A study of the reference service to children in the children's department of a large public library and in an integrated public and school library. A Danish investigation by Birgit Wanting has been used as a model for the study. Children's questions have been collected by the staff of the libraries and subjects, expressions and behaviour have been analyzed. The answers and the respons from the librarians are discussed. The results show that there are great differences between school-questions and children's own questions. The  schoolquestions are connected to the curnculum and the library must cooperate with the schools. Children's own questions concern all sorts of subjects and all sorts of material are needed. The children express themselves according to their development and the questions are often vague and undecided. The children's librarians devote a lot of work and time to find out what the children really are asking for. The investigated libraries play a very important role for children's own search for knowledge.

This Bachelor thesis studies the use of student employees at academic libraries, a subject that has been paid little attention in Swedish library and information science. The aim is to contribute with an increased knowledge and deeper understanding of how the work of student employees can be understood in relation to the library’s quality and accessibility. The main questions examine underlying causes for staffing with students, their tasks, the consequences that staffing with student employees might bring, and how the results of the above questions can be understood in relation to the library profession in the academic library. The method used is semistructured interviews, five of which were individual interviews with library management, and one which was a focus group interview with student employees. The interviews are analyzed in relation to earlier research and Andrew Abbotts theory of professions. The result shows that the underlying causes for using students to staff the library is foremost a willingness from the library’s side to offer generous openings hours, in combination with economical aspects. As the amount and character of reference questions are fairly low and don’t require the attention of a librarian, neither library management nor student employees see the work done by the student staff as a threat to the quality of the library’s service. However, the result indicate different views on how the use of student employees might affect the library profession and leads to a discussion concerning whether the work at the information desk is to be seen as part of the profession in academic libraries.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to see how illustrators and illustrations are treated in Bibliotekstjänst’s binding booklets compared to how authors and texts are treated, i.e. the picture versus the printed word. My aim is to try and find out if librarians have the aids to acquire information about picture-book illustrators and illustrations in their selective work and reference work. In order to find out about this I need to examine the most common aid in this work, i.e. Bibliotekstjänst’s binding booklets. The investigation is of both qualitative and, to a certain degree, quantitative character. The investigation consists of three parts: literature studies, interviews with two librarians and a source analysis of Bibliotekstjänst’s professional readers’ opinions of picture-books in 2001. The binding booklets can function relatively well as an aid for librarians to acquire information about picture-book illustrators and illustrations in their selective work. This is relatively clear when examining debate, interviews and source analysis. Proposals for improvements have included an increase in number of words and increased possibilities to see the illustrations themselves before purchasing literature. In the reference work there are no satisfactory aids in order to acquire information about the illustrations. Librarians are mainly forced to use their experience in order to answer questions pertaining to picture-books. / Uppsatsnivå: C

This master thesis concerns the subject of a reference service named Book-a-librarian. The service makes it possible for the library-user to indulge in a subject with the help of a librarian after having made an appointment in advance. The main purpose of this thesis is to study the function of it. The methods used are a mix of literature and empirical studies to be able to comprehend and explain the practical nature of the service as well as placing the service in a theoretical framework. The empirical study is performed by a questionnaire, where librarians working with the service are asked to participate. To evaluate the results of the questionnaire we have studied different scientific views of reference work in the library environment. The purpose is to identify strengths and weaknesses in the way the service is conducted. The weakness that becomes most apparent in the empirical study is the lack of users of the service. However there is a great enthusiasm for this Book-a-librarian service among the librarians. They all believe in a future for the service. To improve and develop this service we believe the solution is to have an active discussion concerning reference work as a whole and the usability of the service and finally to formulate a strategy to market it. In the final chapters we are presenting a set of recommendations for marketing this service, by studying marketing theories and validating these recommendations with professional librarians. By using marketing as a tool for development we are looking at Book-a-librarian from different perspectives, such as the importance of management, the physical atmosphere of the library and the involvement of the staff. Marketing puts focus on the user and we find that crucial for this information-based profession. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to investigate how librarians solve difficult reference questions. The aim is to discuss the nature of reference work – do librarians make conscious decisions regarding search strategies or do they rely principally on their instincts, or simply chance. The thesis is a qualitative study. The main material consists of 36 actual reference transactions that were gathered using the observation method during a five week period at two public libraries in 1994-95. Since the study was undertaken before “the Internet revolution” its main focus is on manual searches. To gain a deeper understanding of the reference process and the librarians’ views on search strategies five interviews with a selection of the observed librarians were also performed. This empirical material was then used to compare with the reference process as described in theory by – mainly – William A. Katz, Denis Grogan and Marcia J. Bates. The study shows that answering difficult reference questions can be a highly creative task and that the approach favoured by Grogan and Bates, which consists of search strategies and tactics rather than detailed charts, is the most consistent with actual practice. The study further shows that librarians’ views on whether or not they consciously use search strategies vary greatly and that either way they have a difficult time expressing these strategies.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how academic librarians seek information for themselves and for others, and what differences exist. The terms self-generated and imposed information seeking is used to describe the two different types of information seeking. Step 2 – define and understand the problem, step 3 – choose a search system and step 4 – formulate a query of Marchionini’s information-seeking model forms the basis of the theoretical framework, which is supplemented with Soergel and Katz. Qualitative interviews with eight academic librarians were conducted and analyzed in order to gather empirical facts. The results show that the greatest differences between self-generated and imposed information seeking lie within the definition and understanding of the information problem. The library user’s information need is specified through the reference interview; a process often seen as somewhat problematic by the librarians because of the difficulties involved in trying to understand another person’s needs. Librarians tend to approach imposed information seeking in a structured and pedagogic manner because of their desire to instruct the library user in the use of various databases and search techniques. The Internet is the most used information source during self-generated information seeking, while the library catalogue is the primary source during imposed information seeking. The results also show that only small differences exist in the way librarians use search strategies and search tactics during the two different types of information seeking. / <p>Uppsatsen skrevs under den tid då Växjö universitet hade ett samarbete med Högskolan i Borås, dvs. utbildningen gick i Växjö, men Borås examinerade.</p>

