The study ascertained skill needs of library personnel for effective cataloguing and classification services in university libraries in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The study postulated two specific objectives and two research questions for the research direction. It adopted a descriptive research design. The target population of 223 personnel in university libraries were used. The multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. The researcher-developed instrument titled Skill Needs of Library Personnel for Effective Cataloguing and Classification Services Questionnaire (SNLPECCSQ) with the reliability indices of 0.93 and 0.88 on Cronbach Alpha was used for data collection. The gap analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics, which their mean gap values were used to answer the research questions. The findings revealed that library personnel did not possess the skills needed for effective cataloguing and classification services in the libraries. It was concluded that effective cataloguing and classification services of the libraries is dependent on the skills possessed by the library personnel through the knowledge of suitable computer software utilisation. Thus, it was recommended among others, that the universities should organise in-service training for the use of computer software to catalogue and classify library information in the university libraries in the study area.
Keywords: cataloguing and classification services, library personnel, skill needs, university libraries
