This thesis examines how librarians, in their own point of view, can and do handle influences on their daily work routines. The main focus is on whether the librarians’ experiences suggest that these influences lead to self-censorship in how media and information is acquired, handled and distributed. The contrast between the librari-ans’ actual and ideal situations, regarding their perceived freedom to act, are also examined. Seven librarians from different fields and different parts of Sweden are questioned using semi-structured interviews. The results are analyzed using models of self-censorship from Bar-Tal and Beckman as well as an influential article on selection and censorship in libraries from Asheim. A closer reading of the librarians’ stories finds four recurring themes: Perceived autonomy and freedom, Motives and context, Examples of influence and self-censorship and Ideals and reailty. The themes are analyzed in depth, with key quotes from the librarians serving as illustrations, using the aforementioned theoretical models as tools. From these analyses, the following conclusions are drawn: Preceptions of autonomy and workload in-fluence how librarians view their freedom to propose new ideas and handle media and information in accordance with their ideals. There also seems to exist a discrepancy regarding the librarians’ expected flexibility with rules and routines, leading to confusion among the librarians. Furthermore, disinclinations towards discussion in the workplace are common when the topics are controversial, such as the removal of racist material, and attempts at discussion are often ignored. Lastly, proximity to the end users also influence the librarians, leading to an increased risk of bias in selection and weeding processes. Together these things influence how librarians cope with management of collections and activities, as well as how they treat colleagues and end users, in the context of self-censorship. The conclusions, as well as their effects on librarians, libraries and society as a whole, are then discussed. This is a two years master's thesis in Library and information science.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-450594 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Jägstrand, Johan, Hedlin, Anna |
| 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 ; 814 |
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