Dear shell friends around the world
 
In Austria we have a lot of studied biologists, maybe among them
a few studied malacologists, who are working scientifically on some
groups or working at the Natural History Museum of Vienna as
employees. Instead my mother and I we both are self-educated
conchologists and malacologists and responsible as volunteers
for the shell collection of the natural history department of the
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum. But be sure that many
museums can do anything without our volunteers as well on the
natural history sector and any other parts like history, art etc.
This should be the same with other museums in America too,
and the result (success) of the work at a museum should be
dependent of the work of volunteers as we can see in our museum,
as there are important and some famous volunteers in their
field of entomology and so on. So scientists and volunteers have
to work together and some scientists should see that a volunteer
has sometimes more global knowledge.
When we make our fieldstudies we collect for our private collection,
for the museums collection and to have well documented exchange
material. We collect further not only to have the species only one time, but we collect further for different localities to see if there are differences in the same species or to see the difference in ecology.
It's clear that we have all our shells with full data and with a short
description of their habitat and so on. There are no difficulties
for us to add them to museums collection and to integrate the new
material with the older one.
The reason, the aim or the purpose to have a museums collection
are quite very different. My aim would be:
1. to have al well documented collection of inlandshells mainly coming from our parts and from Northern Italy and further parts of
the Alps and to have a databank of the species with full data.
2. At the museum we collect also outer European species (exotic
species) to have a comparison with our families and species and
 
to show the interested people the wonderful nature.
3. As we have a nice collection (not very large) part of Mediterranean species, we like also confront them with the
other families and species around the world.
 
My aim for such a collection at the museum to have a widespread
collection from species around the world but with main-importance
to our inland-shells for studying the species.
 
We also are preparing small shell collections for university students
for comparing and didactic purposes. So we are able to
help the students for ther dissertation.
 
There might be other statements too why volunteers are very
important or what they can do, but I think it's enough for today.
I would be very pleased to get some answers from you again
on this topic.
 
with best regards and shelling greetings
yours Helmut Nisters from Innsbruck