This collection of 20 articles does not entirely sustain the focus that its intriguing sub‐title promises. Nevertheless there is much that is stimulating and practical between its covers.
My attention was instantly engaged by the title's recognition of the workplace, the library workplace in particular, as a social environment. It is, after all, the environment in which we live for a large proportion of each week, and interactions with clients and between colleagues lie at the heart of reference work. But the specifically social or interpersonal aspects of these interactions receive varying emphasis here; in many cases the cooperative activities are more conventionally described and analysed as organisational processes.
Maria Anna Jankowska and Linnea Marshall collaboratively tackle the conceptual framework of the book, with an interesting discussion of “social interaction”, which encompasses “the progressively more complex (my emphasis) actions of collegiality, cooperation and collaboration” (p. 133). This might serve as a convenient reference point for the use of these terms throughout the other articles.
Celia Hales Mabry's own article takes the most philosophical approach, and focuses on the essential individuality of the reference transaction, the relationship between librarian and client. Lorraine Pellack identifies a neglected area of professional education and reflection: co‐worker relations. She challenges us to “try taking a look at your own interpersonal skills and reactions” (p. 64) and provides some useful strategies and tools for self‐development in workplace social interaction. Michelle Millett more simply and directly promotes socialising with colleagues, throughout the library and outside the workplace, to benefit both our own wellbeing and the service we provide to our users – feel confident that those staffroom gatherings, collegial lunches and suchlike are good for your work!
In her introduction the editor characterises the collection as “written from the first‐hand experience of on‐the‐job reference librarians” (p. 1). Indeed, many of the articles are essentially case studies – informative, practical stuff, firmly set in a specific workplace. Unfortunately, almost all present the view from the reference department of medium to large academic libraries – a disappointingly limited representation of the great diversity of library workplaces.
Users of public as well as academic libraries provided the research data and lively quotes that Pamela McKenzie presents to amply demonstrate how important the interpersonal aspects of reference transactions are. In this project 46 per cent of transactions were “cooperative”, involving more than one staff member. Karen Buxon and Harvey Gover describe an interesting institutional partnership between a national technical laboratory and a university, which share a single library facility. These two glimpses into “other” libraries whetted my curiosity about how and with whom reference librarians in school, public, corporate and other special libraries (especially very small ones) engage in cooperation.
A wide range of cooperative/collaborative activities of reference librarians in academic libraries is covered in the book. Interactions with each other, with other library staff, with faculty members, with IT and curriculum support staff, and of course with students are examined, as are the core functions of individual reference transactions, information literacy programs, and collection development.
The challenge of the virtual world that has seen the decline in demand for face‐to‐face reference service is the subject of several articles. Debra Engel and Sarah Robbins contribute a particularly pertinent account of web site redevelopment that “investigates the collaborative process utilized by the web committee and discusses the organization's cultural dynamics that influenced decisions and interactions among group members” (p. 158). The benefits, indeed necessity, of collaboration with colleagues within and beyond the library in developing and delivering online services are clear. Maintaining the social/interpersonal elements of interaction with clients through online services may prove to be a greater challenge. The potential of real‐time (“chat”) virtual reference service, delivered cooperatively 24/7 by globally distributed library partners is briefly recognised here, but not explored.
Many of the themes, issues and models that emerge are, as the authors acknowledge, well established in the literature and the workplace, but there are fresh variations and some real surprises. Valery King's account of a cooperative desk scheduling system is a revelation!
In short, do not let the title colour your expectations too much, and you will find that this book does bear out the editor's claim that it “will give you as a reference librarian or administrator ideas to support cooperative efforts in the library's physical setting and then beyond the library walls” (p. 2).
