[tn-bird] CBC compiler on-line update August 2002
- From: mgreene@xxxxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 09:17:24 -0500
I received the following e-mail from Geoff LeBaron this morning regardi=
ng
the Christmas Bird Counts. Thought some of you who might not have gott=
en
it would be interested.
Mark Greene
Trenton, TN
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=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Greetings CBC Compilers,
We hope you're having a great summer season. By now you should all hav=
e
received your 102(superscript: nd) CBC issue of American Birds; the mes=
sage
traffic on the web suggests that most of you?and your participants?have=
indeed.
First and foremost, thanks very much for all your comments and critiqu=
es
of the "new style" CBC summary. As many of you well know, we have been=
talking with hundreds of participants and Compilers about the impending=
change over the past 18 months. Your input is helping us improve and t=
weak
the new American Birds to emphasize the conservation and ornithological=
values of the data.
Copied below are answers to Frequently Asked Questions that you may wis=
h to
share with your participants, or others in your birding community. Man=
y of
the people who received an American Birds this year have never gotten
anything from Audubon about the CBC before, and you may be hearing some=
of
the same questions as we have. Contrary to one of the frequently aired=
concerns, this was not a cost savings venture; rather we invested the s=
ame
funds to send a CBC summary issue out to tens of thousands of participa=
nts,
instead of one thousand paying subscribers. The response has been
terrific. It's great to hear from so many people that the 102(superscri=
pt:
nd) CBC issue has helped them understand just how important their Chris=
tmas
Bird Count census efforts are to the very birds that we all appreciate =
so
much.
We're well into gearing up for the 103(superscript: rd) CBC season, and=
are
looking forward to communicating with you more frequently via email. S=
ome
people may have new emails since last season, so if you anticipate a ch=
ange
in your email (or mailing) address since you did your data entry last
season, please let us know of those updates. Also, please remember tha=
t we
really do need an email contact for all compilers?even that of another
family member, or a co-compiler who handles the data entry?so that we c=
an
get information out in a more timely and efficient way. Please contact
Avery English at aenglish@xxxxxxxxxxx with information on your email or=
address change.
We're developing the materials for the 103(superscript: rd) CBC Compile=
r's
Packet right now, and tweaking the existing data entry pages.
Additionally, we're constantly updating the CBC home page with new
information so don't forget to take a look there from time to time. We=
've
done lots of updates to the Historical Results output tool since the da=
ta
entry season last winter, so if you haven't played around with that sin=
ce
then you may be surprised. We'll bet that you can now get answers to
questions you've wanted to pursue in the CBC database. If you have
additional suggestions for how to search the online CBC database we'd l=
ike
to hear from you. We'll continue to improve the website, and hope to
incorporate as many features as possible to help you with your needs.
Thanks again, and have a great summer.
Best,
Geoff Frank
Geoff LeBaron Frank Gill
glebaron@xxxxxxxxxxx fgill@xxxxxxxxxxx
CBC FAQ List
1. Q: Why did I get more than one 102(superscript: nd) CBC issue =
of
American Birds?
A: Some people received more than one CBC issue for several reasons.
First and foremost, we wanted to make sure that everyone that should
receive an issue did get one?so we were conservative in the amount of
deletion that was done from our list. All EXACT duplicates in name and=
address were deleted, but variations on how a name was submitted or how=
the
address was spelled were not picked up by the duplication checking proc=
ess
we used this year. Our cost analysis showed that it was less expensive=
to
send out the extras rather than exhaustively de-dupe the database. We =
also
chose to send issues to all names at any given address?again, in the ho=
pes
of getting issues in the hands of as many people as possible. And many
people, in fact, wish to receive a personal copy. If you received more =
than
one issue, please pass the extra(s) on to others who didn't get them!
2. Q. Wasn't Audubon just trying to save money by producing a smal=
ler
volume?
A. No! Our goal was to use the same budget ($60,000) to produce and
distribute more copies to more participants, gratis. The total costs of=
production, printing, and mailing, were very similar to the past severa=
l
seasons, even though the circulation increased from 2500 recipients
(including compilers) in 2001 to over 27,000 recipients in 2002.
3. Q: Didn't you waste a lot of money and paper sending out all t=
hese
extra issues?
A: No! As above, costs were the same, and paper use went up by
approximately one-third. The major benefit of this year's CBC summary
issue is that it went to ten times as many people as ever before, allow=
ing
the majority of participants in the US to finally get a feeling for how=
important their CBC efforts over the years have been. Next year we hop=
e to
reach 35,000 or more participants. All we need are their addresses.
4. Q: You say that the full results are available on the web. I
can't find them as easily as in the book. And what about all the peopl=
e
that don't have web access?
A: In fact, the data are much more widely available, and in much more
interactive form on the web than they ever could be in print. (Some fol=
ks
complained by email that they had no access to computers and the intern=
et!
If you have access to a computer that is on-line, you can access the da=
ta.)
There are currently two methods of inquiry on the CBC home page?"Curren=
t
Year's Results" and "Historical Results." The first is similar to the=
printed results?the every bird and counter listed from each CBC in the
current season. The "Historical Results" link contains several output
tools that allow you to query the entire CBC database?and download the =
data
into your computer. The power of this new output tool enhances the valu=
e of
the CBC, and therefore the efforts of all participants, even more for
ornithological research and conservation biology.
For the diminishing number of people who do not have easy web access at=
home or work, local libraries, friends, or family members will be able =
to
help out. Above all, we want to recruit young birders to the Christm=
as
Bird Count. The Internet is a way of life for the next generation.
5. Q: How come you're still charging us all $5.00 when the publicatio=
n is
so much smaller, and my name is no longer included?
A: The participant fees that we ask of all field observers supply the
funds to run the entire CBC program each year?including many other aspe=
cts
of the program beyond the publication.
Each year, we invest substantial money from other sources (above and be=
yond
the fee income) in the CBC. Previously we have shared with you the bas=
ic
finances of the CBC; fees remain an essential source of support for
managing over 1900 CBC's continent wide.
=
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