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