Recent discussions on the chat line
about books with info. on ACT birds have left me a bit troubled. Some
comments were more political than helpful to those who had asked for relevant
information.
We should remember that books are written with a
certain set of circumstances in mind, and often for a certain audience. All
books that were mentioned have their stronger and their weaker sides, some more
of the one than of the other, and this balance may be different for different
people.
I certainly appreciate the wealth of
information in the HANZAB (Handbook of Australian, New
Zealand and Antarctic
Birds), and made an effort to buy all volumes. For others, HANZAB is far too
detailed and contains far more than they ever want to learn about our birds, so
they may not consult (and certainly not buy) this work. Likewise, for the ACT,
not everyone wants to read the more involved prose of some works and prefers
easier reading material that gives the general trend rather than the finer
detail.
In other words, all the sources of information
discussed have their niche irrespective of citation rates or not. Let?s be
content with that and let the individual observer make her/his decisions.
Outstanding pieces of work in the opinion of the relevant author(s) will be
appreciated as such by the readership if truly so, without the need to put down
the works of others.
Michael
Lenz
