Travis Payne has brought up an interesting point: Does one have to be a
malacologist with a PhD to tell species apart? No, of course not. Almost
any of us has witnessed a child separating piles of beach shells into
species, and doing a pretty good job of it, too. Recognizing patterns is
natural to humans. In geology, we say that the best geologist is the one
who has seen the most rocks. Well, the best malacologist is the one who has
seen the most shells, whether by collecting, buying and trading, or
examining them in a museum. A PhD who has specialized in scallops ought to
know his stuff, and probably has access to specialized literature and
equipment that most people lack... but, then again, he hasn't seen every
scallop, has he? And if you've carefully examined a lot of olives and he
has not, then maybe your opinion on olives should be sought after. My point
is that you don't need a PhD to be an expert on shells.
 
The collector who wants to become an expert would do well to specialize,
either in a taxonomic group or in the shells of a particular area (or in
the case of fossils, a particular age). It's easier, and there are too many
species of mollusks to study them all in depth. The would-be expert should
collect specialized literature as well as shells, and really learn the
scientific terms in the descriptions, not rely on the illustrations. And
this person should contact other people frequently for advice, because
there are many things that are not written in books--matters of
perspective, or things that are so obvious to experienced collectors that
they are never written down. (I believe that one of the most valuable
features of Conch-L has been to record some of this not very "obvious"
advice.) Also, the collector who wants to be an expert should examine the
collections of other people and other museums. Everyone's methods are
different, and, after all, the best malacologist is the one who's seen the
most shells...
 
Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama