Is there a need for Internet regulation? : A study of Internet regulation in Swedish public libraries and how the issue is debated in Sweden and The United States.

The aim of this master thesis has been to investigate discussions about public access to Internet in public libraries. Areas of interest were the debate in Sweden as well as in the United States. The approach was qualitative and questionnaires were distributed by e-mail to a number of Swedish public libraries. The results from the survey were then supplemented with a theoretical background and a literature study. The usable questionnaires obtained from 20 libraries showed a rather uniform approach among the Swedish librarians of how the Internet is best provided by public libraries. Likewise did the Swedish library journals. Practically, there were no debates on the subject. The American debate however, showed a rather large interest in the issue, both from library organizations and other groups.Uppsatsnivå: