Bibliotekarie 2.0: Minabibliotek.se och bibliotekarierollen - en fallstudie på Umeå stadsbibliotek

Library 2.0 is a term which emerged a few years ago and is frequently discussed. There is no uniform definition of the term but the central aspect of the concept is to encourage increased participation from library users. The aim of this Master's thesis is to investigate if and if so, how the professional role of the librarian is affected by Library 2.0. To do that, we have conducted a case study at the public library in Umeå. Their homepage minabibliotek.se is a practical example of Library 2.0. The homepage is based on interactivity and the library users can participate in various ways. We thougt that qualitive interviews was the best way to gain an understanding for how the librarians at the public library in Umeå experience how the work with minabibliotek.se affect their professional role. Our empirical material is based on interviews with eight librarians. Library 2.0 is still under discussion and we have investigated what is said about a change of the role of the librarian in this discussion in Sweden and have compared the statements we found to the result from the interviews. The theoretical tools used in the analysis are three models designed by Maj Klasson and six librarian identities formulated by Anders Ørom. We have seen that many of the aspects that our participants mention correspond with what is said about a change of the role of the librarian in the discussion of Library 2.0. These aspects are for example that the relation between librarians and users can be more equal on the web. We can also see an indication that the professional role will be more individualized when working with Library 2.0. Some of the participants consider minabibliotek.se a possibility to show off their professional knowledge. In contrast to what is said in the discussion, our participants don´t experience that they ?lose the control? when the participation from library users increases. Either do they find that the role of the librarian is threatened by Library 2.0, they rather feel that their professional role is strengthened by the new way to work