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Folkbibliotekens praktiska arbete i dagens informationssamhälle : En kvalitativ studie hur folkbibliotekarier, i sin praktik på ett mindre folkbibliotek, motverkar desinformation

The purpose of this bachelor´s thesis is to create an understanding and reflection about how librarians at a small public library work to counter disinformation in their professional practice. Similarly, we students, aim to understand how disinformation impacts library´s democratic mission, and how they promote media- and information literacy. The practical work that librarians perform daily needs to be further highlighted to create awareness among the public. That's because librarians work for democracy, information acquisition, education, and free opinion according to the Swedish Library Law (SFS 2013:801). In a similar way, smaller public libraries need to be made more visible. A qualitative method was employed, consisting of semi-structured interviews conducted with six librarians from two small public libraries [in the middle part of Sweden]. The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of the concept of media and information literacy. The findings of the thesis demonstrate that the librarians at smaller public libraries have more control over the spread of disinformation in the practical work related to literature purchases than in their interaction with library patrons. Conversations within the library space present a complex situation and crossing a boundary pose challenges in fulfilling the library´s democratic mission. The findings demonstrate that the librarian´s action is influenced and subject to reflection, particularly when addressing social crises, like covid-19, as compassion plays a role on their practice. The thesis has helped to create an understanding and insight into how smaller public libraries work with the few resources and conditions that exist to counteract disinformation in their daily work practice.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-123963
Date January 2023
CreatorsKnutsson, Madeleine, Virenhag, Frida
PublisherLinnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper (KV)
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageSwedish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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