Public libraries are one of several institutions that uphold Swedish democracy. The representative liberal democratic model, expressed in the Library Act, is increasingly being questioned and challenged. Political actors, mainly from the radical right, advocate ademocracy focused on the will of the people at the expense of the rights of individuals. With the notion of plural agonistics, public libraries can be seen as important arenas for debates and meetings between people, offering ways to handle conflicts within democratic institutions. Methodologically, this study employs the perspective of institutional ethnography, and the aim of this paper is to develop knowledge about public libraries’ experiences of political pressure and how this is enacted in a time of political turbulence. This paper reports findings from the first stage of a survey study directed at public library managers in 77 municipalities from the six southernmost regions of Sweden. Based on replies in these surveys, interviews were conducted withseven of the participating library managers. Findings show that the interplay between libraries and the local political level, and between national and local political levels, generally functions without notable opposition. Illegitimate political pressureis uncommon, but when it occurs, it is primarily triggered by issues connected to cultural diversity. Results further indicate that local public libraries tend to respond to illegitimate political pressure by development and use of professional policy documents, but also, in some cases, by avoiding certain activities.

Folkbiblioteken framträder i allt högre grad som en arena för politisk konflikt och turbulens. Denna utveckling ger i sin tur upphov till ett flertal dilemman. I detta kapitel vill biblioteks- och informationsvetarna Hanna Carlsson, Fredrik Hanell och Joacim Hansson i dialog med Maria Ehrenberg, som arbetat som regionbibliotekarie i Region Halland, diskutera de utmaningar och möjligheter som folkbiblioteksinstitutionens demokratibärande uppdrag står inför i samtidens politiska landskap.

For decades, memory institutions such as libraries and archives have been engaged in digitizing cultural heritage materials in their holdings (also in the form of large private-public partnerships such as Google Books). The collections usually take on the form of image reproductions (scans, digital photographs), text transcriptions (OCR’d or manually keyed) and varying degrees and types of metadata (usually legal and rudimentary bibliographic metadata). Although there are signs that public funding for large-scale digitization is decreasing in the US and many European countries, significant resources are still being invested in digitization. A whole range of humanities research depends on having these digitized collections available. Further, in humanities research such as digital scholarly editing, digital reproductions produced by memory institutions are not only referred to but incorporated as building blocks in the editions themselves. In such cases, they are not only used as mere illustrations accompanying a scholarly text transcription, but can also serve as research tools and as instruments for accountability and accessibility. Nevertheless, the critical inquiry of scholarly editors is directed towards text transcriptions, whereas digital images are often uncritically taken at face value, as objective representations of the source documents. There seems to be room for an increased critical understanding of such images as interpretations based on scholarly informed deliberation, or a ’document criticism’ for digital image reproductions in the manner of how textual criticism has been established since centuries to establish the history, relation and provenance of texts and their versions. Partly, this face value approach is fostered by mass digitization, with projects such as Google Books as a paradigm, where there is little room for scholarly considerations during the image capture. As a result, image capture is portrayed as a fairly trivial and straightforward task that can be more or less automated. But there are in fact many types and levels of library digitization, suggesting a map of variety with mass digitization in one corner and what has been termed critical or slow  digitization in the other. The choices made in terms of preferred processes have been shown to matter to the way memory institutions such as museums, archives and libraries are conceived of (Dahlström, Hansson and Kjellman 2012).

A relatively small amount of research has explored the accuracy, usability and reusability of these digital representations to humanities scholars, the kind of research questions they open up for, and what degree of authenticity and trust we are able to ascribe to them. This paper explores the needs and potentials of such keys, instruments with which users can “investigate the road that documents have travelled”, to use the phrase from the CFP for this conference. What pieces of information (if any) do the digitizing institutions provide for users to ascertain the link between the digital representation on screen and the physical source document it purports to represent? The paper will:

• address some of the critical considerations libraries and archives face when digitizing their holdings of text-based materials, with significant bearing on the value and (re)usability of the digital reproductions when placed within a scholarly context
• discuss if and how scholarly inquiry is hindered by the way digitized collections are selected, formatted, made available and presented
• discuss crucial concepts to understand the relation between digital image reproductions and represented sources, and
• propose research avenues for exploring these concepts and questions in depth.

