Change of Talking Books with DAISY as Goal a qualitative study of six public libraries

The Swedish government has made the decision to transform the talking book system from an analogue system to a digital system called DAISY by the end of 2004. The purpose of this Masters thesis is to examine how public libraries are affected by this system change. This is carried out by studying the current situation in public libraries concerning the transition to DAISY. This qualitative oriented study is primarily based on interviews with four librarians and three library managers at six public libraries. Management by objectives is here seen as a suitably theoretical framework since public municipal libraries are partly regulated by the governments goals and laws. The study focuses on the following issues: What problems occur when public libraries have to carry through a change like DAISY? What requirements do public libraries need for the successful implementation of DAISY? The study shows that the transition of the talking book system differs greatly between public libraries. The study also reveals that when and how the transition to DAISY takes place depends to a large extent on who is responsible for talking books in the public libraries. Despite relatively large freedom of action the responsible librarians are limited by economic frames. The responsibility for the technique transition ought to be the politicians duty both at the municipal level as at the regional and national level. The librarians experience that economic resources are the largest problem. It is also difficult to convince the borrowers. The lack of goals for DAISY within the organisation and lack of support by politicians are obstacles to a smooth transition. As a consequence the transition to DAISY partly depends on coincidences. There is a need to co-ordinate all authorities in taking responsibility.Uppsatsnivå: