Helping the difficult library patron : new approaches to examining and resolving a long-standing and ongoing problem / Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah, editor.

Co-published simultaneously as The reference librarian, nos. 75/76, 2002.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah -- Problem Patrons: All Shapes and Sizes / Kelly D. Blessinger -- Problem Patron: Is There One in Your Library? / Calmer D. Chattoo -- "Problem Patron" Public Libraries Created / Mary K. Chelton -- Historical Perspectives on Problem Patrons from the British Public Library Sector, 1850-1919 / Gary Kenneth Peatling -- Difficult Library Patrons in Academe: It's All in the Eye of the Beholder / C. Lyn Currie -- Difficult Patron in the Academic Library: Problem Issues or Problem Patrons? / Patience L. Simmonds and Jane L. Ingold -- Personal Safety in Library Buildings: Levels, Problems, and Solutions / Bruce A. Shuman -- Old Problem for New Reasons: Overcoming the Challenge Presented by Mentally Ill Library Users / Stephanie Ford -- "The Homosexual" as Problem Patron / Polly Thistlethwaite -- Difficult Library Patron: A Selective Survey of the Current Literature / Bernice Redfern -- Do We Really Have an Internet Problem? Statistics, Credibility and Issues Concerning Public Internet Access in Academic Libraries / Charlotte Cubbage -- Problem or Challenge? Serving Library Customers That Technology Left Behind / Sara Baron -- E-Problems, E-Solutions: Electronic Reference and the Problem Patron in the Academic Library / Jacqueline Borin -- Problem Patron and the Academic Library Web Site as Virtual Reference Desk / Daniel Taylor and George S. Porter -- Managing the Use of Cellular Phones in a Small College Learning Resource Centre / Christopher M. Hall -- How Psychotherapists Handle Difficult Clients: Lessons for Librarians / Brian Quinn -- Common Sense of Customer Service: Employing Advice from the Trade and Popular Literature of Business to Interactions with Irate Patrons in Libraries / Glenn S. McGuigan -- Customer Is Always Right: What the Business World Can Teach Us About Problem Patrons / Rebecca Jackson -- Zen and the Art of Dealing with the Difficult Patron / Louisa Toot -- Healing After the Unpleasant Outburst: Recovering from Incidents with Angry Library Users / Kathy Fescemyer -- Gypsies, Tramps and Rage: Coping with Difficult Patrons / Sharon W. Bullard -- Help Yourself: Front-Line Defense in an Academic Library / Diane J. Turner and Marilyn Grotzky -- Difficult Patron Situation: Competency-Based Training to Empower Frontline Staff / Justina O. Osa -- Core Competencies of Front-Line Employees: The German Contribution to a New Service Culture / Wolfgang Ratzek -- Partnership with Community Resources-Campus Police: Revisiting Policies to Reflect the 21st Century / Joyce C. Wright.

A problem patron is not one with difficult requests or obscure interests, but one who displays behavior that is deemed destructive, criminal, bothersome, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate. Librarians look at the nature of the problem in academic and public libraries, the impact of such technologies as the Internet and cell phones, and solutions from other professions as well as from the experience of librarians.

Print version record.

WorldCat record variable field(s) change: 650