Dear Dan, Welcome to the club. Conch-L is the most vivacious listserver I've seen on the Net, and one of the most informative. The members really do listen to one another and answer each other's questions. Some of my favorite discussions have been on: the best places to collect modern and fossil shells how to distinguish species that the reference books don't distinguish adequately book reviews and announcements, some of them hot off the press announcements of new web sites and catalogs how to catalog shells, on paper and electronically how to photograph microshells how to clean shells what to do with smelly old shells how to recognize shells with faked colors the ins and outs of Latin nomenclature stories about shells dreams about shells thoughts on why we collect shells Conchlers have participated in the planning stages of a new mollusk exhibit at a major museum, written letters of inquiry about upcoming legislation on shell collecting, and written letters of support for museums whose mollusk collections were in danger of losing their funding. We have an ongoing, direct communication among collectors, shell dealers, shell-book publishers, editors, researchers, and curators. All ages are represented. Not everyone speaks up; we have a large number of "lurkers" who write in only occasionally. We also have a few vivid personalities whose jokes are the stuff of legend. Conch-L's parent organization, the Conchologists of America, operates a highly informative web site whose authors have benefited from these discussions. Past discussions ("threads") are archived and contain a wealth of good advice. And if the volume of messages threatens to overwhelm your computer account, you can arrange to have the subscription turned off for a while, or to have the messages arrive in a condensed "digest" form. I hope you enjoy Conch-L. It's great to be in a world-spanning conversation about shells, and get to know other people who are interested in your fa vorite subject. Andrew K. Rindsberg Geological Survey of Alabama