The subject for the bachelor thesis is functions on public library websites in Sweden. The purpose is therefore to compare the functions of five Swedish public library websites with the goal of finding similarities, differences and possible patterns. The reason behind this is a lack of studies on public library websites internationally, as well as studies on library websites at a national level. The examined websites belong to Stockholm stadsbibliotek, Göteborg stadsbibliotek, Malmö stadsbibliotek, Uppsala stadsbibliotek and Umeå stadsbibliotek. The method used was a comparative content analysis. An observation schedule based on Mierzecka and Suminas’ model was also created for the material collection process and organization. Rogers and Scaifes’ external cognition theory was used as teorethical perspective. The findings show that there are similarities between the examined websites, which could be explained by their shared library type. There were also differences, that could be attributed to the fact that they have different levels of independence from the respective municipality's website. Lastly, there were patterns between the websites as well, that could be explained by their shared goal of meeting the users’ needs. But this is a limited study conducted on a small sample within a limited time frame. More research is therefore needed on this subject.

The purpose of this study is to examine sex/gender relations amongst staff in public libraries who have taken part in projects related to information technology. This is done through e-mail surveys and telephone interviews with staff who have participated in the development of the two library websites Mina bibliotek and Biblioteket.se regarding their experiences. The theoretical basis for the analysis is two gender theoretical perspectives with reference to technology. The first perspective is represented by Yvonne Hirdman’s theory concerning the gender system, in which women and men are kept apart and in which there is always a hierarchy where men are higher up, and Hanna Westberg-Wohlgemuth’s theory concerning sex marking of job-tasks. The second perspective is concerned with positive change through alternative understandings and definitions of gender and information technology, where not only men can be seen as competent in relation to information technology, and is represented by Christina Mörtberg and Pirjo Elovaara. The study shows tendencies towards separation of women and men and sex marking of job-tasks, in that more men work with tasks traditionally defined as technical, but the differences in status between tasks is not that present. Library related competence is seen as important for the development of the websites as more traditional technical competence. At the same time many tasks and competences relevant for the development of the websites are not defined as technical and a slim definition of information technology that only includes traditional technical competence can therefore be questioned and criticized. / Uppsatsnivå: D

Introduction. Against the background of the last decades’ developments of Swedish public library websites and the changing language and minority situation, a study of the multilingual web accessibility status is motivated, including identifying obstacles for moving forward on the topic. At its core it’s a question of democratic rights. Method. Website observations with multilingual aspects in focus were conducted on the public library websites housing their catalogues, for all Swedish municipalities. Same libraries and their web system vendors (or the like) were then invited to an online survey which complemented the observations with their thoughts and opinions on the topic. Both studies produced primarily quantitative data, although the response rate from system vendors (or the like) was low. Analysis. Quantitative analysis was carried out on the data, with an element of content analysis on the survey’s comments and open-ended questions. The quantitative analysis employed Microsoft Excel for descriptive statistics. Activity theory constituted the main theoretical framework for further analysis and interpretation. Results. Prerequisites of multilingual accessibility were largely in place, but potentials of underlying web systems were not fully utilized. Checking against selected official web guidelines in the public sector, library websites showed varying compliance but also room for improvement in general. Survey results proved respondents consider multilingual accessibility on library websites fairly important. Libraries show awareness of current language minorities although demographic assessments are rarely made. Lack of resources in a broad sense was stated as a hindrance for multilingual website work. The systems of Swedish public libraries are largely dominated by one vendor, although this is a field undergoing changes, with some libraries switching to open source systems. Conclusion. Results suggest progress on this topic is highly dependent on getting library management and decision makers on board. More co-operation is needed, and there’s room for education. A few suggestions for future research were given.