The general policy at my desk is 'no', the reason being that students
workers are not career clerks and the paths by which they are recruited
and hired do not make for a collecting pool of people who are abnormally
inclined toward precision.  There is also the problem of skill
development and retention given the fragmented working hours of student
employees during the course of the week and over the course of the year.
Another problem that arises is that of the disposition of supervisors.
The supervisor who thinks and acts more like a den mother than a foreman
exacerbates extant deficiencies in the student worker pool.  That having
been said, I did assign check-in work to students during one
two-and-a-half year period when I was swamped with work on a discrete
project now completed.  It worked passably well, but I did have some
clean-up work to do when my project was completed.    All procedures
were put in writing (with figures) for them to reference during their
work, display notes were entered in a selection of check-in cards
instructing that the titles in question be routed to me, and I insisted
that their working hours coincide with mine, and I QA'd their work
periodically.  I was fortunate to have students who were fairly
conscientious and willing to ask questions.  You do not always, and I
would not attempt it with a student worker with whom your extant
relationship is dysfunctional  (which it usually is, in my observation).
IW

I.  Woodward
Serials Office
Colgate University Libraries
201L McGregory Hall
13 Oak Drive
Hamilton, N.Y. 13346
Ph.:   315-228-7306
Fax:   315-228-7029