CATALOGUERS' AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE, AND PREPAREDNESS FOR THE ADOPTION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CATALOGUING AND CLASSIFICATION: A STUDY OF FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, NORTHEAST NIGERIA

Four objectives were formulated and, four research questions were answered in the study. The population was forty-four (44) cataloguers and total enumeration sampling was adopted. A self-designed 5 points-likert’s type questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument had a reliability coefficient of .83 obtained using Pearson Product Moment Correlation through test re-test method. 44 copies of the questionnaire were administered to the cataloguers of seven federal university libraries Northeast Nigeria, out of which thirty-nine (39) were returned and used for the data analysis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The findings revealed that cataloguers were not aware of the adoption of AI, their level of knowledge was low, and they were not prepared for the adoption of AI in cataloguing and classification. the challenges and barriers to the adoption of AI in cataloguing and classification include technical infrastructure limitations, lack of training and expertise, bias in AI decision-making, difficulties in balancing automation with human judgment, copyright and licensing issues, problems of integration with existing workflows, job displacement, difficulties in addressing ethical considerations, problems of interoperability with existing systems, inadequate funding and resource allocation. Based on the findings some recommendations among other were made the management of the libraries under study should Provide training and workshops on AI applications in cataloging and classification. Encourage cataloguers to attend conferences and webinars on AI in libraries. Share relevant literature and resources on AI in cataloging and classification.