Jennifer Hanhila wrote:
 
>  I greatly
> admire those of you who are on faculties of universities, etc.  You
> (all, not just the professors) have a wealth of knowledge that is so
> impressive.
>       Another query....do you know of any lists that just regular,
> amateur collectors like me (about shells, of course) subscribe to?  I'd
> like to correspond with shellers who might enjoy something as simple as
> collecting NICE beach shells, or ones that you snorkel for
> in shallow water.
 
Jennifer,
 
Don't leave!  There are a lot of rank amateurs (and some not so rank) on
this list.  Some of the members are truly knowledgeable and accredited - but
that is to your advantage.  Use these guys and gals.  Every time a
discussion gets a bit wild or starts heading up a blind alley - we have
someone on the list who can provide the correct answers.  This readily
available expertise as been a tremendous help to me a number of times.  But
I am as much an amateur as you.
 
What I believe is the most daunting about any field, discipline, area of
study, or whatever is the specialized language.  If you sit down in an
anthropology or biology or whatever-ology class for the first time it will
be like being plopped down in a foreign country where you do not speak the
language.  Actually, the classroom can be tougher because the language
sounds just familiar enough to be misleading.  A similar situation exists on
this list.  HANG IN THERE!!  You will find yourself becoming more and more
comfortable with the language and feeling less and less like an outsider.
Eventually you will barge in with your ideas or comments and take your shots
like the rest of us.  There is usually a fair share of ideas and associated
disagreement on this list but I have yet to see anybody really slapped down,
corrected or disagreed with, yes, but not slapped down.  We are basically an
easy going bunch.
 
So stay around,
 
Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA