Genres in Support of Collaborative Information Retrieval in the Virtual Library

The advent of the digital -- or virtual -- library is usually presented as a positive development for library users. Much of the research and development work being carried out in this field tends to reinforce the perception of the use of information resources as a predominantly solitary activity, however. We argue that this narrow view of the virtual library may be counterproductive to its aims. Recent studies have emphasised that information retrieval (IR) in the conventional library is often a highly collaborative activity, involving library users' peers and experts in IR such as librarians. Failure to take this into account in the move to digitally-based resource discovery and access may result in users of the virtual library being disadvantaged through lack of timely and effective access to sources of assistance. Our focus here is on the ways in which, in the conventional library setting, users consult with reference librarians for the resolution of their IR problems. We describe..