| Summary: | The purpose of this Master thesis is to examine and describe dog breeders’ information activities. Questions posed in this study are:• What are the information needs of dog breeders?• How does the dog breeder seek and use information?• How can the relationship between serious leisure and information activities be described?The theoretical framework consists of the sociologist Robert A Stebbins’ theory about serious leisure. The study is based on a qualitative methodology. Nine dog breeders of nine different breeds have been interviewed and the interviews have been transcribed and analyzed. The analysis has been conducted with a model for information use and its effects, formulated by Lars Höglund. When analyzing the information sources an additional model has been used; also formulated by Lars Höglund, and Olle Persson. The results show that the main information needs of dog breeders concern health, pedigree, mentality, hunting ability and the history of the breed. Information sources preferred are the Internet and personal contacts. Magazines and books are also used but not as frequently as the other two sources. Another finding is that the breeders do not use the public library as often as they did before the arrival of the Internet. The nine breeders organize their information about their breeding activities in a similar way, using files and folders. The connection between dog breeding as serious leisure and information activities appears to be very strong. The information activities are to be seen as one of the prerequisites for dog breeding. The results also indicate that the Swedish Kennel Club that organizes the breeders plays a very important role as information mediator.
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