The aim of the study was to find in what way people who identify as LGBTQ find themselves viewed and represented in Swedish libraries. The purpose was to reach the experiences of these individuals, and through a series of questions to find out how they experienced the work libraries did in regards to LGBTQ books and activities. A survey was sent out to people connected in some way to LGBTQ in order to get answers. After that the analysis was largely based around Judith Butler’s theories on heteronormativity and the matrix she constructed from these theories. The result showed that the respondents often did not feel represented at the libraries, and activities together with social media posts towards LGBTQ were seen as limited.

The aim of this master’s thesis is to develop a deeper knowledge of a number of Storytel users’ experiences and use of the audiobook service. Furthermore, the study aims to analyze users' experiences and use of the audiobook service based on the concept of a digital library. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Storytel users and the empirical material was analyzed using content analysis. The theoretical framework consists of the concept of a digital library based on the characterizing collaborative concepts “Community”, “Service”, “Collection” and “System”. The results show that the respondents’ motives for listening to audiobooks are technological or social. There are three types of audiobook listeners among the respondents regarding the situations in which they listen to audiobooks. Those who listen for large parts of the day, those who engage in other activities while listening, and one lone respondent who listens in the same way as reading printed books. The results also show that there is an interaction between the respondents' use of the audiobook service and the surrounding society, especially regarding audiobook selection. When searching for audiobooks the respondents search bibliographically based on various metadata, browse among the audiobook service's different categories or a combination of these. Also, being able to adjust the playback speed is an important function. The respondents’ descriptions can in several ways be related to the concept of a digital library. The applicability of the characteristic concepts Community, Service, Collection, and System works, though to various extent.

This study aims to investigate if users find the informationthey are looking for on the IKEA web site. To examine this,both quantitative and qualitative methods are used. Themethods used in this study is heuristic evaluation, survey,contextual inquery and web analysis. The result shows thatusers has hard to find categories that are hidden in a dropdownmenu and find it hard to notice elements that areseparated from the content itself.

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary scientific subject which connects biology, biomedicine and information science. Bioinformatics generates new biological knowledge by using computer methods and biological databases and can thereby play an important role for the understanding of diseases and be used for development of new medicines. The appearance of bioinformatics has thereby had a big impact on biomedical research.In this study, I have examined bioscientists' use of bibliographical databases, bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools and their needs of support concerning these resources. I have also examined which support the scientific libraries offer their users concerning bibliographical databases, bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools and have compared it with the needs the libraries think that the users have and the needs the users state that they have.The results from the study show that there is a wish for library support concerning bibliographical databases, bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools. The wishes of the respondents are in contrast to the libraries' view about bioscientists interest concerning bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools. A few libraries offer support concerning bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools. The knowledge among the library staff in bioinformatic databases/web sites and tools is limited.The scientific libraries' support concerning bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools should be developed and offered in collaboration with researchers and teachers within bioscience to better match the needs of the users. / Program: Bibliotekarie

This study deals with the Swedish public library in our changeable time. New technology, an altered media situation with a growing digitalization, globalization and a society focusing on the individual and the market have put the public library in a new, indistinct position. It is described as facing an identity crisis. The aim of this thesis is to, by interviewing a group of young people ages 15-16, find out what the public library is for this user group and what it ought to be according to them. How do they value the services provided by the public library? Are there services they miss? The thesis also aims at relating the opinions of the young people to earlier research. By using different models discussing the mission of the public library and its function in local society, the opinions of the young people are analyzed. It is shown that the user group values social activism the highest, focusing on the public library´s social responsibility and the importance of including everyone in its activities. The democracy aspect is central for the young people interviewed. It is further shown that the market adaptation of the public library is not embraced by the young people. Neither is the public library in the role as a meeting place. The populist initiative is rejected by the user group and thus, the public library’s populism of our time could be described as misdirected. Instead, more of the public library’s traditional services are inquired for. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this Master's thesis is to investigate the library needs of distance students. This user study has a student perspective and concentrates on the main question of which way library needs might be expressed by distance students. Associated topics addressed by this study include; the problem of learning centres lacking their own library support, how distance students look upon library support as a concept and whether distance students prefer public libraries or university libraries, and why they make this choice. These questions may give the answer to how distance students deal with information literacy. Theories chosen by the study are in the fields of pedagogical and library science, the social cultural theory by Roger Säljö and in Tom Wilson's theories on user studies and information needs. The method chosen is a qualitative study where eight distance students have been individually interviewed. The results show a number of findings; that distance students prefer public libraries to university facilities, that knowledge levels on information literacy are low and that there is little education currently in information literacy and library support. The conclusion is to provide better and clearer library support at the start of a distance programme in order for students to practice these skills as soon as possible. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this study is to investigate the meaning of the librarycafé for its visitors as a place. By this study we want to see howimportant the library café is as a place. Our theoretical departurepoint is an adaption of the space and place-theory, by Fisher,Saxton, Edwards & Mai. By adapting the theory to a libraryperspective it helps us to understand how library users look uponthe library café as place.Using a qualitative approach the empirical material has beencollected through observations and interviews. We observed andcarried out interviews with six library café visitors at threedifferent library cafés.Our findings are that the library café is used in many differentways and by many different peoples. The library café is seen by itsvisitors as a good place for combining a coffee break or a mealwith reading, studying or being social. Our conclusion is that thelibrary café as a place can be compared to a “living room forsociety”, a third place where both high- and low-intensivemeetings can take place. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The purpose of this study is to examine the role social media canplay in a school library context, based on a theoretical model,called “A new model for the public library in a knowledge andexperienced society” by Henrik Jochumsen, Dorte Skot-Hansenand Casper Hvegaard Rasmussen.The bachelor thesis aim to answer three research questions, theyare as follow: Which request of social media is there by teachersand pupils at a high school library? Which social media is the mostrequested by teachers and pupils at a high school library? Andshould the library services for teachers and students be improved ifsocial media were used at a high school library?The methodology used for this study was an inquiry investigation.My findings are presented in a context of previous, relatedresearch and the study shows that teachers and pupils are wellinformed of what social media is and they use social media whenthey are at school.The thesis also shows that the unit I study, a vocational trainingunit, is more or less interested in what the school library can do forthem with social media.They seldom are at the school library and they seldom use theteach platform were they can find library services.This result can open up for the school library to meet the users at anew arena with for example social media. / Program: Bibliotekarie

