Cataloguing training at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine

This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of a series of in‐house training offered to cataloguers and para‐professional cataloguing staff at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

The instrument used for the survey was a questionnaire which sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the training over a two‐year period. Through the application of a five‐point Likert scale respondents were required to indicate their levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the training sessions.

The paper reveals the relevance and effectiveness of a structured approach to cataloguing training and highlights the need for cataloguing staff to keep abreast of current trends through continuing education. It also demonstrates a dire need for greater collaboration between library schools and libraries in the development of proficiencies for entry level cataloguers.

The collective evaluation of professionals and para‐professionals with varying levels of cataloguing knowledge and competencies impacted on the reliability of the data.

The paper serves as a model for future cataloguing training at the St Augustine Campus Libraries and can be adapted by other libraries for meeting their training needs in cataloguing.