"I have a dumb question"--I answer, "Good, they are easier to answer"
Jane Stewart
Research Center
Foster Pepper & Shefelman PLLC
(206) 447-6474 t (206) 447-9700 f
1111 Third Avenue, 3400
Seattle, WA 98101-3299
email: researchcenter@foster.com
>----------
>From: Christopher Carr[SMTP:carr@howdy.com]
>Sent: Friday, March 13, 1998 3:31 PM
>To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
>Subject: RE: "Dumb Questions" -Reply
>
>Of course there are dumb questions!
>
>The important thing to remember is that
>everyone is ignorant in some areas and the
>intelligent person acts to correct
>ignorance. A question intended to correct
>ignorance is never dumb, no matter how
>obvious the answer may seem to others. I
>think judge using the fax machine for the
>first time is an example of this, and
>probably most of the other examples I have
>seen posted.
>
>But often, people ask questions that arise
>not from a desire to combat one's own
>ignorance but through laziness of thought
>or, worse, through a calculated effort to
>get an answer confirming their view of
>things. The attorney who asked the newly
>hired looseleaf filer what the librarian
>would do all day is a probable example. I
>wasn't there, of course, but it seems likely
>that the attorney approached the situation
>wanting to find evidence that the library
>was over-budgeted and asked the one member
>of the library staff (the newest) least
>likely to be able to give a satisfactory
>account. Questions such as these are dumb,
>and we ought not to shirk from so labeling
>them.
>
>jcc
>
>>>> "Laura E. Olsen Dugan"
><leodugan@LafolletteSinykin.com> 03/13/98
>06:10pm >>>
>Isn't one of the foundations of reference
>service and librarianship that
>"no question is a stupid question?"
>
>Many times a week patrons approach me with
>"I have a dumb question."
>The first thing I say in response is that
>"No question is a dumb
>question."
>
>The Krikelis Theory of Information Seeking
>Behavior demonstrates that
>people, particularly ADULTS, are often
>afraid or uncomfortable in
>approaching librarians with reference and
>information-need based
>questions. By dispelling the belief that a
>patron's question is "dumb"
>we help them feel more comfortable in their
>request for assistance.
>
>Laura Olsen Dugan
>Library & Information Services Manager
>LaFollette & Sinykin
>One E. Main Street, Suite #500
>Madison, WI 53703-3300
>(608) 257-3911 voice (608) 257-0609 fax
>leodugan@lafollettesinykin.com
>
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