Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

Hi,

I'm fairly new to the GR librarian's group and I'm not aware of all of its policies. Is it standard practice for a GR user to contact a librarian privately to request book edits? I was recently contacted by a user demanding that I edit book info. I'm not sure how they got my name but it seems like they should be posting their request elsewhere than through private message.

Amanda

It happens unfortunately. Even with a comment on my profile and a link to the Librarian group I occasionally still get requests, particularly from authors.

If the person is demanding I would reply that it isn't appropriate and re-direct them to the Librarian Group OR just ignore the comment and send it to the trash :)

I would flag it as inappropriate and let staff deal with it. I also would just ignore the request.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I would flag it as inappropriate and let staff deal with it. I also would just ignore the request."

Thank you.

If the requests often come from authors, I wonder if the reason is they don't want the request made public on the group? If it's a big enough problem maybe it should go in a FAQ.

Well most of the requests from authors I've gotten, are run of the mill requests or requests that are outside of policy. I'd suggest that they don't want to wait for a librarian to do them.

Thea wrote: "If the requests often come from authors, I wonder if the reason is they don't want the request made public on the group?"

If it's a legal issue or similar, Goodreads Librarians cannot assist them. Most other requests for book edits should have no need to be private -- unless the request is one that does not follow our policies.

While we often direct users to post requests in this group, we never suggest that they contact a Goodreads Librarian directly. And as Goodreads Librarians are volunteers, they are certainly not required to fulfill requests sent to them via direct message. Suggesting that someone post in this group instead is perfectly appropriate. Ignoring such a request is also reasonable.

rivka wrote: "Thea wrote: "If the requests often come from authors, I wonder if the reason is they don't want the request made public on the group?"

If it's a legal issue or similar, Goodreads Librarians cannot..."

Thank you. I don't necessarily have a problem fulfilling a user's request but when they're condescending and implying that whoever created the entry was an idiot and then telling me how they'd make the perfect librarian, but for some reason haven't been chosen yet, I'd rather spend my time assisting elsewhere.

rivka wrote: "Suggesting that someone post in this group instead is perfectly appropriate. Ignoring such a request is also reasonable."

Thanks. This makes perfect sense.