Domänanalys av Kart- och bildenheten vid Uppsala universitetsbibliotek : dess verksamhet, samling och kunskapsorganisation

The purpose of this paper is to carry out a domain analysis of Section for Maps and Pictures at Uppsala University’s Library and investigate its business, collection and knowledge organization. Birger Hjørland’s socio-epistemological domain analytic paradigm is applied. As methods, Hjørland suggests eleven approaches, and from them he emphasizes especially the importance of the historical and epistemological approaches. In this paper three questions are analysed. The first one concerns how the business at this section is managed; the second concerns the collection’s material types and its historical background; the third one concerns metadata used for cataloguing in the picture database and the reason for the delay to establish such a database. To answer these questions, notes from interviews, observations, study trips and documents about the section were used as primary sources. Observation, comparative method, interview, analysis of document and domain analytic method were used as methods to collect sources and perform the analysis. The analysis is focused on library and information scientific aspects. The study proves that Section for Maps and Pictures’ knowledge paradigm origins in library tradition, its perspective and principles, and is furthermore influenced by international and national decisions, outlines and needs. It states that cataloguing and digitalizing of collections at this section follows the international standards. As one of Sweden’s leading institutions for cultural heritage, Section for Maps and Pictures contains a large amount of unique and various cultural property. Section for Maps and Pictures is currently making progress to make their valuable collection accessible by Internet. This step is considered as a significant contribution to stimulate user-friendliness, education, preservation of materials and even democracy. This paper is published as a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science at Uppsala University in Sweden.