The purpose of this essay was first and foremost to find out the problems that exist around user education in a university library and the opportunities that exist for university librarians to improve their work with students. My method of use was qualitative and more precise qualitative interviews. By interviewing five teaching librarians with five different subject specializations, I wanted to get an an-swer to what they teach when they meet the students and how they view their teaching. Responses resulted then in an analysis using Christine Bruce's theory of information literacy and Carol C. Kuhlthaus theory of librarian roles and her theory of information retrieval process. In the survey and analysis section, I describe informants' background, teaching approach, their thoughts about education and the problems and opportunities they see with user education. What I mainly discuss in my analysis is the importance of understanding the information retrieval process, that IT competence is not the same as information literacy and the role university librarians can take in the information retrieval process. The survey results show, among other things, that many students do not see the benefits of user education, the contact between the department and the library is dependent on personal relationships and that teaching librarians (my informants) are ill-informed about students' prior knowledge. In the final discussion, focused on problems and opportunities, I write about how education could be more interesting if librarians were able to strengthen their educational foundation and thus self-esteem in situation surrounding teaching. I also write about the contact between the department and the library, how it needs to be strengthen so that it does not rely on personal relationships. Through an improved contact librarians would also be a more natural part of stu-dents' education. This is a two years master’s thesis.

Previous research shows that Swedish teenagers’ reading of fiction have decreased during the last decade (Skolverket 2006). As future librarians we found ourselves asking why, and an interest to look into this was triggered.   The purpose of this Bachelor thesis is therefore to examine why teenagers’ reading of fiction is decreasing. Focus lies on students’ perception of their own reading, both inside and outside the school environment. Based upon this we will try to create an understanding for their low reading of fiction.   Seven students in the ninth grade were interviewed using qualitative interviews. The material from the interviews were then thematically structured and thereafter analysed on the basis of theories from John Dewey (2002) and Louse M. Rosenblatt (2002). John Dewey’s theory is mainly about the individual’s education through democracy and Louise M. Rosenblatt deals with literature as a tool in maintaining a democracy. The reason for the use of two different theories is because they complete each other in a way that suits the purpose of our thesis. Another source of information used in the analysis is Gunilla Molloy's doctoral thesis (2002) about differences in teachers and students selection of literature.   The results show that there are several indications to teenagers’ low interest of reading fiction. Amongst others, the teachers’ selection of fiction within the school environment does not agree with those of the students’ and therefore affect their joy of reading. The literature within the school environment also often lacks content for the students to relate to and consequently they loose the experience of reading.

<p>Previous research shows that Swedish teenagers’ reading of fiction have decreased during the last decade (Skolverket 2006). As future librarians we found ourselves asking why, and an interest to look into this was triggered.</p><p> </p><p>The purpose of this Bachelor thesis is therefore to examine why teenagers’ reading of fiction is decreasing. Focus lies on students’ perception of their own reading, both inside and outside the school environment. Based upon this we will try to create an understanding for their low reading of fiction.</p><p> </p><p>Seven students in the ninth grade were interviewed using qualitative interviews. The material from the interviews were then thematically structured and thereafter analysed on the basis of theories from John Dewey (2002) and Louse M. Rosenblatt (2002). John Dewey’s theory is mainly about the individual’s education through democracy and Louise M. Rosenblatt deals with literature as a tool in maintaining a democracy. The reason for the use of two different theories is because they complete each other in a way that suits the purpose of our thesis. Another source of information used in the analysis is Gunilla Molloy's doctoral thesis (2002) about differences in teachers and students selection of literature.</p><p> </p><p>The results show that there are several indications to teenagers’ low interest of reading fiction. Amongst others, the teachers’ selection of fiction within the school environment does not agree with those of the students’ and therefore affect their joy of reading. The literature within the school environment also often lacks content for the students to relate to and consequently they loose the experience of reading.</p><p> </p>

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the role of class visits to public- or school-libraries during school hours, regarding students of ages 7- 10. The research is founded on a case study on Burträsk library, and uses qualitative interviews with librarians and teachers at the nearby elementary school, and non-intrusive observations of class visits. The research questions were: - What is the function of the school's class visits to the library, for the students' reading and desire to read? - What thoughts and attitudes do the teachers and librarians who work with class visits have, about reading-promoting activities and children's reading? - How do these thoughts and attitudes express themselves, in the work with class visits? The study finds that the teachers and librarians who are part of the study have a pragmatic approach to children's reading, which places more emphasis on the children’s joy to read, than that they read a particular type of literature. The teachers 'work creates a joyful view of reading in most children who participate in class visits, and class visits seem to be of great importance for the children' s desire to read.

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to examine how librarians perceive the importance of staff reading groups in helping to make fiction more accessible to adult users of public libraries. The study also examines how librarians perceive the learning processes in such groups, and what these learning processes involve and how they appear. The empirical data was acquired via observations of four staff reading groups and interviews with seven public librarians who took part in the groups. In part, the empirical data is interpreted by means of Lena Wilhelmsson’s analytical tool, which deals with changes of perspective within an organised group. The theoretical framework draws on theories regarding social and organisational learning, with an emphasis on interaction and reflection. The observations and interviews show that staff reading groups derive from the need to keep up to date with the enormous range of published books. They also show that the staff reading groups are viewed and appreciated as an arena for learning through exchanges of experience, which in the longer term leads to a wider fiction repertoire, an enhanced critical-analytical approach to the reading of fiction, and a broader understanding of the library user’s needs. In sum, the study shows that depending on the structure of the staff reading groups; in-turn- or dynamic structure, they serve as an aid to librarians by strengthening their literature-pedagogical perspective on literature, and thus making fiction more accessible to adult library users. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate how librarians working in academic libraries are experiencing the reference situation from a pedagogical point of view, by applying a theoretical framework consisting of learning strategies and their different characteristics, to qualitative interviews. Other goals are to elucidate the fact that learning takes place every day at libraries during the reference situation and that this work must be seen as “one of the most important activities that takes place at the library”, using the words from one of the interviewed librarians, but also to make place for more discussions regarding pedagogic and library work. This is done by posing questions about knowledge, learning, information literacy, communication, the reference encounter, the roles of the librarian, policy and also architectural aspects of the reference situation. The interviews were taped, transcribed and categorized according to the earlier mentioned areas of interest. Results and analyses are presented with quotes from the interviews that are related to the framework as well as to research by participants in this, and other relevant, subject fields. This essay points out that academic librarians are aware of the pedagogical aspects of the reference situation and consider it to be a learning situation of great importance for the user. Results also show that the main pedagogical theories that influence the academic librarians work during the contact with the user in the reference situation are individual and social constructivism. According to the authors of this essay, the reference situation must be seen as a complex situation with interrelated elements, mostly affected by the context the librarian and the user find themselves in. In so doing, the pedagogical foundation of the reference situation may differ. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate if and how upper secondary school librarians can work in a more deliberately pedagogical way with fiction from the perspective of upper secondary school students. In the essay inspiration is fetched from phenomenography in order to determine the different perspectives that may exist amongst the students. In addition to the phenomenography, theories on how learning occurs, individual and social constructivism, are also included in the essay. In the essay three upper secondary schools are included. Interviews were conducted with the librarian of each school and with three students at each school. The interviews were taped, transcribed and subsequently categorized, as inspired by phenomenography. The result shows that the students require more activity from the librarian, but they realize that the librarian’s work is limited by scarce resources. The result also shows that the students wish fiction to be used more frequently within the different subjects of the school. In order for this to work the librarian and the teachers need to develop a well-functioning collaboration. Internet was mentioned as a way for the librarian to reach a large number of people at the same time. However, the students were not wholly convinced about the approach of using the Internet as a medium, since they expressed a preference for the physical meeting over the virtual. The result has contributed to a deeper understanding about the upper secondary students’ thoughts about how a librarian can develop his/her work with fiction. Our hopes are that this can be used in a librarian’s practice. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Master’s thesis studies is to examine how information seeking is taught from a pedagogical and didactic perspective. The questions at issue are:• What is the content in information seeking education?• What aims are focused in information seeking education?• What methods are used in information seeking education? The methods being used are empirical studies and studies of literature, within the subject area. The study is inspired by phenomenographical learning theories. Through eight qualitative interviews we have examined how the respondents describe the content, the aims and the methods in their information seeking education. These interviews have been taped, transcribed and categorized. Our theoretical framework is based on pedagogic theories of knowledge and a didactic theory. To subsequently clarify the dynamic relation between these a pedagogical triangle of practice were used. This essay points out that the information seeking educations are reflected in a pedagogical and didactic perspective to some extent only. Our study shows that all our respondents are well aware of many of the students’ difficulties in the information seeking process and there is a discrepancy between this awareness and the measures taken in the teaching. According to the authors of this essay, the school librarian work would be facilitated if they have knowledge in pedagogical and didactic theory and that teachers ought to make information seeking to an explicit learning object where their knowledge of pedagogical and didactic theory are used. / Uppsatsnivå: D

