[Publib] How do you correct a coworker giving incorrectinformation?

[Carol Leckie]

Personally, if I was giving the wrong information to a patron I would
rather have a co-worker interrupt me and give the correct information
than find out later that I had given out the wrong information. I hate
when that happens. (well, happened since I am not working in Reference
any more.) But that wouldn't be everyone's reaction, so tact would
definitely be called for, with the most important thing being to convey
the correct information to the patron. I don't think one can count on
tracking down the patron after they leave the desk....you may get
someone else you have to look after and the first patron may leave, the
phone may ring, or any of a dozen scenarios I could think of. I think
the correction needs to be done on the spot, but gently as possible to
try and not make the co-worker feel bad...something like "you might not
have heard that this has now changed to......" or "that has now been
updated to......" (would depend on the situation, of course). In the
case of an address (for a business or something like that), maybe
something like "I think they have moved, maybe we should check that one
in the directory." On a more proactive level, perhaps staff-wide
training about always consulting sources before answering questions
would be a good idea if this is happening frequently.
 
Carol
 
Carol E. Leckie
Adult Services Librarian
Lambton County Library
Check out our web site at www.lclmg.org <blocked::http://www.lclmg.org/>

Growing * Caring * Innovative
"Don't mess with librarians. Not only are they sexy, they're right on
the front lines of our intellectual freedom. ... So go hug a librarian
today. And go read a banned book." Daily Kos, June 19, 2007
 
DISCLAIMER:

If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, you are hereby notified that 
any disclosure or other action taken in reliance on its contents is strictly prohibited. 
Please delete the information from your system and notify the sender immediately. If you 
receive this email in error contact the County of Lambton at 519 845 0801 extension 405 or 
email itsupport at county-lambton.on.ca.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/publib/attachments/20070807/060fcedb/attachment.htm