Table Of ContentWilson Bulletin 116(4):363-369, 2004
Ornithological Literature
Edited by Mary Gustafson
WHY MUSEUMS MATTER: AVIAN AR- selaar’s An Inventory ofMajor European Bird
CHIVES IN AN AGE OF EXTINCTION. Ed- Collections, which, at 85 pages, is the longest
ited by Nigel J. Collar, Clemency T Fisher, and contribution. He summarizes 109 larger col-
Christopher J. Feare. Bulletin of—the British Or- lections (the A-list) in some detail, and anoth-
A
nithologists’ Club, vol. 123 Supplement. er 151 are listed in much less detail (the B-
2003: 360 pp., 21 contributed papers (selected list: collections of <4,000 skins, or <5,000
contributions at http://www.boc-online.org/ bird items, or institutions that did not return
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bulletin.htm.#bul—). ISSN: 00071595, £22.00- the questionnaire that served as the basis for
24.00 (paper). This volume stems from a his paper). A long reference section and three
meeting of the same name held in November appendices provide additional details that
1999 in Tring. The meeting was the first of its make this heterogeneous assemblage of col-
type, and now is the first in a series, meant to lections accessible to researchers everywhere.
bring members of the European avian collec- I consider the data presented in Roselaar’s
tions community together in an effort to en- chapter to be the hallmark of the meeting; the
, hance international cooperation among muse- paper coalesces the collaborative, broad inter-
um biologists. In the New World, we have the est of museum biologists and is a summary of
annual meetings of the American Ornitholo- lasting value to collections-based ornithology.
I gists’ Union and the list serve AVECOL (es- Those eager to see data from museum la-
tablished by J. Van Remsen, Jr.) that seem to bels made available electronically and to use
promote a degree of interaction that had not these data in analyses will do well to read
yet been achieved among European institu- Rasmussen and Prys-Jones’ paper History'
tions. The breadth of participants (130 people Mystery: The Reliability ofMuseum Specimen
from 25 countries) and authors (36 people from Data. Museum collections generally contain
13 countries, many outside of Europe) dem- rich and accurate data, but there are many
onstrates a success that reaches well beyond ways in which data quality is compromised,
Europe. and museum personnel are accustomed to un-
This—is a dynamic time to be a museum bi- covering en'ors using clues such as specimens
) ologist although the title of this vol—ume re- and handwriting that are unavailable electron-
fleets some of the community’s angst as we ically.
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continue an inexorable transition from the de- Collar and Rudyanto, in The Archive and
I scription of avian diversity and distribution to the Ark: Bird Specimen Data in Conservation
1
a more diverse array ofscientific pursuits. The Status Assessment, demonstrate how impor-
I
collection of papers in this volume is rather tant museum specimens can be in conserva-
eclectic, which is to be expected given the tion (Peterson et al. and Navarro et al. extend
great diversity of materials that museums pre- this notion for Mexico). They also point to the
serve and the variety of ways in which these decline in the number of specimen-based tax-
materials are used in avian research. onomists and systematists (important in their
The bulk of the volume treats traditional case at the “twig” level) as being detrimental
collections of skins, skeletons, fluid speci- to conservation. Collar and Rudyanto's paper
mens, eggs, and associated paper (labels, cat- is important both for conservation biologists
alogues, journals, etc.). DNA, proteins, tissue and museum administrators. The authors see
collections, databases (Christidis and Norman, molecular studies growing at the expense of
I Rajkowski), and sound collections (Alstrdm more traditional stutlies in taxonomy and sys-
and Ranfft) arc also included, as are two chap- lematics, and suggest that this emphasis has
ters on the electronic amalgamatiofi of muse- begun to “marginalize specimen collections in
um data (Peterson et al. and Navarro et al.). the eyes both of space-stressed administrators
The highlight of the volume is C. S. Ro- p(Midcring their budgets atul of result-oriented
i
363
364 THE WILSON BULLETIN • Vol. 116, No. 4, December 2004
academics planning their immortality.” The business make it clear that it isjust a first step
authors recognize that the complementarity and that more is needed.
