[WEB4LIB] Re: Google Answers questions

[Dan Lester]

Wednesday, May 22, 2002, 11:18:21 AM, you wrote:

SK> A large part of the vote against name tags for staff comes from public 
SK> librarians in particular who don't want to be hassled by the assorted 
SK> weirdoes, nuts, flakes, and criminals who come into the library.

I've never noticed that the amount of hassling from such people (and
we get a ton of them in a public, downtown, academic library that is a
half mile from the rescue mission and adjacent to the park where many
of them live) has anything to do with nametags.  And, having a nametag
can mean many things.  Personally, I think we should ALL wear one, but
with the option of it just saying "librarian", or "Sue" or "Sue,
Reference Librarian", or "Sue Kamm, ask me for my phone number" or
whatever else within some amount of reason works for you. Obviously,
local policies need to be established with appropriate minima and
maxima for tag content.  But I fail to understand how a nametag saying
"Sue K., Librarian" or similar increases the threat on you or anyone
else.

SK>  (And 
SK> even when I'm sitting at the reference desk, wearing my name tag, 
SK> someone will STILL come up to me and ask:  "Do you work here?")

Two possibilities here.  One, the patron is simply not observant. Two,
the patron is trying to be particularly polite and correct and is
actually looking at your face instead of your chest.

dan

-- 
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan at RiverOfData.com 208-283-7711
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
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