Key concepts discussed in the paper are:

• mass/speedy digitization versus critical/slow digitization and their un/critical management of digital reproductions
• relation between source and reproduction:
  • linearity
  • historical provenance (to a single object, to several objects, or to a series of historical anchor points) and the variety of potential trajectories
• authenticity, faithfulness and exhaustiveness of digital reproductions vis-à-vis sources
• transparency and keys:
  • metadata and paradata (paradata concerns the processes of collecting, digitizing and curating the materials)

The digital image reproduction invokes the virtual presence of the source, so the bond between reproduction and source is not only graphical and material but is also defined by a retrospective relationship between two points in history, the then and the now. A heightened awareness of this on the basis of a dedicated image criticism could serve as an incentive for digitizing institutions to increase the transparency of the production history of such images and to subject their degree of authenticity and (un)certainty to better scrutiny. Exhaustive paradata and metadata for the images, for instance, might be of paramount importance, providing information about states, production history, and digital provenance. What is missing for many current reproductions in digitized collections is the historical-bibliographical link between, on the one hand, what we see on the screen and, on the other, a particular identified artefact in a physical collection. In other words, which document was actually used when producing a given digital reproduction?

Provenance research in digitized memory institution collections is mainly devoted to documenting and mapping the trajectories of the physical source documents across time, place and contexts, primarily by developing metadata standards and data models. The provenance of the digital reproduction and its relation to one or several physical source documents is however not being subjected to much inquiry. A possible explanation for this is the face-value approach with which we tend to regard digital reproductions. Looking more closely at such reproductions and their complex digitization process suggests a far from straightforward and linear provenance relation, and begs the question of what it is we actually see on the screen and what source document the digital reproduction purports to reproduce. To ascertain this provenance bond and hence the value, authenticity and usability of the digital reproduction, users need to be provided with keys such as a thorough account of the digitization process, access to various states of the digital images, exhaustive metadata for the reproduction, and not least paradata documenting the digitization process, including conversion, editing, curation, and decisions made during the process.

This article frames digitization as a knowledge organization practice in libraries and museums. The primarily discriminatory practices of museums are compared with the non-discriminatory practices of libraries when managing their respective cultural heritage collections. Digitization of cultural heritage brings new practices, tools and arenas that reconfigure and reinterpret not only the collections, but the memory institutions themselves as well as the roles they respectively play on a societal level. The development of digitization promises to bridge some gaps between libraries and museums, either by redefining their respective identity, or by forming new ground where the interests of the respective institutions naturally meet or even converge, or by neglecting particular tasks and roles that do not seem to find a natural home in the new territory. Two poles along a digitization strategy scale, mass digitization and critical digitization, are distinguished in the article. As memory institutions are redefined in their development of digitized document collections, e.g., by increasingly emphasizing a common trans-national rather than national cultural heritage, mass digitization and critical digitization represent alternative avenues. Museums, libraries and archives (MLA) endeavour aiming for joint tools and practices in digitizing cultural heritage collections need a thorough understanding of such mechanisms. The article re-contextualizes current digitization discourse: a) historically, by suggesting that digitization brings ancient practices back to life rather than invents entirely new ones from scratch; b) conceptually, by presenting a new label (critical digitization) for a digitization strategy that has hitherto been downplayed in digitization discourse; and c) theoretically, by exploring the relations between the values of different digitization strategies, the reconfiguration of collections as they are digitized, and the redefinition of MLA institutions through those processes. The arguments in the article are drawn from examples of digitization in different library contexts on both a national (Swedish) level and a European level.

This paper reports from a study produced within the currently ongoing project Public libraries in a changed political landscape – a democratic mission for a new era? The paper compares experiences of librarians and library assistants in Sweden and Denmark concerning how they perceive the democratic role of the library profession in the political landscape of today. Relating to research on the democratic role of libraries, library ethics and issues on neutrality, empirical data was gathered through seven group interviews with library professionals from eleven local libraries in south Sweden and Jutland in Denmark. Results indicate a commonly perceived discrepancy between general formulations of values formulated in professional codes of ethics, and practical librarianship. Dealing with threats and challenges against liberal democratic values in the public library requires an ethical toolbox that in individual cases may question the need for value-neutrality among librarians and library assistants if the basic mission of the library is to be upheld.