Denna rapport beskriver process och resultat av ett examensarbete inom produktutveckling, genomfört vid Linköpings universitet under vårterminen 2015. Examensarbetet har skett i samarbete med Reality Labs vid Combitech AB och varit en del av ett projekt som syftar till att utveckla ett informativt navigeringshjälpmedel för båtturister på Kosteröarna. Fokus i examensarbetet har varit användbarhet och visualisering, och målet har varit att utveckla ett koncept för produktens gränssnitt. Detta genomfördes i fyra steg; användarstudie, konceptutveckling, prototyputveckling och prototyputvärdering. I användarstudien intervjuades 10 personer, fem med erfarenhet av navigering med båt och fem utan sådan erfarenhet, om vilka krav och önskemål som finns på ett hjälpmedel för att dels navigera och dels få en positiv helhetsupplevelse av Kosteröarna. Konceptutvecklingen skedde i ett antal steg där antalet alternativa koncept minskades för varje steg samtidigt som detaljgraden ökades för de kvarvarande alternativen, tills ett slutligt koncept tagits fram. Detta koncept innefattade tre olika lägen; planera, navigera och upptäcka, för att kunna ge användaren en personlig upplevelse. Genom ett omfattande planeringsverktyg möjliggörs att användaren får förslag baserat på personliga preferenser. Dessutom läggs största delen av användarens beslutsfattande i planeringsstadiet, vilket begränsar mängden information som ges under navigering. Två prototyper togs fram; en pappersprototyp innefattande alla tre lägen samt en interaktiv prototyp innefattande enbart läget navigera. Dessa prototyper utvärderades tillsammans med några av de användare som deltagit i användarstudien. Konceptet som helhet fick mycket positiv feedback, men också konstruktiva synpunkter som kan tas vidare för förbättring av konceptet. Även om det inte finns utrymme för vidare arbete inom examensarbetet kan användarnas synpunkter bidra med värdefulla insikter till projektet. / This report describes the process and result of a master thesis in product development, conducted at Linköping university during spring term 2015. The master thesis has been carried out in cooperation with Reality Labs at Combitech AB and has been a part of a project aiming to develop an informative navigation equipment for boat tourists at Koster islands. The focus of the thesis has been usability and visualization, and the objective has been to develop a concept for the interface of the product. This was conducted through four steps; user study, concept development, prototype development and prototype evaluation. For the user study, 10 participants were interviewed, five with experience from navigation with a boat and five without such experience. The interviews were about what requirements and requests there are for an equipment made for both navigation and providing a positive overall experience of the Koster islands. The concept development was conducted through several steps, i which the number of alternative concepts decreased for each step while the level of detail was increased for the remaining alternatives, until one final concept had been developed. The concept included three different modes; plan, navigate and explore, in order to provide the user with a personal experience. Using an extensive planning tool, it is possible for the user to receive suggestions based on personal preferences. Furthermore, the most of the user’s decisions are made during the planning stage, limiting the amount of information provided during navigation. Two prototypes were developed; one paper prototype including all the three modes and one interactive prototype incuding only the navigate mode. These prototypes were evaluated with some of the participants from the user study. The concept received a large amount of positive feedback, but also constructive comments that can be used for furthur improvement of the concept. Even though there is no room for furthur development within this master thesis, the users’ opinions can provide valuable insights for the project.

Bitcoin is a digital currency that is used by people all around the world. The goal of this paper is to give an idea about how much trust there is in bitcoin among its users. This paper has used an online survey aimed at bitcoinusers and a content analysis to collect data about this trust. The conclusions show that there seems to be some trust in bitcoin as a technology and this is based on that the users have a good understanding about how bitcoin works. They also share their knowledge about bitcoin to people around them. The trust between people in the bitcoin network on the contrary doesn’t seem as high because certain technological properties hurt this trust. The survey showed that only a small percentage of the users started to use bitcoin to buy and sell products, which may indicate a lower degree of trust in other people.