The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine three library weblogs to evaluate how they are used and what type of information the libraries publish in these specific weblogs.The following three questions are the basis of this study:• What is the content of the weblogs?• How is the weblog used as a tool by the libraries?• How is the interaction between the library and the readers of the weblogs presented regarding the comment function?The method that has been used in this study is content analysis and the code units have been created during the process. It is mainly a qualitative analysis but it does also contain quantitative elements. With the content analysis, 21 different themes where cut from the three weblogs. These themes where then put into the model of the local library profiles worked out by Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen. The result shows that: • The content of all the three weblogs is strongly connected to the physical library and the services it provides.• All three libraries use the possibility to publish pictures and links in the weblogs.• The comment function is not frequently used and this leads to the interaction between the library and the users being left out.None of the three weblogs where updated daily during the four months period in which they where studied. This might lead to a decreased amount of readers since the main attraction of a weblog is frequent updates.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to describe the library development in Sandviken, during a period from 1865 to 1945. I will mainly focus this examination on the two most significant libraries of the period; on one hand the library facilitated by the ironworks company, and on the other hand the library of the Workers’ Educational Association (ABF). This study is carried out within a theoretical framework consisting of the two concepts paternalism and the formative moment, as formulated by Lars Magnusson and Bo Rothstein, respectively. In order to explain the process the development in Sandviken is compared with the general history of the public libraries in Sweden, and specifically with the history of libraries owned by large industrial companies. The results of this study show that the library of the iron works company represents the strategy of paternalism, strongly associated with the Swedish bruk, or company town. However, the employers’ use of cultural and social reforms as a means of exercising control over the workforce, is challenged by the counter culture of the labour movement. In this case, the ABF library managed to grow and gain influence through its connections with the labour movement on the national level. This status made it possible for the ABF library to take advantage of the formative moment, and thus shape the future of the libraries in Sandviken.

In Sweden, many children in compulsory school attend after-school recreation centres. All children are offered local after-school recreation centre attendance in the age 6-12 during their parents’ work hours. Our aim with this Master thesis is to investigate how after-school recreation centres can use libraries to stimulate children’s own interest to read. The method employed is qualitative interviews with two recreation leaders and their collaborated librarian at an integrated school and public library. An additional interview was carried out with a librarian at a larger public library, who has created activities for after-school recreation centres. The theoretical background is a combination of Michael Buckland’s six aspects of access and Aidan Chambers theories about conditions for reading environment. Chambers theories about conditions for reading environment have proved to be the most applicable on the examined group. The study shows that there are several possibilities for after-school recreation centres to stimulate children’s interest in reading. Reading interest is stimulated through everyday situations, such as e.g. storytelling or play. It is also discussed that children’s interest in reading can be stimulated with different media, which libraries have possibilities to offer. A barrier is that after-school centres are interpreted as hidden by research and in practice. Like the after-school centre, the public library is also a place where children can develop their own interests. It is therefore important that the public library is made known and familiar to children as a part of the local cultural society.

In this masters paper the change that Lidköping public library went through between 1952 and 1959 is described and analysed. The aim is to describe and analyse the reactions that arose at the time that the first professional librarian, Jörgen Elgström, acted to create a modern public library in the town. The issues that are handled are: How did the local politicians and the general public react to the process of change that was started by Jörgen Elgström? What were the consequences for the staff, the premises, lending, child and youth activities? The paper is concentrated around the period 1952-1959 because this is the time when Jörgen Elgström was working in Lidköping. Jörgen Elgström has a central role in the paper. Elgström’s actions resulted in, for example, an increase in library staff, the founding of a child and youth library as well as that the library merged with the ABF library. A short history of the library’s early history is given to create background. A chapter is included on the development of the librarian profession in Sweden together with a chapter detailing three actors who during their respective periods have acted for library activities both nationally and locally. The paper is a qualitative case study that is first and foremost meant to illustrate Lidköping’s situation but it also gives examples of how it could have been in other library contexts in Sweden at the time. A large part of the empirical material consists of records and newspaper articles, so source criticism has been a suitable method to employ. The paper’s theoretical starting point consists of an actor perspective connected to a structure perspective and progresses to show how the actors integrated with society’s structure and vice versa. / Uppsatsnivå: D

Library architecture today is a complicated history. Public libraries are no longer merely a place for book storage, but also a virtual library a social meeting place and a place for study. All these diverse tasks and roles emerge in the democratic designing process of a new library and also transform into the architecture. The underlying process is the evaluation and negotiation of the libraries overall tasks and ideas, ideals and values. Multiple ideologies are incorporated in library architecture. Of greatest importance is the ideology of the library itself. This candidate thesis is a case study of the public library in Arlov. My aim is to find out how ideas, ideals and values of democracy are expressed in the library building. I want to find out in what extent library staff have had impact in the designing process and also how these ideologies of library transforms into architecture as regarding to aesthetics, symbolism and function. The thesis is based on both empirical and theoretical material. The last part is a discussion which deals with issues like library architecture and democracy in Arlov as well as in a wider perspective. / Uppsatsnivå: C