This paper presents an analysis of how library professionals in Sweden and Denmark perceive the democratic role of the library profession in the polarised political landscape of today. Relating to research on the democratic role of libraries, professional ethics and cultural policies, empirical data was gathered through seven group interviews with library professionals from eleven local libraries in south Sweden and Jutland in Denmark. Results indicate a commonly perceived discrepancy between general formulations of values found in professional codes of ethics, and practical librarianship. Dealing with threats and challenges against liberal democratic values in the public library requires professional ethical considerations that in individual cases may question the need for value-neutrality among library professionals if the basic democratic mission of the library is to be upheld.

Libraries hold a long history of a multidimensional focus on collecting, storing, organizing, preserving and providing access to information resources for various types of users. Data is nothing new to Library and Information Science (LIS) and Big Data presents a quantitative expansion of an already well-known object of study. Scholarly communication, data sharing and data curation are three areas related to data in LIS and are discussed in this paper in the light of current developments as well as from the perspective of attaining the research area relevance in the discipline over time. Big Data, new technologies and networked research environments will continue to increase both in numbers and size. LIS is rapidly developing tools to meet the opportunities arising - through educational initiatives and the development of new research areas such as data curation and altmetrics. Since social and political demands for open data grow, these issues are pressing.

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to analyse three Scandinavian iSchools in Denmark, Norway and Sweden with regard to their intentions of becoming iSchools and curriculum content in relation to these intentions. By doing so, a picture will be given of the international expansion of the iSchool concept in terms of organisational symbolism and practical educational content. In order to underline the approaches of the Scandinavian schools, comparisons are made to three American iSchools.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is framed through theory on organisational symbolism and the intentions of the iSchool movement as formulated in its vision statements. Empirically, the study consists of two parts: close readings of three documents outlining the considerations of three Scandinavian LIS schools before applying for the iSchool status, and statistical analysis of 427 syllabi from master level courses at three Scandinavian and three American iSchools.

Findings

All three Scandinavian schools, analysed, have recently become iSchools, and though some differences are visible, it is hard to distinguish anything in their syllabi as carriers of what can be described as an iSchool identity. In considering iSchool identity, it instead benefits on a symbolic level that are most prominent, such as branding, social visibility and the possible attraction of new student groups. The traditionally strong relation to national library sectors are emphasised as important to maintain, specifically in Norway and Sweden.

Research limitations/implications

The study is done on iSchools in Denmark, Norway and Sweden with empirical comparison to three American schools. These comparisons face the challenge of meeting the educational system and programme structure of each individual country. Despite this, findings prove possible to use as ground for conclusions, although empirical generalisations concerning, for instance, other countries must be made with caution.

Practical implications

This study highlights the practical challenges met in international expansion of the iSchool movement, both on a practical and symbolic level. Both the iSchool Caucus and individual schools considering becoming iSchools may use these findings as a point of reference in development and decision making.

Originality/value

This is an original piece of research from which the results may contribute to the international development of the iSchool movement, and extend the theoretical understanding of the iSchool movement as an educational and organisational construct.

Purpose – As the humanities develop in the realm of increasingly more pronounced digital scholarship, it isimportant to provide quality subject access to a vast range of heterogeneous information objects in digitalservices. The study aims to paint a representative picture of the current state of affairs of the use of subjectindex terms in humanities journal articles with particular reference to the well-established subject access needsof humanities researchers, with the purpose of identifying which improvements are needed in this context.

Design/methodology/approach – The comparison of subject metadata on a sample of 649 peer-reviewedjournal articles from across the humanities is conducted in a university repository, against Scopus, the formerreflecting local and national policies and the latter being the most comprehensive international abstract andcitation database of research output.

Findings – The study shows that established bibliographic objectives to ensure subject access for humanitiesjournal articles are not supported in either the world’s largest commercial abstract and citation databaseScopus or the local repository of a public university in Sweden. The indexing policies in the two services do notseem to address the needs of humanities scholars for highly granular subject index terms with appropriatefacets; no controlled vocabularies for any humanities discipline are used whatsoever.

Originality/value – In all, not much has changed since 1990s when indexing for the humanities was shown tolag behind the sciences. The community of researchers and information professionals, today working togetheron digital humanities projects, as well as interdisciplinary research teams, should demand that their subjectaccess needs be fulfilled, especially in commercial services like Scopus and discovery services.

This article reports conclusions from a three-year research project on Swedish public libraries. The focus of the project is on librarians experience of libraries mission to promote democracy when democratic norms and values are challenged politically by radical right populism. Results of a longitudinal survey point to stability and lack of political interest over time, but increased societal polarization causes several ethical dilemmas for librarians. Examples of illegitimate political influence and librarians adapting to changes in the political climate call for renewed discussions on the professional role and understandings of democracy in library practice.

Introduction. When the definition of democracy and the meaning of a democratic society is re-negotiated and re-interpreted, the mission of the public library is placed in a new context. This paper reports findings from an ongoing research project focused on library managers’ and librarians’ lived experiences of recent political developments in Sweden. 

Method. Methodologically, the research project departs from the perspective of institutional ethnography, and combines a longitudinal survey study with interviews, focus-group interviews, and document studies. This paper reports findings from the first stage of a library manager survey.

Findings. Results indicate that the interplay between libraries and the local political level is experienced as mostly well-functioning, although notable exceptions exist, and that the correspondence between national cultural- and library policies and politics of the participating municipalities is perceived as high. However, the paragraph from the Library Act about particular attention to national minorities and persons with a native language other than Swedish causes notable opposition between local and national political levels.

Conclusion. Irregular political pressure is uncommon, but when it occurs, it is often connected to issues focused by radical right-wing parties. The study indicates a need to further investigate the intersection of (national) policies and (local) politics. 

When the definition of democracy and the meaning of a democratic society is renegotiated and reinterpreted, the mission of the public library is placed in a new context. This paper reports findings from an ongoing research project focused on library managers’ and librarians’ lived experiences of recent political developments in Sweden. Methodologically, the research project applies the perspective of institutional ethnography and combines a longitudinal survey study with interviews, focus- group interviews, and document studies. This paper reports findings from the first stage of a library manager survey.Results indicate that the interplay between libraries and the local political level is experienced as mostly well-functioning, although notable exceptions exist, and that the correspondence between national cultural- and library policies and politics of the participating municipalities is perceived as high. However, the Library Act paragraph, stipulating that particular attention should be devoted to national minorities and persons with a native language other than Swedish, causes notable opposition between local and national political levels. Illegitimate political pressure is uncommon, but when it occurs, it is often connected to issues pursued by radical right-wing parties. The study indicates a need to further investigate the intersection of (national) policies and (local) politics. 

Hur bildas en bibliotekarie? Vad är poängen med att studera dokument i ett informationssamhälle? Är det självklart att vi ska digitalisera kulturarvet? Hur påverkar bibliometrin universiteten och forskningsbiblioteken? Vad skulle hända om någon faktiskt blev informationskompetent? Besökte Tutankhamon någonsin Malmö? Frågor som dessa söker sina svar i de sex fristående essäer som finns samlade i den här boken. Personligt, roande och oroande skriver Joacim Hansson om bibliotekarieutbildningens historia, biblioteks- och informationsvetenskapens teoriutveckling, kulturarvsdigitalisering, bibliometri och informationskompetens - allt mot en fond av vår egen samtids politiska och informationsteknologiska utveckling. Joacim Hansson är professor i biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap vid Linnéuniversitetet i Växjö.

Knowledge organization systems, whether intended for use in libraries or bibliographic services, has a complex relation to the time and environment of their construction. In a famous paper from 1982, Eric de Grolier describes library classification systems as “cultural artefacts”, based on an analysis of the relation between classes and the size of catalog entries in 29 historically significant systems. His analysis displays a relation where systems mimetically represent knowledge production as seen in literature production. However, at the end of his paper, de Grolier indicates something more; that classification systems not only reproduce knowledge production, but also have the ability to anticipate future trends by formulating styntactic and semantic priorities in relation to current cultural and social developments. However, how it is possible to further analyze such abilities is not considered. Efforts to develop a deeper understanding of the relation between such developments and bibliographic systems have since been undertaken from various perspectives, although most, with a few notable exceptions, have done so by returning to a discussion on warrants initiated already in the first decades of the 20th century. 

