The purpose of this thesis in Library and Information Science (LIS) is to examine how the book industry and the public libraries discuss the electronic books values in the Swedish journals Svensk Bokhandel and Biblioteksbladet. The method has been to compare statements from the book industries and the public libraries in articles during the period 2000-2014. Paula Schultz Nybackas thesis Bookonomy - the consumption practice and value of book reading provides the theory of the thesis. The material consists of selected articles in Svensk Bokhandel och Biblioteksbladet.   The results of the analysis show that the book industry and the public library think and treat the ebook differently. The book industry perceive the economic value of the ebook, and the public libraries are focused on the literary value of the ebook. That can explain why the public libraries and the book industry can’t seem to find a solution about ebook lending at the public libraries in Sweden.This is a two-year master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies.

The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine how Swedish public libraries approach and regard lesbian pulp fiction as a genre, from both a historical and modern perspective, and also to visualize and critique the surrounding discourses that influence the perception and reception of the genre. The method is twofold and consists of qualitative interviews as well as discourse analysis inspired by Foucault. The data consists of interviews with three librarians responsible for library collections, selection and purchase of new library materials which is combined with a survey reading of Biblioteksbladet, the periodical of Svensk Biblioteksförening, from 1945–1990. Michel Foucaults theories on discourses and the principles and mechanisms of exclusion, and Pierre Bourdieus theories on taste and distinction, guide the analysis. The analysis focuses to a great extent on discursive patterns, especially concerning the relationship between popular and quality fiction, and components of Bourdieus field theory and how this contributes to the creation of taste through distinction. Throughout the analysis possible explanations regarding the position of lesbian pulp fiction are given which covers areas from classification and interpretation of literary genres to quality assessment, selection and purchase of literature. The results of the study shows that lesbian pulp fiction is quite invisible in Swedish public libraries which is mainly seen as an effect of discursive practices that surround and influence the genre such as the societal and historical view of homosexuality but also the view on popular literature. Conclusions are that librarians are not making conscious exclusions of lesbian pulp fiction per se, they are if anything quite unaware of the genre’s existence, but that the practices that shape the field of public libraries has contributed to the genre’s position. The study is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science written at Uppsala university.

This Master's Thesis studies the attitude that library employees have regarding a sex and gender-neutral treatment of their clients. The analysis is based upon replies to a questionnaire which was submitted though channels directed at library employees, like BIBLIST and BiblFeed. The respondent’s replies contained a number of welldeveloped comments making the resultant analysis both quantitative and qualitative in nature. In performing the analysis a theoretical framework combining Hirdman’s gender system with symbolic interactionism has been used together with literature about gender roles. The questionnaire showed that gender neutrality is a complex concept that can be interpreted in many different ways and is therefore easily misunderstood. It is obvious that sex is an important category when respondents are dealing with their clients, but also that sex and gender are problematic concepts which respondents find difficult to know exactly how to relate to. A lot of the respondents see a need to address gender issues, but a lot of them also state that gender is a biological concept and therefore impossible or unnecessary to have to relate to. In general, in the replies to the questionnaire availability tops the list over important questions to be addressed in the library while sex and gender have very low priority. My belief is that gender norms are possible to change and that sex and gender issues should be prioritized by virtue of being recognised as an availability issue. It is everybody’s individual fundamental values that together form society’s common fundamental values. If we all put on our gender glasses and are prepared to alter how we treat one another we can, eventually, make sex and gender less important categories and begin to see our clients as individuals.

<p>This paper intends to examine how parents think and reflect on gender issues when they borrow books for their children at the library. The theory applied is Yvonne Hirdman’s theory of a gender system. A questionnaire was made available at the Children's department of Uppsala City Library in February, 2010. The material was compiled and analyzed with the intention to try to detect trends, patterns and themes, rather than statistics and hard data.</p><p>Parents in the study perceive themselves as gender-conscious. They are thinking about gender issues when they choose books for their children at the library. Parents’ main focus seems to be how children are portrayed in books and many are critical of what they consider to be stereotypes and simplistic interpretations. They express a need for children's books where children are depicted more nuanced, where girls can be strong and daring and the boys may be shy and crying. Pictures of parents/adults were not analyzed equally close by the parents in the study, although respondents indicated that they think it's important how adults are depicted, as they become a kind of template for how parents are expected to be and behave. In general they are experiencing today's children's books as largely stereotypical, but add that there seem to be a wide range of issues in contemporary children's book publishing, where even radical literature with clear gender problematization has its place.</p><p>Many parents choose to completely remove books that they believe has too gender-stereotyped content, others see this type of literature as a good opportunity to discuss gender issues with their children. In the case of older children's literature and fairy tales, the majority of parents in the study express the importance of mediating the cultural heritage to their children.</p><p>Parents express a need for children's literature where the act of breaking gender standards isn't too obvious or appears as the main purpose of the text, but is present as a natural background in the story. What parents want - besides great stories - are depictions of children where a wide range of emotions and personality traits are allowed regardless of the protagonist's biological gender.</p>