between these areas of study is important; This volume will help the museum com-
however, I would go further and suggest that munity and its increasingly diverse clientele
specimen-based science itself is changing. understand some of the positive and negative
There is much important, traditional, avian aspects of —past and present specimen-based
taxonomic work to be done, but such studies ornithology and in some cases it outlines di-
are no longer viewed as being central in the rections for the future. There is not an ade-
reward structures ofscientific institutions: it is quate summary of the dynamic landscape of
expensive work, for which it is very difficult museum biology, however. An introductory
to receive grant support, and it is not publish- overview would have helped to summarize
able in top journals. Many of those who con- the diverse messages that the symposium au-
tinue to pursue traditional taxonomy do so be- thors provide and would have given more co-
cause—they love it and recognize its impor- hesion to the whole volume. The lack of an
tance despite annual performance metrics overview, however, does not detract from the
that often focus on grant dollars brought in, volume’s successes, particularly insofar as the
journal impact factors, and citation rates. This symposium establishes a new forum for con-
is a situation that requires attention, and per- tinued meetings and discussions among mem-
haps a partial solution is that ofcross-appoint- bers of the European avian collections com-
ments between conservation organizations munity. But if these meetings and symposia
and museums. are to be effective in changing extrinsic fac-
There are many excellent reasons why all tors impinging upon specimen-based ornithol-
museums should forge stronger ties with li- ogy, reaching out beyond our community is
brary archives and link specimens to associ- nimipnegr.at—iKveE.VITNhiWsIvNoKlEuRme, UinsivaersgiotoydofbAelgaisn--
ated paperwork in an accessible manner. Fish-
er and Warr, in Museums on Paper: Library k@a Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska; e-mail: ffksw
uaf.edu
andManuscriptResources, provide a series of
well-illustrated examples regarding the impor-
tance of being able to access the paperwork
associated with museum specimens. In Egg ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF
and Skin Collections as a Resourcefor Long- BIRDS OF THE SALTON SINK: AN EN-
term Ecological Studies, Green and Scharle- DANGERED ECOSYSTEM. Edited by W.
mann provide a good, brief survey of nontra-
David Shuford and Kathy C. Molina. Studies
ditional uses for traditional specimens. in Avian Biology No. 27. Cooper Ornitholog-
For all of its successes, I feel that the vol- ical Society, Camarillo, California. 2004: 169
ume overall is not adequately forward-look- pp., 43 figures, 42 tables, 9 pen-and-ink
ing. For example, reasons for continued
sketches, 8 maps, 8 black-and-white photo-
growth ofcollections (and there are many) are graphs, 7 color photogr—aphs. ISBN:
expressed in fewer than half the contributions 1891276379, $17.00 (paper). This book is
(e.g., Olson, Livezey, Christidis and Norman, an organized collection of scientific articles
Green and Scharlemann, Kitchener and assembled together in a single volume, the ob-
McGowan). Reinvigoration of collections- jectives of which are to present baseline bio-
based ornithology throughout Europe will re- logical/ecological data on the Salton Sea’s avi-
quire active, vibrant collections that continue fauna and elucidate the long-term perspective
to grow and become available for, and rele- of these works; emphasize the importance of
vant to, a changing array o—f research ques- the Salton Trough to avian populations; and
tions. The final contribution a summary of describe the Salton Sea’s connectivity with the
post-me—eting workshops by Cooper and Stein- Colorado River Delta and Pacific Flyway. Al-
heimer shows that the future of avian col- though there are no chapter headings, the ar-
lections is tremendously important to the ticles ca—n be generally classified into three
meeting participants; however, their brief sections ecological and historical perspec-
summary of the most dynamic areas in this tives, species assemblages, and species-spe-