This presentation and subsequent paper will address this issue by analysing the question of how it is possible to “read” a bibliographic classification system, not just in a way which establishes traditional perspectives such as literary, scientific, institutional or cultural warrants, but in a way that present the system, seen as an autonomous form of document, as part of a specific cultural, political or social environment and its development. This is being done through a discussion of social anthropologist Jack Goody’s concept of “écriture” as formulated in his critique of Ferdinand de Saussure’s ideas on the relation between written and spoken language, and philosopher Maurizio Ferraris formulation of documents as “inscribed acts”. Though widely different in scope, these two entry points prove fruitful in understanding bibliographic classification systems in a new way, exceeding the fundamentally mimetic relation between system and warrant usually assumed in classification research. The theoretical discussion is complemented with two empirical examples relating to dramatic social change and cultural trauma. 

The first example is the 1921 edition of the Swedish national classification system created for public libraries. This system was constructed when a new public library infrastructure was created in Sweden as part of the dramatic processes that led to the formal institutionalization of democracy during a period of social and political turmoil in the late 1910s and early 1920s. 

The second example relates to the need for Jewish libraries to make sense of the Holocaust within their collections and bibliographic work. The American Elazar system for Judaica libraries was constructed in the 1950s as part of the American initiated reformulation of Jewish cultural identity following the annihilation of the European Jewry in World War II. 

Concluding remarks address the methodological question on how to create an analytical framework for a reading of classification systems as socially significant documents in relation to cultural and social development. Suggestions are made on the basis of a revision of the author’s previous research, developing a methodology relating to French philosopher Paul Ricoeur’s effort to establish a ‘hermeneutics of historical consciousness’.

This paper explores the ability to define bibliographic classification systems as socially significant documents in a way that goes beyond their immediate function in the information retrieval process. It does so in dialog with theory on documents and documentality, and knowledge organization theory. Two examples show how development of new classification systems address social and cultural structures in periods of rapid social and cultural change and crisis. The first example discusses the design of a classification system for Swedish public libraries in the late 1910s, and the second addresses the re-formulation of the Holocaust experience in American Jewish library classification practice in the 1950s and 1960s. Results indicate that social significance to classification systems influence the definition their institutional context in relation to wider social issues and movements. The character of this influence suggests research on documentality needs to address the relation between form and content in documents defined as reifications of social acts.

Tai Chi is a form of moving deep meditation practice of Chinese origin. Rooted in Daoism, its earliest history is obscure, with evidence suggesting that it has been practiced in a growing variety of forms since at least the 13th century CE. Today, Tai Chi is gaining popularity all over the world as a form of relaxation practice. When presented popularily it is often attached to, on the one hand, a romanticized eastern discourse on bodily energy flows to be released for increased happiness, and on the other hand, more clinically oriented medical claims that it may cure everything from ordinary backpains to Parkinson’s disease. Tai Chi is, however, also subjected to a more narrow and original discourse, namely that of not only ”releasing” inner energies, but more specifically representing a special kind of energy, the Ch’i. Elusive as it is, Ch’i is the basic energetic principle that lies behind the construct of Yin and Yang, the creative/receiving principles of all life defined in the I Ching. This representational feature which sets Tai Chi (which translates as the ”supreme ultimate”) apart from all other Chinese medical practice begs the question of whether it is possible to study the Tai Chi form as a document in itself, not only representing, but also presenting the basic principles of life.

This presentation addresses Tai Chi practice as performative documentation and the purpose is to try it against some of the basic concepts which have emerged in document studies and information studies over the last couple of decades. The aim is to see how far the concept of a document can be stretched when there is an absence of materiality, both in that what is being represented by the document and in the document itself.

The presentation defines an ”initial document” (the Tai Chi form itself), supplemented by ”derived documentation” as defined by documentation pioneer Suzanne Briet. Derived documentation in Tai Chi is shown as an overview of rhetorical constructs focusing philosophical, medical, pedagogical and martial arts related content. Three basic categories of functionality are identified in the derived documentation; ontological, performative, and legitimizing.

