Det Informationsvidenskabelige Akademi & Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus, Institutt for arkiv-, bibliotek- og informasjonsfag indbyder til ph.d.-forsvar.
"Placing the public library - a comparative analysis of
political perceptions"
Af Sunniva Evjen
Tid:
Fredag den 12. oktober 2012, kl. 12.00
Sted:
Høgskolen i Oslo og
Akershus
Pilestredet 48, 0167 Oslo
Lokale S141
Resumé:
The thesis explores politicians' perceptions of the public library
and public library development. While many call for a redefined
vision for public libraries, eye-catching libraries are built in
major cities around the world. What library visions are expressed
through such projects? I attempt to discern how local politicians
view the role of the public library, and how do they want to
develop it in their local context, using concepts from
institutional theory in the analysis. The research questions
include issues concerning norms politicians connect with public
libraries compared with those expressed by the professional field,
library legitimization, as well as plans and visions for the future
library. I have addressed these questions through a comparative
case study done in three cities; Oslo, Aarhus, and Birmingham, and
taken a qualitative approach, using interviews with local
politicians and document analysis of local and national policy
documents. One important premise for this study has been to find
cases where there are on-going developments; in the shape of main
library construction.
The perceptions expressed through this study show that the local
politicians through their work with library issues - and the
projects in particular - have acquired knowledge about and
understanding of the public library institution. There are shared
perceptions in the three cases, however the biggest difference is
found in the extent to which the library service is subjected to
political planning - both locally and nationally. I find it likely
that a stronger degree of formal institutionalisation will render
the public library service more resilient when faced with external
pressure, in the form of technological or economic
challenges.
Ph.d.-forsvaret foregår på engelsk og er offentligt.
Vejledere
Hovedvejleder:
Lektor, ph.d. Carl Gustav Johannsen
Det Informationsvidenskabelige Akademi
Projektvejleder:
Professor Ragnar Audunson
Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus
Bedømmelsesudvalg:
Lektor, ph.d., Henrik Jochumsen (formand)
Det Informationsvidenskabelige Akademi
Dr Anne Goulding
Loughborough University, UK
Professor Joacim Hansson
Linnéuniversitetet, Sverige
Afhandlingen kan rekvireres som pdf-fil eller i trykt udgave via
mail til forskningsadm@iva.dk eller
downloades fra PURE.
Forfatteren kan kontaktes på e-mail: Sunniva.Evjen@stortinget.no