| College and university libraries rely heavily upon the contribution of student assistants to perform a variety of unskilled and semi-skilled tasks. While previous studies have investigated certain aspects of student assistant employment in libraries, this study's observational design sought to gain an understanding of what student assistants do in the cultural context of the library.;This study was primarily based on an analysis of 144 hours of videotaped service activities occurring at one small college library's circulation desk during evening hours of a full academic term. This analysis resulted in a comprehensive taxonomy of 4,010 service encounters contextualized in the flow of the library's everyday activities. The videotaped data was supplemented by documentary material as well as in-depth interviews with ten key informants (student assistants and library users) providing the participants' perspective on the service environment.;The service encounters in which student assistants and library users engaged were found to be largely low level, uncomplicated, clerical ones. But by their presence alone, however, student assistants were found to provide setting legibility and orientation to their peers. Depending on their motivation and training, student assistants were seen to competently provide a variety of services to library users.;The environmental influences on the manner in which services occurred were found to be closely related to the college's academic calender: the busiest recorded days coincided with midterm and final examination periods. The surrounding academic community's influence in the setting was also seen in instructor research requirements (resulting in a larger volume of service encounters) and in instructor familiarity with, and observance of, library procedures (e.g., allowing sufficient time for processing of library reserve items before sending students to the library for them, etc.).;Among the normative rules for behavior uncovered in this study were those perceived as competencies. Student assistants were perceived competent through their successful response to user requests, while library users were perceived competent largely through their ability to clearly articulate their service requests.;The findings suggested (1) additional and more intensive training for student assistants, (2) library user education, and (3) an overall expansion of student assistant participation in the service environment. |