The Tai Chi form as initial document, with support of derived documentation and its functional categories, is treated as a complex of documentation, addressed in relation to current discussions in document studies concerning (1) document representativity as originally laid out by Suzanne Briet in her 1951 treatise ”What is Documentation?”, and (2) complementarity as introduced in document studies by Niels W. Lund in 2004. Conclusions suggests that chosen conceptual constructs may be used in addressing and defining documentary properties and processes beyond our traditional understanding of documents and documentation processes, and that in such a development, Tai Chi may be formulated as a kind of embodied documentation.

This article analyzes bibliographic classification systems for Jewish libraries and Judaica from a cultural perspective, partly detached from their function as document retrieval tools. Theoretically and methodologically, the study refers to the significance of warrants as formulated in Library and Information Science. With specific interest in the relation between Jewish and non-Jewish classification and bibliography, examples are given of systems from Europe and the USA, primarily from the twentieth century. Results indicate that bibliographic classification systems not only represent documents but reproduce cultural and ideological preferences of both designers and historical situations. In their effort to document religion in a bibliographic context, the example systems help to formulate various aspects of Judaism through both hierarchical structuring and subject definition.

I bibliotek av alla slag används klassifikationssystem för att ordna böcker och andra medier så att de blir enklare att finna. Klassifikationssystemens ämnesindelningar speglar också normer, värderingar och maktförhållanden i de samhällen och miljöer som biblioteken förekommer i. Judiska bibliotek har en lång tradition av att skapa egna klassifikationssystem också i diasporan. Det finns skillnader mellan olika judiska system, men gemensamt är att de alla speglar just en judisk identitet och historiesyn. Det är dessa klassifikationssystem som står i centrum för den här boken. I essäns form skriver Joacim Hansson fram en fascinerande historia om hur judar klassificerat skriven text och hur det speglar judiskt tänkande – från Torah och de andra skrifterna till modern tid via antiken, tidigmodern tid och judisk emancipation i Europa. Han berättar också om hur Förintelsen skapat ett särskilt problem i efterkrigstidens judiska bibliotek: hur ska denna erfarenhet inlemmas i ett system som också är ett uttryck för judisk historia? Vi får även veta mer om två svenska judiska samlingar och deras olika klassifikationssystem: Jacobowskysamlingen vid Uppsala universitetsbibliotek och Judiska biblioteket i Stockholm.

Kungliga biblioteken beslöt 2008 att börja ämnesklassificera den svenska nationalbibliografin med det amerikanska Dewey-systemet istället för det svenska SAB-systemet. Dewey-systemet var då, och är idag, världens mest spridda klassifikationssystem för bibliotek, använt i över 140 länder. De svenska bibliotekens relation till Dewey-systemet går dock betydligt längre tillbaka än så och har präglats av en pendling mellan entusiasm och motstånd. Så vad är Dewey-systemet för en typ av klassifikationssystem och hur är det präglat av dess upphovsman Melvil Dewey och dennes samtid i 1870-talets USA?  Varför har de svenska biblioteken tvekat att arbeta med Dewey-systemet när andra länders bibliotek använt det? Vilka särskilda utmaningar har setts som viktiga för folk- och skolbiblioteken vid den svenska övergången till Dewey-systemet? Frågor som dessa diskuteras i denna bok på ett sätt som bidrar till att skapa förståelse för det komplexa i bibliotekens sätt att dela in sina böcker och andra medier efter ämne, allt i ljuset av bibliotekens samhälleliga och teknologiska utveckling.

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to contribute to a discussion about the future of librarianship.

Design/methodology/approach – An analytical framework is used to discuss the future of libraries. The framework is based on current trends in contemporary librarianship and is used as a way of structuring predictions about the future of librarianship. Special attention is given to public libraries and academic libraries.

Findings – Libraries are seen moving from a traditional situation with a high degree of constitutive documentality and internal legitimacy with collections in focus to one with a high degree of performative documentality and external legitimacy, with adjustment to user needs as the prime goal. This development is related to the emergence of New Public Management and can be seen both in public and academic libraries. It is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Originality/value – The analytical framework and concepts used are originally developed for this text and prove to be valuable tools in fulfilling the purpose of the article. It represents a new and original way of discussing the future of libraries.

