Eddy, you wrote:

“I'm not a scientific researcher or fieldworker
so my options to get a copy of the descriptions in one of the museums
having this book are limited (read non-existant) .
I would also like to know your opinion about the way museums and libraries
protect willingly the spreading of information towards non-scientists. In
most of these institutes you dont get far if you're not attached to a
university or have a fieldworker status of a museum (sometimes very easily
obtained by some shelldealers)and no I dont have to see the actual work as
most museums have digitalized copies.
Sorry to be a bit grumpy but this is the way things are and are a daily
frustration to serious collectors
Eddy Wilmet”

I must disagree with you. In 1990 I needed to see some references. I
contacted a curator at the Carnegie Museum and he confirmed that he had
the references. I made an appointment and went down to the Carnegie. I was
given a desk to work at and accomplished my task. Before I left, I was
shown the collection and the Section’s molluscan library. Many works that
I wanted to look at and use were in the library. There was also a large
collection of Pliocene-Pleistocene molluscan fossils that needed to be
organized. It was suggested that I might want to help out and volunteer a
few hours here and there. Keep in mind I had no specific training in
malacology or paleontology.

I have been volunteering now for 19 years. I drive 36km from my house to
the Museum and back again. It is a relationship that has benefited both
the Museum and me. The point that I am trying to make is that many (not
all) museums have personnel that are willing to help amateurs; however,
these folk’s time is limited. If we are willing to help them with their
research or with the day to day tasks of maintaining a large collection I
believe they will be more receptive to our needs and requests. Life is a
two-way street – if we are willing to help the curators, collection
managers, and research scientists at museums, I believe that many would be
more willing to help us.

Regards,
Charlie
.................................................
Charlie Sturm
Research Associate - Section of Mollusks
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Assistant Professor - Family Medicine
Fellow-American Academy of Family Practice
Fellow-Academy of Wilderness Medicine

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