Some suggested areas and sub-areas for research

Lawal, I.O. (2009). Library and information science research in the 21st century: A guide for practicing librarians and students, Oxford: Chandos Publishing

Library as placeUse and non-use of the physical buildingWho uses the library and for what purpose?Food and drink in the library; Library cafes

Library websiteUsability studies of the Online Public Access

Catalog◦ How do users search the catalog?◦ What errors occur while searching and why?◦ How effective are the subject headings?

Usability studies of online databasesHow do users construct their searches?

◦ Basic search/Advanced search◦ Do they use wildcards? Do they use cross-search?

What is the difference between searches in Google and searches in library databases?

CollectionsWhat are the perceptions of collection librarians on the

effectiveness of collection development policies?Using citation analysis as a collection development toolComparative collection analysis for collection

assessment & evaluationInterlibrary loan records as collection development &

mgmt toolsAdvantages and disadvantages of on-site and off-site

storage facilitiesStudies to identify criteria to be used as guides to

determine when materials should be retired to storageConsortia; Access versus ownershipVendor selection process; LicensingFormats, electronic or print why?Journal packages and aggregators how effective are

they?Collections budgetsElectronic books- access and use

Availability of materials◦ How can the need for duplicate copies of library

materials be predicted? Interlibrary loan – perception of effectiveness

Weeding ◦ Studies to define criteria for weeding a collection

Digital projects ◦ Electronic these and dissertations◦ Institutional repositories◦ Rare book digitization and finding aids

Circulation studies ◦ What circulates?◦ How does circulation relate to benefits for the library

community?◦ Effect of different load periods on availability of

materials◦ How effective are library fines as deterrents to overdue

books?◦ What is the effect of closed stacks on the research

process?