Library education is changing. At a time when librarianship is increasingly seen as part of the information industry, Library and Information Science is also searching for its place in a new and rapidly developing university landscape.

This book analyzes the development of the contemporary university in light of present critical social theory, focusing on such aspects as academic acceleration, organizational accretion and the rise of an ”entrepreneurial spirit,” all of which have both epistemological and organizational consequences. Library and Information Science has proven well-suited to meet this development. One way has been through the rapid international growth of the iSchool movement, now counting close to a hundred member schools all across the world. iSchools not only meet the requirements of contemporary university development, but also contribute to a recontextualization of librarianship and library education. As the iSchool movement relates to a view of information as a commodity and the ”iField” to increased economic growth, it recontextualizes the library sector, traditionally connected to democratic development based on the ideas of the Enlightenment.

Educating librarians in the Contemporary University is written from a European perspective, and examples such as the EU research platform, Horizon 2020, Government Research Proposals, and policy documents from European iSchools are used in an attempt to understand the current development in Library and Information Science and its relevance for librarianship. As the European Research and Development Sector increasingly connects universities to the solution of various ”social challenges” with emphasis on commercial collaborations, the view on knowledge and use of university resources are affected in a way which seemingly make critical analyses difficult.

Questions are asked about the relation between iSchools, late capitalism and the development of Critical Librarianship. Is there a way of fulfilling the ambitions of the critical theory classics and achieve research and an education environment which encourage emancipatory goals within the iSchool movement?

Den här kartläggningen undersöker verksamheten i folkbibliotek i glesbygdsmiljöer i förhållande till utpekade verksamhetsområden och målgrupper i bibliotekslagen. Syftet är att se om det finns några områden i bibliotekslagen som är svåra att leva upp till och i så fall varför. Undersökningen genomförs med fokus på de prioritetsområden i bibliotekslagen som tydligast relaterar till folkbibliotekens verksamhet; läsfrämjande, tillgänglighet, prioriterade grupper, kvalitet och allsidighet i mediebeståndet, digital delaktighet samt samverkan mellan olika delar av bibliotekssektorn.

Kartläggningen består av två delar:

1. En kunskapsöversikt, där svensk och internationell biblioteks-och informationsvetenskaplig forskning med fokus på glesbygdsrelevanta biblioteksfrågor diskuteras. Avsnittet rymmer också kommentarer till ett antal nyligen genomförda svenska utredningar ur ett glesbygdsperspektiv.
2. En empirisk studie, där bibliotekarier och biblioteksassistenter deltagit i intervjuer och gruppdiskussioner om bibliotekslagens prioritetsområden i workshopform. Sammanlagt har 47 bibliotekarier och biblioteksassistenter från 34 kommuner i fyra regioner deltagit. Detta har kompletterats med 10 intervjuer med representanter för ytterligare kommunbibliotek, de samiska biblioteken och fyra regionbibliotek.

Resultatet visar att förutsättningarna för folkbiblioteken i glesbygdskommuner varierar. Påtagligt är att laguppfyllelse sker trots ofta mycket små och ansträngda resurser. Detta påverkar möjligheten att bygga verksamheter utöver det som krävs för att enbart hålla biblioteken öppna. Särskilt hårt drabbat är läsfrämjandearbetet, arbetet med de nationella minoriteterna och urfolket samer samt frågor som rör digital delaktighet och digitalisering. Glesbygdsbibliotekens arbete beskrivs regelmässigt i undersökningen som utpräglat socialt, både i meningen att till exempel läsfrämjandearbetet i hög grad bygger på en upparbetad närhet mellan bibliotekarier och användare och att glesbygdens folkbibliotekarier idag får ta en mängd arbetsuppgifter som kommer sig av att det offentliga samhället på många platser dragit sig tillbaka helt. Detta påverkar både bibliotekens identitet och legitimitet.

Kartläggningen pekar på ett brett behov av långsiktiga statliga stimulansmedel i linje med Stärkta bibliotek, ett behov av en tydligare, mer transparent, nationell samordning av digitala medieresurser samt ökade initiativ för att tillgodose de kompetensbehov som finns och som i glesbygdsbiblioteken är mycket svåra att tillgodose.