Literature for Children and Young Adults
Suggested Topics:

1. Theory of children’s literature and young adult development – Philippine literary works;
2. Philippine Book Formats;
3. Libraries and Librarians;
4. Library Services for children and young adults.
5. School Library Programs
6. Reading programs in libraries
7. Multi-platform Materials in Children and Young Adult Literature
8. Storytelling in Libraries (experimental: digital vs traditional)
9. Bibliography

Not Recommended:

1. Reading Interests

Library Management / Collection Management
Suggested Topics:

1. Theoretical essays on normatic ethics as applied to LIS (Organizational culture);
2. Behavioral studies on information: Psychology of information and its effects on users;
3. Sociology of information and its effects on users;
4. Project Management for LI units
5. Knowledge management – KM readiness of Philippine libraries, User expectations in KM, KM and its application for developing libraries as learning organizations;
6. The library as a learning organization;
7. Ethics of information policies;
8. Economics of information
9. Change management – behavioral studies and attitude change;
10. Library as place for staff (Ergonomics) and for users;
11. Quality management systems (i.e., ISO, LibQual+, etc.)
12. Publishing Industry – Library collaboration; m) E-Publishing and its effects on collection development/management;
13. Learning commons
14. Ethical norms and practices in LIS
15. Library architecture and design (includes space planning, interior design, ergonomics, etc.)
16. Sustainable practices in LI units
17. E-publishing and library services (i.e., licensing agreement, contract, etc.)
18. Collection mapping and evaluation
19. Fiscal management (includes allocation of resources)
20. Capabilities of libraries to support (1) curriculum, (2) alternative learning systems
21. Librarians as leaders
22. Corporate social responsibility

Not Recommended:

1. Management styles
2. Job satisfaction
3. User satisfaction
4. Information-seeking behavior
5. TQM
6. Marketing strategies and marketing plans
7. Image and stereotypes studies
8. Job evaluation

Organization of Information, Cataloging and Classification, Indexing
Suggested Topics:

1. Book indexes on Filipino texts and their exhaustiveness, correctness, arrangement and style – Focus only on Filipino texts published by the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino;
2. Cataloging standards: challenges and future directions – Compare currently used AACR2R and FDA;
3. Changing role and value of union lists with the availability of electronic full-text journal databases;
4. Collaborative social network tools for the gathering and classification of information: an analysis (Facebook, Flickr);
5. How is fiction described and outlined in DDC and LCC – Are the notations assigned for fiction in DDC and LCC given in full details? Are the notations well expanded?;
6. Dissertations/theses as cited documents: analysis of their citations in published/unpublished works in LIS;
7. MARC portability and reused in the open Web environment;
8. Notational techniques in DDC, CC and UDC – How are the notations provided in the 3 classification systems? Compare the notations per main class and subclasses. How are these expanded to cover narrower topics?;
9. Study of auxiliaries in DDC, CC and UDC – What auxiliary tables are provided in these 3 classification systems? How are these used to build the complete classification numbers?;
10. The role of classification and indexing in organizing information resources;
11. Study of online catalogs in Philippine libraries: their helpful and least helpful features;
12. Creativity and innovation surrounding catalog interface design;
13. Study of cataloging blogs – What do these blogs contain? What are the objectives in coming up with these blogs?;
14. Testing RDA in Philippine libraries – Do a preliminary testing similar to that done by the 3 national libraries in the U.S.:Library of congress, National Library of Medicine, National Library of Agriculture. The UP Main Library, Ateneo de Manila University Library and De La Salle University Library will be represented in a Steering Committee and they will choose who and how many will be the test respondents. The methodology to be adopted will be that used by the aforementioned institutions in US;
15. Impact of RDA in current cataloging practices in the Philippines – Determine who are currently following the AACR2R in libraries in the Philippines and what will be the effect on their practices should RDA be implemented;
16. Study of cataloging listservs;
17. Folksonomies;
18. Indexing of web resources

Reference and Information Resources and Services
Suggested Topics:

1. Validation of information literacy competency assessment tools – previous studies used different tests, thus the studies yielded different results - separate tools for basic and tertiary education (updated Apr. 25, 2012)
2. Digital reference services – service via e-mail and chat will be the preliminary focus since they are the most prevalent modes of offering digital reference and a substantial volume of data is available, focus will extend to other modes such as SMS, social networking sites and Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and adherence to digital reference service guidelines such as the one by ALA RUSA may be used for analysis;
3. Reference services for the underserved – reference collections and services for schools, academe and the various professions have been studied enough, research must extend to public library reference services for children and young adults, and reference services for other sectors such as the LGBT community, agricultural sector, urban poor, labor sector and women;
4. Issues, trends and problems in library instruction – the focus is beyond the library orientation and library skills level, and other modes such as online LI, group and one-on-one, and informal instruction will be employee
5. The information search process/ search strategy formulation using online databases
6. Factors affecting the development of electronic resources collections
7. Competencies of reference librarians in the provision of digital reference
8. Filipiniana reference sources

Not recommended:

1. User studies -> information needs and information search
2. Library instruction

Law Librarianship
Suggested Topics:

1. Classification Schedule for Philippine Law (based on LC and DDC);
2. Some topics on Research Agenda for Management & apply to Law Librarianship

Students who plan to undertake these research topics MUST take the entire LIS 160 series

-Analysis and Impact Studies of InfoSystems (End-to-end user requirements design implementation before proposal)

• Open Access Systems
• Mobile Applications
• Alternative Information Media (Augmented Reality, Virtual REality, Artificial Intelligence)
• Service Innovation through

-ICT Internet of Things for Information Environments
-Digital Libraries; Digital Repositories, etc.
-Computer Aided Instructions (for graduate students)
-Web 3.0 / Lib 3.0 Web Analytics
-Gap Analysis / Competency Development in System Librarianship (for graduate students)
-Data Migration Studies
-Issues of ISR in Information Environments

-I.C.T. as a Tool

• Digital Rights Management
• Social Networks

Health and Medical Librarianship

1. Managing Medical Libraries/ Collections
   • The application of citation analysis to medical library collection building
   • Citation analysis as indicators in the use of serials: comparison of ranked medical title lists produced by citation counting and from use data
   • Cost effectiveness of a medical digital library
   • Integrating library services in a hospital setting
   • The relationship between journal use in a medical library and citation use
   • An introduction of clinical librarianship in the Philippines
2. Technological Development
   • Bringing health care online : the role of information technology
3. Electronic Medical Record
   • The computer based patient record : an essential technology in health care
   • Designing archival programs to advance knowledge in the health field
   • Confidentiality and electronic medical records
   • Security features for computer based patient records system
   • Computer stored medical records
   • Managing health information systems

Archives and Records Management
Suggested Topics:

1. Storage and preservation issues
   • Disaster plans
     • Risk management
     • Risk reduction plans
     • Recovery plans
2. Collaboration of archives, library and museum
3. Preserving our cultural records in the digital age (indigenous materials)
4. Rare and unique collections of institutions (local content)
5. Archiving of electronic records
6. Application of the concept of records continuum
7. Unique practices in records management
8. Core competencies of archives personnel
9. Distance archival education
10. Computer-aided instruction for audiovisual archiving
11. User study
12. Legal issues: reference, access and security of records
13. A proposal regulating the archives profession in the Philippines (including Code of Ethics)
14. Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)
15. Institutional Repositories (all aspects, Management, Software, etc. added 30 April 2013)

General Research in LIS

1. Philippine Librarianship
2. Information Sources and Resources Studies
3. Individual sources
4. Institutional sources
   • Libraries
   • Archives
   • Museums
   • Research Centers
   • Information Centers
5. Information Channels / Media Studies
   • Print media
   • Broadcast media
   • Electronic Media
   • Media Evaluation
   • Media Barriers
   • Interpersonal Media
6. Information Users / Channels
   • Audience Segmentation
   • Audience Reach
   • Audience Message – Reception Situations
   • Audience Message Preferences
7. Information Content / Message Studies
   • Organization
   • Utilization
   • Evaluation
   • Qualification
8. Information Effects / Impact Studies
   • Economic Socialization
   • Political Socialization
   • Cultural Socialization
   • Effects on Special Populations
     • Children
     • Young Adults
     • Disabled, etc.

Research Methodologies in LIS
Recommended methodologies for further consideration:

1. Participant observation
2. FGD
3. diary