Policy documents in the public library field, such as the library legislation, local political goals and intra-library plan documents, often include ambitious but ambiguous formulations. This two years master’s thesis examines the relationship between four policy documents and library practice in a local context. The theoretical framework is inspired by a sociocultural theory developed by the Swedish professor of pedagogical psychology Roger Säljö. The theory emphasizes the importance of context to learning and development. The thesis’ method is a case study. The study compares how § 8 of the Swedish library legislation is interpreted in three local policy documents and how the clause is implemented in local library practice. The local library practice studied is the work of one working group which has the special assignment to implement the statutory commission for public libraries to provide special attention to immigrants and other minorities. The main empirical material is hence derived from analysis of four policy documents and from qualitative interviews with the five members of the working group. The method of analysis can be described as a questioning in three stages. What is stated by the documents and the informants? What do the statements mean in relation to other statements? And finally: how can the statements be understood in relation to the theoretical framework and to results from previous research? The main result of the analysis is that the policy documents do not function as a determinant context of library practice. Instead the policy documents play roles as tools used by the library staff to fulfill situational needs in the local library practice. In the conclusion I argue for further research on the content of policy documents and the function of policy documents in library practice. One possible aim of such research could be to enhance librarians’ abilities to use policy documents to serve their professional purposes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-154514 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Börjesson, Lisa |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för ABM |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Uppsatser inom biblioteks- & informationsvetenskap, 1650-4267, Uppsatser inom biblioteks- & informationsvetenskap, 650-4267 ; 525 |
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