Cooperation and online searching via a computer-supported cooperative problem solving environment

As the distance between remote user and librarian continues to grow, there is a re-examination of the way librarians are forced to work. In today's workplace, librarians must be adept at both technical as well as cooperative skills. Librarians must be taught how to work in collaborative environments that promote clients' needs. Towards this end, a computer-supported cooperative problem solving environment designed to help librarians and remote users work together in performing an online search has been built. Online searching and cooperative skills are highly interrelated and, as such, can be exercised more effectively in a computer-supported cooperative environment. The environment encourages cooperative work, and yet monitors both individual and group performance. Results indicated that groups using the interface demonstrated more effective skills than groups who performed the same task face-to-face.