Female characters in novels by Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster are studied in their relationships as wives, mothers, daughters and prospective brides. The novels selected are those where the writers are concerned with families dominated by Victorian ideals. Virginia Woolf: The Voyage Out (1915), Night and Bay (1919), Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927). E.M. Forster: Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907) , A Room with a View (1908), Howards End (1910).The socioeconomic, religious and ideological origins of the Victorian ideals are traced, esp. as they are related to the writers' family background in the tradition of English intellectual life. The central theme of the four novels by Woolf is the mother-daughter relationship which is analyzed in its components of love and resentment, often revealed in an interior monoloque. Forster's novels usually present a widowed mother with a daughter and a son. It is shown how the plot, dialogue and authorial intrusions are used to depict a liberation from the constraints of the Victorian ideals of family life. The mothers in the novels of both writers are shown to be representative of various aspects of the Victorian ideal of womanhood. The attitudes of men towards women vary from those typifying Victorian conceptions of male superiority to more modern ideals of equality and natural companionship. / digitalisering@umu

The aim of this thesis is to examine the historical use of "poison cabinets", or restricted shelves, in Swedish libraries. Drawing upon the theories of Mary Douglas and Michel Foucault, it also seeks to sketch a cultural and ideological context of the practice; with the emphasis on social or mental hygiene, and disciplinary aspects. Through qualitative interviews as well as digitalized recordings of librarians active during the first half of the 20th century, actual examples of poison cabinets are presented. A closer examination is conducted of past collections at Lund University Library, and two large public libraries situated in Växjö and Sigtuna. The essay also investigates views on library censorship, controversial literature, and other related subjects reflected in th elibrary press during the period 1916-1979. In summary, the researched material suggests a historically widespread use of restricted collections, although the objectives of its use differ depending on library function. While the collection at Lund University Library appears to have been the result of state censorship, and is associated with the obligation to preserve materials imposed on legal deposit libraries, public libraries' poison cabinets have had a stronger connection to an educational reading culture. As such, public libraries' main concerns have been less about bad books, more about easy-to-corrupt patrons. The study is a two-year master's thesis in Library and Information Science written at Uppsala University.

This paper intends to examine how parents think and reflect on gender issues when they borrow books for their children at the library. The theory applied is Yvonne Hirdman’s theory of a gender system. A questionnaire was made available at the Children's department of Uppsala City Library in February, 2010. The material was compiled and analyzed with the intention to try to detect trends, patterns and themes, rather than statistics and hard data. Parents in the study perceive themselves as gender-conscious. They are thinking about gender issues when they choose books for their children at the library. Parents’ main focus seems to be how children are portrayed in books and many are critical of what they consider to be stereotypes and simplistic interpretations. They express a need for children's books where children are depicted more nuanced, where girls can be strong and daring and the boys may be shy and crying. Pictures of parents/adults were not analyzed equally close by the parents in the study, although respondents indicated that they think it's important how adults are depicted, as they become a kind of template for how parents are expected to be and behave. In general they are experiencing today's children's books as largely stereotypical, but add that there seem to be a wide range of issues in contemporary children's book publishing, where even radical literature with clear gender problematization has its place. Many parents choose to completely remove books that they believe has too gender-stereotyped content, others see this type of literature as a good opportunity to discuss gender issues with their children. In the case of older children's literature and fairy tales, the majority of parents in the study express the importance of mediating the cultural heritage to their children. Parents express a need for children's literature where the act of breaking gender standards isn't too obvious or appears as the main purpose of the text, but is present as a natural background in the story. What parents want - besides great stories - are depictions of children where a wide range of emotions and personality traits are allowed regardless of the protagonist's biological gender.

