Why isn't a note on Birding-aus sufficient? Birding-aus is a
splendid way of letting people know that interesting birds are to be
seen some where. And it's a splendid way to find information on what can
be found where. So why go to the trouble of getting observations into
print?
One must remember that electronic media are not permanent. Will all
those photos and notes (even if transferred to archival quality disks)
be legible in 20 or 50 years time? How many early computer records are
now inaccessible because advancing technology has left them behind?
(Plenty!)
But if your records are on printed paper in a journal with some
circulation, there is some hope that some copies will be kept dry and
secure in libraries and book-shelves for the next century or so.
Back in 1970 I discovered my local park, Wilson Reserve in Ivanhoe,
was a good birding location. I kept regular notes for the next five
years and eventually bravely decided to write up my observations for the
'Australian Bird Watcher', as it then was. My paper appeared in March
1976, as "Birds of the Yarra Valley, Ivanhoe" and to my surprise was
regularly cited and quoted by other bird authors for some years. (Even
in HANZAB!)
I found it very useful when engaged in local conservation struggles
to have a real printed paper to produce at Council meetings, VCAT
hearings and the like. The paper is now of course hopelessly out of
date; conditions at the Reserve have changed a lot and so has the
bird-life. But it remains available for historical comparison of then
and now. I am grateful to my mentors who encouraged me to write it and
change a few points at referees' suggestion.
In recent years, Peter Shute has interested us all with his regular
reports and photos of crakes and rails at Mount St.Josephs Pond in
Altona. It would be really valuable if Peter could summarize these
reports into a paper or article, illustrated with his photos, and submit
it to 'Wingspan', the 'Bird Observer', AFO, or the 'Melbirdian'. It
could make a lot of difference if some authority wants to widen the
railway or otherwise disturb the pond, or 'tidy up' the reedbeds. Not
very much seems to be known about small crakes and rails, so all records
are valuable. It is still claimed that their distribution is mainly
known from dead specimens brought in by cats!
Writing is not easy, but a straightforward factual account of what
you have seen and why your local area is valuable is well worth doing.
Write a draft, and then e-mail editors to see if it's the sort of thing
they need.
Anthea Fleming
Peter Shute wrote:
From:
On Behalf Of peter crow
Sent: Tuesday, 2 March 2010 11:39 AM
To:
Subject: [Birding-Aus] afo
I know what its like to have ago and be rejected. I have
written a number of short reports suitable researched and
reviewed but have always got a reply along the lines of "Its
not of great deal of interest --- Its probably something
that is common -- We usually don't publish short articles."
I'm new to all this stuff. Can you explain why these things need to actually be published in a magazine?
Lots of observations, although obviously not as well researched as you
indicate yours were, and rarely referenced at all,
get "published" just by being mentioned in places like birding-aus. I
can see that they might not be regarded as being
as trustworthy and quotable as an article in a magazine, but at least
they're out there to be read.
And won't Wingspan and TBO accept them?
Peter Shute
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