David's rant suggests to me that there's no point in suggesting to the visitor that the museum will make an attempt to provide the answer, that the visitor should be told to go look it up themselves.  I know that's an over-simplification of what David really said (ducks anticipated flames).  None-the-less, I still think it reasonable to ask docents to find answers to questions the public asks them - at least those about the museum's artifacts, exhibits, or mission-related things.  If nothing else, this means the docent WILL have the answer the next time the question comes up.  If you don't encourage the front line staff to find answers, they will make answers up, IMHO.  Better to encourage the docents to learn, and to provide them with some mechanism to accomplish that learning, than to have them say "don't ask me questions."

John's comments provide lots more options for responses (what DID you have for breakfast - and will you share?).  Obviously David is right that some questions are not serious and a visitor will neither want to wait an hour for an answer (yes, it may take that long in small museums sometimes) or to write a letter, but docents also have to learn to judge the seriousness of the question.  Certainly if visitors ask the same question frequently, someone should be noting that and finding the answer.  The fact that David "feel(s) 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" suggests a problem which should be resolved rather than a situation which should be accepted as the standard.  I wouldn't accept that as a rationale for my staff to ignore visitor questions or needs.

Chris Dill

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