 |
 |
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