<p>De svenska universitets- och högskolebiblioteken har genomgått stora förändringar, inte minst under de senaste decennierna. Utvecklingen av informationsteknologin, utbildningsväsendets expansion samt nya pedagogiska modeller inom universitet och högskolor har medfört förändrade förutsättningar för bibliotekarierna att utöva sitt yrke. Mot bakgrund av detta är syftet med studien att ur ett professionsteoretiskt perspektiv undersöka hur bibliotekarierna själva upplever att den pedagogiska rollen samt användarundervisningen har förändrats. Jag har även haft för avsikt att undersöka vad de upplever som pådrivande i utvecklingen av den pedagogiska rollen och användarundervisningen. Föremål för min undersökning har varit bibliotekarier anställda vid Medicinska biblioteket, Umeå universitetsbibliotek. Undersökningen har påvisat att bibliotekarierna numera upplever undervisningsrollen som integrerad del i bibliotekarierollen. Den pedagogiska rollen och undervisningsverksamheten utvecklas i hög grad utifrån det förhållningssätt bibliotekarierna intar till den egna yrkesrollen, medarbetarna, andra närliggande professioner (som till stor del utgör målgruppen), samt till en föränderlig omvärld. Utvecklingen av den pedagogiska rollen och utbildningsverksamheten bygger även på det individuella ansvaret hos bibliotekarien för den egna kunskapsutvecklingen samt viljan att ingå i en ständig läroprocess.</p>

De svenska universitets- och högskolebiblioteken har genomgått stora förändringar, inte minst under de senaste decennierna. Utvecklingen av informationsteknologin, utbildningsväsendets expansion samt nya pedagogiska modeller inom universitet och högskolor har medfört förändrade förutsättningar för bibliotekarierna att utöva sitt yrke. Mot bakgrund av detta är syftet med studien att ur ett professionsteoretiskt perspektiv undersöka hur bibliotekarierna själva upplever att den pedagogiska rollen samt användarundervisningen har förändrats. Jag har även haft för avsikt att undersöka vad de upplever som pådrivande i utvecklingen av den pedagogiska rollen och användarundervisningen. Föremål för min undersökning har varit bibliotekarier anställda vid Medicinska biblioteket, Umeå universitetsbibliotek. Undersökningen har påvisat att bibliotekarierna numera upplever undervisningsrollen som integrerad del i bibliotekarierollen. Den pedagogiska rollen och undervisningsverksamheten utvecklas i hög grad utifrån det förhållningssätt bibliotekarierna intar till den egna yrkesrollen, medarbetarna, andra närliggande professioner (som till stor del utgör målgruppen), samt till en föränderlig omvärld. Utvecklingen av den pedagogiska rollen och utbildningsverksamheten bygger även på det individuella ansvaret hos bibliotekarien för den egna kunskapsutvecklingen samt viljan att ingå i en ständig läroprocess.