De tekniska programmen är till stor del praktiska medan socionomprogrammet och sjuksköterskeprogrammet har ett mer teoretiskt upplägg och det förklarar varför biblioteksanvändningen skiljer sig så pass mycket mellan programmen. Tidigare biblioteksvana och avstånd mellan hemmet och biblioteket hade ingen större påverkan på biblioteksanvändningen. Inte heller kön visade sig ha någon större betydelse för biblioteksanvändningen, det bör dock tilläggas att två av de deltagande utbildningarna är mansdominerade medan de två andra är kvinnodominerade vilket gör det svårt att avgöra ifall resultatet är en effekt av utbildning eller kön. Gemensamt för de flesta studenterna är att de är nöjda med personalen, lokalerna och studiemiljön.

Mobil informationsteknik har på senaste tiden fått mer uppmärksamhet inom industriella applikationer, inte minst inom underhåll och reparation där teknisk dokumentation förekommer i stor utsträckning. Scania har tagit fram ett nytt koncept för interaktion med teknisk dokumentation i verkstaden där en viktig del av konceptet är mobilitet. Scanias förhoppningar är att en ökad möjlighet till mobilitet ska kunna förbättra användarupplevelsen. I detta arbete har en observationsstudie genomförts för att identifiera användarnas behov av mobilitet vid reparation och underhållsarbete samt de kontextuella faktorer som påverkar val av mobil interaktionsteknik. Fyra olika behov av mobilitet kunde identifieras efter analysen och till dessa kunde olika krav knytas för att skapa ett underlag för bedömning av olika teknikers potential att uppfylla de aktuella behoven.

The purpose of this study was to identify differences and similarities in information management amongst a group of elected representative county councillors' in Älvsborgs län. Ten qualitative semi-structured, in-depth interviews have been carried out with the chairmen and vice chairmen of five public health and medical service committees. They were asked about their environment, assignment, work roles, positions within the county council, and their performance level. Individual needs and characteristics have been observed. The study shows that there are more similarities than differences regarding the county councillors' management of information. They all have needs at three different levels; as private individuals, as individuals practising a profession, and as politicians. These levels both conflict and agree with each other. The study also shows that formalized/non-formalized oral sources play a dominant role in information management, which satisfy both cognitive and affective needs. Despite experience and practise of extracting the most relevant information from lengthy texts, the majority of them express a desire to have someone to help them select and systemize information. Increased computerization is also a requirement amongst the county councillors.

The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine how users at four public libraries experience the alternative shelf arrangement in their library. The purpose of introducing an alternative shelf arrangement in a public library is often to facilitate for its users. In each of our chosen libraries, the librarians have arranged the books in the non-fiction section in broad themes, with the Swedish Library Association Classification System as subsections. Using qualitative interviews, we examined a total of 26 users’ experience of the shelf arrangement and its accessibility, their methods for seeking information and their opinion about the presentation of the books. The main part of our respondents prefers to browse through the book shelves when searching in the library. Most of them also declared satisfaction with the shelf arrangement in their library and that they are more likely to borrow a book that is on display than a book that is not. We found that our respondents lacked awareness of the organisation of the shelf arrangement as well as of the signs showing the themes. The majority of our respondents do not question the shelf arrangement. Many of the respondents do not question it because they are so used to their library and have learned how to find what they are looking for. Others seem to feel that they do not know the library well enough to question it. / Uppsatsnivå: D

This thesis focuses on information seeking and use by volunteers and employees in women’s organisations helping women who have been subject to violence. These organisations for example provide help and support, legal assistance and temporary shelter. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with five women working in Terrafem, which is a women’s organisation directed towards women with a non-Swedish background. The aim of the study is to create an understanding for the specific information needs that the women working in Terrafem experience and the situations in which these needs are created. The focus has been on needs created in the contact with women seeking support in Terrafem, but also the general need for of keeping up with for example new research in the area of violence against women. My conclusions were that the informants found it important to keep up with areas like new research, feminism and conflicts in the world. They need information mostly in contact with the authorities and regarding questions about asylum seeking and other law related questions. They use mostly oral sources and Internet, but also newspapers, magazines, databases, libraries and their own collections of facts in folders. Lots of information pass between the women orally, between those who have been a long time in the organisation to those who are new, and also between women with special skills.

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to examine what needs and expectations the patrons have on the local public library services for adult students. With increased knowledge of these matters the library will be able to support and improve the service for users. The focus is on adult students with immigrant background who study Swedish as second language in a municipal adult education school. The main questions are: How do adult students use the library at present? What do they consider to be most important when using the public library for their studies? How do these expectations correspond to their experience of the library services? Two focusgroups and one in-depth interview were carried out. Bo Edvardsson’s service quality model where four cooperating criteria decide the customers’ total experience of services is used. The model is based on theories in the Service Management research field. The results of the study show that the respondents most of all want staff to be available at all times. They also want staff to be patient, keen on listening, and to take the time to listen for the patrons’ true need and help them find the right media that suit the patrons’ interest and language level. But more urgent for the libraries to develop is assistance to school assignments and language studies, according to the result of the study. The study also shows that formal and informal learning often coexists at this level of studies. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this thesis was to explore the phenomenon called bookcrossing. To fulfill this I have asked the following research questions: Why do people participate in bookcrossing?What functions do books have for bookcrossers? The method used is qualitative, semi structured interviews. Four active bookcrossers have been interviewed. These interviews revealed that bookcrossing as an activity in a medium sized town is very small. It also revealed that many of the books that the respondents place out are never registered on the website, and probably get picked up by people who do not understand the concept of bookcrossing. Theories by Tveit and Ross have been used on the social function of books, and reading as a social activity. The results confirm the notion presented by Ross et. al, that reading is becoming an increasingly social and collective activity. One of the lessons learned from this study is that bookcrossing activity probably is greater in bigger cities. If a bigger city had been investigated, the result may have been much different. For bookcrossing to function well it probably requires a large population to draw from. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The purpose of this Bachelor thesis is to gain insight into themeaning of the mobile library for its users by investigatingwho the users are, how they use the mobile library, why theyuse the mobile library and what the users want from the bookbus service. The methods used are observations, surveystudy and qualitative interviews.The theoretical framework of the study is based onAndersson’s and Skot-Hansen’s model of the public librarywith its four different library profiles, together with PierreBourdieu´s lifestyle theory where habitus and the concept ofcultural capital are used to analyze the role of the book busin people’s lives.My conclusion is that the mobile library is very important toits users since reading is an important part of their lives andit gives them easy access to books of several genres. Themobile library also functions as a meeting place in the localcommunity and creates a link between urban and rural areas. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to examine how students at Högskolan i Borås experience the web-scale discovery service Summon, based on the theoretical model of “The Five Dimensions of Usability”, defined by Whitney Quesenbery. The study aims to answer the following research questions: How do the students execute search assignments in the Summon interface? How intuitive and easy to navigate is the system from a user perspective? What are the students’ opinions about Summon, regarding usability?Five students with varying information seeking skills are asked to perform search assignments during controlled observation, followed by semi-structured interviews. Our findings are presented in the context of previous research and show correspondence with the results of related studies. Our results show that users are comfortable in navigating the Summon interface, but that more user education is desirable for them to be able to fully take advantage of the service provided. / Program: Bibliotekarie