I don't know how many people on the list work the reference desk, but I
bet it's a pretty good proportion. Probably more than use the extreme
programming technique of pair programming.
I've found that I give the best help when I'm working the ref with someone
else, either because one of us has come over to talk to the person on duty
and stayed to help with a question or because we're switching over shifts.
One person sits at the computer, typing and searching and browsing, and
the other has more time to think, talk, ponder, reach into memory, and
kibitz.
It struck me, while reading Andy Hunt's PRAGMATIC THINKING AND LEARNING:
REFACTOR YOUR WETWARE [1], that this was applying pair programming to
reference. Then I thought: how else could extreme programming be applied
to the ref desk?
Do any of you who've used extreme/agile programming techniques see other
parallels to the desk? Extreme reference would be less dangerous and
exciting than extreme ironing, but perhaps more satisfactory to users than
regular one-person ref desk encounters.
Bill
[1] http://www.pragprog.com/titles/ahptl/
--
William Denton, Toronto : www.miskatonic.org www.frbr.org www.openfrbr.org
