參考諮詢台

人力不足一直是許多圖書館所共同面臨的問題。本文主要在探討美國學術圖書館之參考諮詢台，以採用工讀生之方式來解決此困難之經驗。首先，介紹諮詢組採用非專業館員之背後原因。接著探討其在採用工讀生時之相關經驗，包括工讀生之錄用、訓練方式、值台方式、工作內容及結果評估等。最後綜合本研究所得，提出諮詢台在採用工讀生時應注意之事項及可能衍生之問題。

Staffing shortages are a common problem in many libraries. Some university reference desks use student assistants to deal with this difficulty. This article describes the status of this practice in U.S. academic libraries and general approaches to problems encountered. First, we review the literature and then summarize U.S. academic libraries’ experiences in student assistants’ hiring, training, job defining, and performance evaluation. At the end of the paper, we highlight problems that should be noticed and suggest some ways to improve the quality of service.