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to examine virtual reading groups, and which meaning the users perceive that the virtual reading groups offer. In addition, the study inquires which details can be improved to further amend the needs and wants among the users of virtual reading groups. Through these outlines, it is discussed how libraries and librarians can make use of virtual reading groups as a resource. The study is based upon qualitative interviews, consisting of asynchronous e-mail interviews with a total of sixteen members in two different virtual reading groups. The theoretical frames are taken from theories within the research field of reading, ideas about virtual communities and identity construction. The result of the essay shows that the virtual reading groups seem to serve an important role as virtual arenas, where people can come together and discuss their common interest in reading and books. For some of the users, virtual reading groups have a social quality, but it is not a capacity that all of the users experience or even aim at with their membership. Moreover, details that can be improved are said to be the layout on the sites, solutions of technical problems and marketing. For libraries, virtual reading groups can be a useful complement to other services that they offer, since it is a free resource that makes it possible for librarians to meet their patrons and to reach out to new groups through an access on the Internet. / Uppsatsnivå: D

This master thesis is about access to literature translated into Swedish sign language for deaf at the public libraries. It is by now a well-known fact that there is produced very little literature in sign language for deaf. This is so even though the policies for the library nationally and internationally, and the public law for libraries in Sweden says there should be literature available for all groups of disadvantaged people. People who have problem reading ordinary ink books have the right to get the book adapted into a medium accessible for them. The goal of the Swedish law for disadvantaged says that in 2010 Sweden should be accessible for all irrespective of weather you are deaf or not. By studying parts of the public argumentation for and against a national library which would provide service and literature for deaf by the method of argumentation analysis I have found pro and contra arguments for books translated into sign language for deaf. I have also studied literature written by Päivi Fredäng about the identity and culture of deaf. In my discussion I found implications from the theory of Fredäng on my material. I found that the public attitude towards deaf and books in sign language for deaf slowly are changing towards better understanding and that this fact slowly will make the production of books in sign language for deaf grow. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose for this Master’s thesis is to describe the similarities and the differences of the work at the public libraries’ children’s sections, between Sweden and Italy. In order to do that we examine the cultural political presumptions that Swedish and Italian libraries have, such as policies concerning public libraries and children, on a national as well as an international level. We also look at existing attitudes regarding the work at the public libraries’ children’s sections, among authors of research literature in our subject. We are for instance interested in how these authors think the libraries’ activities for children should develop. Which opinions do the Swedish and the Italian authors have in common and how do their attitudes differ? In addition, the thesis includes interviews with librarians at the children’s sections and managers of libraries. How do the two libraries selected for our study conduct activities directed towards children? The method we use is comparative studies. One of our main conclusions is that there is a lack of research within our subject in both Sweden and Italy. However, we have discovered that the work with children at Swedish libraries is much more structured than in Italian libraries. We believe that the reason for this is the fact that there is no national library law in Italy. Neither is the education amongst the Italian librarians as high or advanced as the education of the Swedish librarians. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to investigate and increase the understanding of Swedish Public Library Websites and to determinate which activity they mediate. To analyse the Public Library Websites Andersson and Skot-Hansen’s model of roles for the Public Library has been used. This model in¬cludes four roles for the library: the library as a cultural centre, a knowledge centre, as an information centre and as a social centre. The questions examined are: - How do the public libraries occur on their websites? - How do the functions of cultural, knowledge, information and social centre occur on the Library Websites? The Method used for the studies is observation using as a tool a scheme consisting of the four roles in Andersson/Skot-Hansen’s model. The main findings are: - The social aspects of the Web have to be used in order to accomplish what the Library Law demands. - The Public Library Websites focuses on their catalogues and the activity of the physical Public Library. – The Websites is far from realizing the Library 2.0 vision as they offer no or inactive communication. –Websites which does not contain its own material works mainly as an advertisement for the Public Library. -The commitment to the websites of the community is a problem for the public libraries ambition to connect with patrons in new ways. -Even though aspects of all four roles in Anderson/Skot-Hansen’s model can be found on the Websites, these roles are still far from being central for the activity on the Public Library Websites.

The object of this study is to examine the effective functionality of an OPAC-system while a few participants interacted with the catalogue. I’ve used Carl Martin Allwood’s (1998) four designed usability factors to be able to estimate the effective functionality of the online catalogue. Theoretic basis is Human Computer Interaction together with Allwood’s four defined usability factors. They are: adjustment, ease of use, user acceptance and user competence. This study is conducted with a verbal protocol method which encourages the seven participators to “think aloud” while performing tasks. The study shows that the participants interact most effective in those functions they’re accustomed with. Which indicate that the OPAC-system have a high grade of user acceptance. The end users with more experience of using Internet search engines requested similar search capabilities and settings in the online catalogue. They tend to lack a little bit of understanding to the limitations of the OPAC which therefore indicate their lack of user competence. Some task problems occurred while the participators interacted in steps and functions they weren’t familiar with. They also spoke of the difficulties with subject searching and that they would like to know the best way to make search queries. I estimate some need of more user friendly functions and services, especially in the help section. The study shows that it is essential to educate users in ways to interact with the OPAC-system in a more effective manner.