”Det bidrar till att sänka bibliotekets gard” : Om klartextsystem på folkbibliotek.

Sammanfattning

The aim of this study was to provide a deeper understanding of the incentives of the librarians when introducing alternative classification/arrangement in four public libraries in Sweden. The research questions focus on the function of alternative arrangement, on why there is a need for alternative arrangement and how this can be understood through the lens of critical knowledge organization and user convenience. The primary theoretical framework was based on perspectives of critical knowledge organisation and deconstruction combined with the user perspectives user warrant and user convenience. The empirical part of the thesis is based on semi structured interviews with respondents at four different public libraries in Sweden that are using a system of alternative arrangement. A thematic analysis was used, identifying four themes in the data: “the new system”, “the user-friendly system”, “the flexible system” and “the local system”. In the result there is an overview of the function of the alternative systems and why there is a need for them. The result also show that the aim of the systems is to lower the threshold and make the library a more inclusive place where it is easy to find what you look for. The traditional systems such as the Swedish library classification system (SAB) and the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) are seen as outdated and complicated which motivates the need for a change to a new system. The findings indicate that alternative arrangement can be a way to create a new order aligned with perspectives of critical knowledge organization. This is a two year master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.