The purpose of this Master thesis is to compare the perception and significance of reference work in two countries, Sweden and Germany. This will be achieved by means of a literature review of previous research literature and public documents and a content analysis of articles from two library journals.A first step was to examine the historical development of reference work in the selected countries. In connection with this there proved to be distinct phases in the discussion regarding reference work. These phases with their specific discourses, themes and emphases reflected and thus later were confirmed in the second part of the study.The results show that despite some similarities there are also quite a few differences in how reference work is perceived in both countries. For Sweden, the idea of reference work was introduced relatively early. But only little has been done over time to develop this service. Germany has only recently been orientating itself away from a collection-oriented to a service-oriented library. Reference work was therefore established relatively late in German libraries, despite some earlier theoretical discussions. Swedish literature deliberates primarily reference service quality and how it could be improved. The German literature considers in contrast, mainly reference work’s more general role, its functions and forms of organization.In recent years the meaning both countries ascribe to reference work has become more similar, this is due to fact that libraries, regardless of whether they are located in Sweden, Germany or the United States, are faced with the same challenges. / Program: Masterprogram: Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap, Digitala bibliotek och informationstjänster

This is a study on the electronic reference work of some Swedish university and university college libraries. The purpose of the study has been to find out how the service works at the different libraries, to study the electronic reference interview and to find what is important when you start a new electronic reference service in the light of Brenda Dervin&apos;s sense-making theory study. Furthermore, we examine the aims of the electronic services offered and the differences between electronic and traditional reference interviews. In the background to the study we place electronic reference services in a context by describing the role of information technology and electronic mail in the libraries. The electronic reference interview is studied with the help of literature on the traditional reference interview. The study is built on qualitative interviews with librarians who work with electronic reference service. The libraries receive between 200 questions a month and 40 questions in eighteen months. The results of the report indicate that electronic reference service is not greatly used at most libraries. This might be the reason for the lack of detailed written guidelines for the service. The interviewed librarians are uncertain about the goals of the service but some suppose it is to do with the fact that their library has a national responsibility for a certain subject or they mention a wish to provide better service to their users. The attitude to advertising is mixed. Some imply that they do not have the means to extend the service. The librarians find the lack of a reference interview difficult and most of them see problems communicating via e-mail only. Electronic reference service is seen as an extension of the normal reference service, no special thought has been given to the consequences of the fact that the service is given through a new medium. The interviewees are of the opinion that the questionnaire should be as simple as possible. The possibilities of a more advanced questionnaire to compensate for the missing reference interview are discussed in the light of Dervin&apos;s sense-making theory. / 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

This master thesis deals with events, dynamics and problems of mediated information seeking within the context of a new information service called &quot;Book a librarian&quot;. The study, based on a survey and interviews both in academic and public libraries and participant observations in academic libraries, has its theoretical base in the cognitive theory of information retrieval interaction. The cognitive view is used to throw light upon the need of an ongoing dialogue during the session in order to detect the information needs of the user and to conduct a successful retrieval of information. The communicative interaction is seen as threepart interaction between the intermediary, the user and the information system, where the current cognitive states of all three participants are involved. The study shows that the cognitive obstacles for a successful mediation and information retrieval are mostly connected to participants current knowledge of the subject and of the retrieval techniques. Obstacles are also shown in the participants differing expectations concerning the retrieval event itself or in communicating the information need. The study shows that the cognitive state of the user and intermediary goes through changes as they both, through interaction, learn more about the subject of investigation and about the new ways of conducting the search. / Uppsatsnivå: D