Linda Bush wrote,
> I will probably give my "bad data" shells to my daughter, who is an artist
and doesn't care about data, just the artistic value of the shells.  I will
probably give the rest either to some young collectors or to our club, to be
dispursed by silent and o ral auctions.

> This is a real problem for us collectors - where to send our collections
when we pass on or have to move into a facility with no room for them.

I agree, it's quite a problem. You might think that a culture that proudly
proclaims how rich it is wouldn't mind spending a few cents per person each
year on the preservation of natural objects, but this is not the case.
Instead, about half the tax dollars for the past several decades have gone
to military expenditures. It may be hard to believe, but this was not always
the case. The U.S. is locked in an emergency status that never seems to end.

But as to practicalities: Collectors who want to leave their shell
collections as a legacy to a museum should consider what museums need, and
develop their collections accordingly. I have pointed out for years on this
listserver that geographic collections of landsnails can be useful
indicators of changing environmental conditions, and there are very few
restrictions on collecting them, unlike freshwater mollusks, so many species
of which are endangered. But not many people are enchanted by local
landsnails, it seems.

Collections of complete molluscan faunas at any large or small marine
location, with accurate collecting data taken over a period of years, can be
just as valuable. When someone comes up with an environmentally dangerous
plan, you can counter with a list of species known to occur there. Several
people on the list specialize in this way, such as Marlo Krisberg (Peanut
Island, Florida) and Doug Shelton (Alabama).

Most collectors are drawn to shells because they are beautiful. Museum
people like beautiful shells as well as the next person, but without
collection data, the shells are just natural works of art, not the subject
of research. Museums can absorb only so much inspirational material; exhibit
space is limited. There are ways to satisfy both the collecting urge and the
museum's need: From a malacologist's point of view, a collection that
concentrates on a beautiful family like the cones or harps may be quite
worthwhile. And a collection that shows many ecologic or biologic oddities,
like heart cockles and watering-can shells, can be great for education.

Shop around. A few museums, such as the Florida Museum of Natural History
and Delaware Museum of Natural History, are rapidly expanding by accepting
large collections. Most museums lack the personnel or storage space for
this. Communication is good -- try it!

Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama

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