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Welcome to Makers' Utopia? A Sociological Discourse Analysis of Professional Communications on Public Library Makerspaces in Sweden

Sabado Vinas, Kala Louise LU (2018) ABMM54 20181
Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
Abstract
Focusing on Swedish text-based, public library professional communications, this study investigates how discursive constructions in relation to library makerspaces represent and endorse certain institutional values, librarian praxis, and development strategies. The analysis highlights characterisation patterns that emerge through the discursive constructions of making, makers, and makerspaces. It also provides discussions on the tensions regarding the compatibility of the connotative meanings embedded in library professional discourse, and the overarching tenets of Swedish public libraries. The thesis employs sociological discourse analysis, merged with the methodologies of semiology, rhetorical genre theory, and sociotechnical... (More)
Focusing on Swedish text-based, public library professional communications, this study investigates how discursive constructions in relation to library makerspaces represent and endorse certain institutional values, librarian praxis, and development strategies. The analysis highlights characterisation patterns that emerge through the discursive constructions of making, makers, and makerspaces. It also provides discussions on the tensions regarding the compatibility of the connotative meanings embedded in library professional discourse, and the overarching tenets of Swedish public libraries. The thesis employs sociological discourse analysis, merged with the methodologies of semiology, rhetorical genre theory, and sociotechnical perspective, to examine current library institutional development plan, library website information, and making-activity advertisements, that focus on makerspaces in Swedish public libraries. The onset of this study provides an in-depth review of publications that tackle the subject of makerspaces, highlighting predominant characterisations relating to the concepts of making, makers, and makerspaces. This background serves as contextual grounds for the analysis of professional discourse in the subsequent parts of the thesis. The analysis draws special attention to the importance of viewing and discursively representing library makerspaces as an integral extension of public library services, accentuating the institution’s mission of providing democratic access to resources and information. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Sabado Vinas, Kala Louise LU
supervisor
organization
course
ABMM54 20181
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
library makerspace, making, makers, the Maker Movement, Swedish public library makerspace, institutional development plan, sociological discourse analysis, semiology in LIS, rhetorical genre theory, sociotechnical perspective, social imaginaire
language
English
id
8943092
date added to LUP
2018-08-17 13:52:58
date last changed
2018-10-19 13:20:20
@misc{8943092,
  abstract     = {{Focusing on Swedish text-based, public library professional communications, this study investigates how discursive constructions in relation to library makerspaces represent and endorse certain institutional values, librarian praxis, and development strategies. The analysis highlights characterisation patterns that emerge through the discursive constructions of making, makers, and makerspaces. It also provides discussions on the tensions regarding the compatibility of the connotative meanings embedded in library professional discourse, and the overarching tenets of Swedish public libraries. The thesis employs sociological discourse analysis, merged with the methodologies of semiology, rhetorical genre theory, and sociotechnical perspective, to examine current library institutional development plan, library website information, and making-activity advertisements, that focus on makerspaces in Swedish public libraries. The onset of this study provides an in-depth review of publications that tackle the subject of makerspaces, highlighting predominant characterisations relating to the concepts of making, makers, and makerspaces. This background serves as contextual grounds for the analysis of professional discourse in the subsequent parts of the thesis. The analysis draws special attention to the importance of viewing and discursively representing library makerspaces as an integral extension of public library services, accentuating the institution’s mission of providing democratic access to resources and information.}},
  author       = {{Sabado Vinas, Kala Louise}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Welcome to Makers' Utopia? A Sociological Discourse Analysis of Professional Communications on Public Library Makerspaces in Sweden}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}