One thing I think David hints at is that a question is not always what it
initially appears to be about.  One of the most valuable skills on a library
reference desk is what library land refers to as an "information interview."
In this process you tactfully explore the question a bit deeper with visitor
to discover what information s/he is seeking and, perhaps, why.  At our
facility often an inquiry about, say, an artifact or an era is a question
about a specific family or a specific event.  This is a skill that docents
often may not have.

As a local history museum, our scope is narrower which makes some of this
easier for us.  If we don't know the answer, we ask that people leave their
name and contact information so that we may check on the answer.  Sometimes
this is still a case of saying that our resources cannot provide the answer
but these are contacts/sources that could help you find it.

Even simple research questions with readily available sources can take
several hours to answer.  If the visitor is on site, we can simply provide
the books to the visitor and which is useful for both parties.

As we are small, our inquiries are usually manageable .   Even here we get
the occasional complex question to which we have no answer and no reasonable
means of attaining one.  On the other hand, I've found that often enough to
be noticeable, we will be able to have our visitors help one another.  That
is, within a year's time, several people will surface working on a specific
topic that we have no earlier inquiries about.  If we have their permission,
we will put them in touch with one another.

I cannot imagine having the resources to do this in a large institution with
high visitation figures.


----- Original Message -----
From: "David E. Haberstich" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2001 11:50 PM
Subject: Re: Docents


> In a message dated 01-02-27 16:02:32 EST, John Martinson wrote:
>
> << My comments would be there should be policy in your organization that
since
>  we work the public (since they are our bread and butter) that allows the
>  guide to say, "Very good question.  I do not know the answer to that
question
>  right now..but I will get an answer back to you before you leave the
>  museum/park/site, etc. today."  And then get the answer back to them. >>
>
> The following is an unfortunately lengthy response, but I didn't have time
to
> be concise.
>
> John, I'm tempted to say "in your dreams."  Getting answers back to
visitors
> before they leave the museum would be totally impractical in certain
> circumstances, in certain museums, and with certain questions.  In a large
> museum this might be well-nigh impossible to achieve.  I hate to be
cynical,
> but there is also the very high likelihood that a visitor would never
return
> to get the answer that the conscientious docent has gone out of his or her
> way to find.  I've even had the latter happen with telephone inquiries,
when
> I've dug up information to answer a question and then could never succeed
in
> getting the caller to return my calls.  It is unfortunately true that some
> visitors who are curious about something one minute couldn't care less
about
> getting the answer two hours later.
>
> Your scenario might work in a small museum, where the docent would be in a
> position to contact a knowledgeable staff member quickly, and in which the
> questioner would be able to find the docent later to get the answer.  But
I
> don't see how it would be feasible in my museum, the National Museum of
> American History, unless a lot of changes were made.  There may currently
be
> an exception to my claim, however, in our big exhibition on the
Presidency.
> We have a number of crowd-control guides working that exhibit, and it's
> possible that they're in a better position to get answers to visitor
> questions than would otherwise be the norm.  One of my volunteers works in
> that exhibit one day a week: I'll ask him how they handle these
things--and
> get back to you!
>
> Most of the time, however, our tour guides range widely around the museum,
> and I think it would be very difficult for visitors to locate them later
for
> follow-up.  I suspect the guides and docents have little time in their
> schedules to get answers, and even if they did, they would have trouble
> locating an appropriate staff member for an authoritative answer.  As I
> previously indicated, I feel that in my museum there is too much of a
> disconnect between docents and staff anyway, and the current reality is
that
> most of the docents would seldom know whom to contact.  If they did know
whom
> to contact with a question, they would have probably less than a 50%
chance
> of reaching that person at any given time.  A large amount of staff time
is
> devoted to meetings, research, working with the collections, and other
> activities which make it impossible to be available for quick answers to
spot
> questions.
>
> Parenthetically, I have to note that there has been a heavy emphasis in
> museum culture toward discouraging the kind of specialization which many
> visitors would like to access!  A couple of years ago there were debates
on
> Museum-L about specialists vs. "generalists" in museums, and many members
> expressed a certain disdain for specialization.  My museum is one of many
> which have responded to this emphasis with steps which tend to minimize or
> hide specialized staff knowledge.  Where our organizational chart once
> clearly articulated staff expertise by associating people with particular
> kinds of objects and collections, it is now much less obvious.  Our phone
> directory used to list staff with their specialties, but no more.  The
upshot
> is that docents and information desk volunteers now have a much harder
chore
> in tracking down answers to visitor questions.
>
> Unfortunately, visitors often ask questions which are difficult to answer
> anyway.  They may be interested in factoids which would require research.
> Sometimes the questions are simple and mundane, as in where exactly is a
> particular object they want to see--but with our often thematic exhibits,
> even that frequently is a stumper.  I encounter visitors frequently
because
> my office is located on an exhibit floor, unlike most of the museum staff,
> and I know that many of the questions visitors ask could not be answered
off
> the top of the appropriate specialist's head even if that particular head
> could be located at a moment's notice.
>
> Often visitors ask the "wrong" questions, and I have to redirect them to
> other sources of information.  I try to explain, as tactfully and humbly
as I
> can, that we're a museum, not a library or encyclopedia, and we're not
able
> to answer every conceivable question.  I personally think that one of the
> most important services we can provide is the explanation that people
> sometimes need to do their own research.  I ask them, for example, if
they've
> tried to find the answer on the Web (great resource, and great cop-out!)
A
> visitor once asked me how many windows there are in the White House and
how
> many gallons of paint it takes to paint it!  At first I thought she was
> kidding, but she was serious.  I suggested she try contacting the White
House
> curator.
>
> I don't know what kind of training our docents get about answering visitor
> questions (I should find out).  But in our museum's case, I really don't
> think "I don't know, but I'll get the answer and tell you before you
leave"
> is an option.  "I'm sorry, I don't know, and I'm afraid there's no easy
way
> for me to find out for you" must be the response most of the time, I
should
> think.  On the other hand, the Smithsonian public inquiry office (staffed
by
> volunteers) does an excellent job in locating staff to answer written
> inquiries (they call to ask if the question is up your alley and if they
can
> count on you to answer a referral).  So I hope the docents and tour guides
> offer that corollary advice.  A visitor who is serious about getting an
> answer to a question should be amenable to writing a letter or e-mail and
> waiting a couple of weeks for a thoughtful reply, which would be better
than
> a flat "I don't know" or, worse,.the docent feeling a need to make
something
> up.
>
> David Haberstich
>
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