Att följa strömmen : åtkomst till fysiska och strömmande filmer på svenska folkbibliotek

Sammanfattning: In 2017, Cineasterna and Viddla, two film streaming services, were introduced to public library users in Sweden. The introduction of this new mode of loaning brings to question how it affects the loaning of DVD’s and Blu-rays. Which promises can the new services keep and how do libraries minimize the potential negative consequences regarding the overall library access to films? Those concerns were the starting point of this study which aims to answer two questions. First, how do the circumstances regarding loan of physical and streaming films differ in public libraries in Sweden, and secondly what effect do Cineasterna and Viddla have on the importance of the local film collections in Swedish public libraries. To answer these questions a survey was sent to public libraries which makes use of either Cineasterna, Viddla, or both. The respondents answered questions concerning the circumstances surrounding film loans, in both physical and streaming form. The results from the survey was analysed with the help of a framework composed of four of Michael Buckland’s (1991) ”Six Aspects of Access”: identification, availability, price to the user, and cost to the provider. After relating the findings from the survey to previous research within the fields of both LIS and film studies the main conclusions drawn are that despite the good that streaming film services bring, especially by expanding the range of film titles offered to users, libraries would do best to hold on to physical film formats as long as they can to be able to guarantee equal access.