This essay is about the lyric authorship of the Swedish poet Hjalmar Gullberg (1898-1961), who was nicknamed “The Lyric Hegelian” due to his love of paradox. It focuses on certain traits in his authorship in its entirety, with a specific focus on a select number of poems. The primary concerns of this essay are questions of an existential nature raised by Gullberg’s poetry, as well as his poetry’s relation to his time and age. As a member of the Swedish Academy Gullberg was an important literary presence in his day, most likely influencing the outcome of several Nobel Prizes. Gullberg’s poetry is part classicist and part modernist, combining traditional forms with newer ones, and in doing so it bears witness to contemporary society entering a state of modernity. Gullberg held feelings of both appreciation and aversion towards his time and age. His poetry touches upon a multitude of topics and includes motifs that are both ancient and contemporary, and these are combined as the poet searches for meaning in ephemeral existence. The present essay traces the development of an existential worldview and a type of philosophy in the authorship, which are characterised by complexity and uncertainty; these change with time, and this development can be seen in the different collections of poems. A shift can be observed from a spirit of optimism and religiosity towards a contrary mindset of pessimism and disbelief. This essay argues that Gullberg’s authorship is representative of its time and age in the sense that the views expressed in the poetry seem to correlate to the development of society and the general mentality in Sweden and much of Europe during the twentieth century, with regard to the process of secularisation that took place. The poetry of Gullberg leaves us with many questions and few definite answers. However, its value lies in the eloquent treatment that it gives to the subject-matter which is presented, and in that it encourages reflection. Gullberg was a late representative of an older literary tradition and an early representative of a new one; accordingly he embodied an important change in Swedish literary history.

This essay is about the lyric authorship of the Swedish poet Hjalmar Gullberg (1898-1961), who was nicknamed “The Lyric Hegelian” due to his love of paradox. It focuses on certain traits in his authorship in its entirety, with a specific focus on a select number of poems. The primary concerns of this essay are questions of an existential nature raised by Gullberg’s poetry, as well as his poetry’s relation to his time and age. As a member of the Swedish Academy Gullberg was an important literary presence in his day, most likely influencing the outcome of several Nobel Prizes. Gullberg’s poetry is part classicist and part modernist, combining traditional forms with newer ones, and in doing so it bears witness to contemporary society entering a state of modernity. Gullberg held feelings of both appreciation and aversion towards his time and age. His poetry touches upon a multitude of topics and includes motifs that are both ancient and contemporary, and these are combined as the poet searches for meaning in ephemeral existence. The present essay traces the development of an existential worldview and a type of philosophy in the authorship, which are characterised by complexity and uncertainty; these change with time, and this development can be seen in the different collections of poems. A shift can be observed from a spirit of optimism and religiosity towards a contrary mindset of pessimism and disbelief. This essay argues that Gullberg’s authorship is representative of its time and age in the sense that the views expressed in the poetry seem to correlate to the development of society and the general mentality in Sweden and much of Europe during the twentieth century, with regard to the process of secularisation that took place. The poetry of Gullberg leaves us with many questions and few definite answers. However, its value lies in the eloquent treatment that it gives to the subject-matter which is presented, and in that it encourages reflection. Gullberg was a late representative of an older literary tradition and an early representative of a new one; accordingly he embodied an important change in Swedish literary history.

Denna uppsats analyserar och tolkar Kerstin Thorvalls roman Det mest förbjudna (1976) komparativt i ljuset av begrepp från Epikuros (341 f. Kr. - c:a 270 f. Kr.) hedonistiska och materialistiska filosofi framställd i dess mest betydande kvarstående källa, Lucretius (c:a 95 f. Kr. - c:a 55 f. Kr.) lärodikt De rerum natura. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka om/hur motiv ur Epikuros etik förekommer i Thorvalls roman; och att utforska om hedonism medverkar/motverkar feminism i romanen. Metoden är en tvärvetenskaplig komparativ analys och tolkning mellan Thorvalls roman och Epikuros filosofi i Lucretius dikt. Metoden inspireras av Pierre Machereys i boken À quoi pense la littérature (1990). Undersökningsresultat struktureras tematiskt efter några av de jämförda verkens motiv: religionens ondo, behovet av att avlägsna rädslan för döden, njutningen som det högsta goda, kritiken av tvåsamma kärleken, synen på kunskap. Min teoretiska utgångspunkt är Epikuros och Lucretius hedonistiska filosofi; och, i mindre utsträckning, ett intersektionellt perspektiv (med fokus på kategorierna kön, genus och sexualitet). Resultatet visar huvudsakligen att trots skillnader gällande begärens begränsning, kan slutsatsen dras att Thorvall gör en feministisk omtolkning av hedonistiska motiv och vägleder läsaren mot ett feministiskt och hedonistiskt etiskt mål.