The librarian profession is dominated by women. The aim with this essay is to find out howmen and women in this field get on together, and how they experience their psycho·social work situation bearing this in mind. Are there any advantages or disadvantages being a woman or a man in this profession? What do the librarians think about the future? Men and women working at five different public libraries, where the domination of women is greatest, have been interviewed. The essay is based on their opinions and experiences.The female and male librarian get on well with each other and have a good cooperation.There are not many advantages or disadvantages depending on the sex in the profession, but the image, status and salary would probably be better, if there were more men in the profession. The library must accept the ongoing information technology development - its future is depending on this.

The main purpose of this Master’s thesis is to examine what librarians in seven public libraries experience as major change in their work tasks. We are also interested in exploring how these changes influence librarians’ ways of working. In addition to this we want to explore if librarians have experienced change in relation to user’s expectations and demands and if so, how they are met. Finally, we examine if there are work tasks that have not been influenced by change. We have chosen to do qualitative interviews with librarians who have been working since the 1970’s and therefore may be expected to have developed perspectives on change in work tasks. This is complemented with a literature study. The theoretical framework is based on Robert D. Stueart and Barbara B. Moranses theory of how change influences organisations. The theoretical framework is also based on Bo Ahrenfelt’s theory of how an organization accomplishes change. According to our informants, computerization has been the main change in their working tasks. All of the informants experience computerization as a positive factor. However, there are work tasks that have not been affected by computerization, for example providing the library with books.Computerization has facilitated both librarians’ possibilities to satisfy users’ expectations and demands and to carry out their work tasks more efficiently. However, librarians’ experiences are that their work tasks as such have basically remained unchanged. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this thesis is to shed light on how evidence-based librarian and information practice (EBLIP) is understood and practised at some Swedish hospital libraries, and also to analyze how EBLIP functions as a strategy to bridge the gap between research and practice as described by Haddow & Klobas. The theoretical framework for the study is partly based on Haddow & Klobas description of the gap between research and practice in the field of LIS and partly a description of the EBP-process which plays a key role in the use of EBLIP. Interviews have been done with four people, three librarians, all with management experience, and an academic development officer, active at three different hospital libraries where EBLIP is practiced. All informants believed that it is important to make use of research results in order to improve services and practice. In their efforts to apply the research findings the informants face a number of hindrances, which indicates a gap between research and practice. The majority of the informants describe EBLIP as a concept by which they mean an approach, a process and skills training. With regard to the EBP process two approaches could be distinguished. First, to follow the EBP process stepwise with the aim of changing the work. Second, to elaborate on each step aiming to introduce the process and training skills in using scientific material and EBLIP. A number of activities at the different libraries have been identified to be included in the implementation of EBLIP. These activities seem to serve as strategies to bridge most, the extent not established, of the different forms of gaps between research and practice.

The aim of this master’s thesis is to develop knowledge on librarians’ perceptions and experiences of working at a public library during the covid-19 pandemic. The lack of research in this area motivates this thesis. Six librarians from four different public libraries in Gothenburg were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The empirical data was analyzed through a practice theoretical framework comprising three dimensions of practice referred to as the cultural-discursive, the social-political, and the material-economic dimensions. The result of the study shows that the librarians’ perceptions and experiences of working during the pandemic was that it was difficult, challenging, and that it contributed new knowledge. The difficulties and challenges are based on the fact that the librarians, due to the restrictions, no longer can help the visitors like they used to. In addition, the library as an open space is no longer available for the visitors, which is a problem since many people rely on the libraries offering computers and a place where one can study or just spend time. To be forced to deny the visitors help is the biggest difference according to the librarians. Further, the result shows that the pandemic enabled new ways of working and contributed to highlight the importance of public libraries.