[TN-Bird] TOS Records Archives?

TOS Archive Questions?

I want to again focus the attention of the state's birders on a legitimate 
problem concerning the official archive of bird records. Over the past year, 
over 20 inquiries concerning the Records Archives from Records Committee 
members and Secretaries including a public request on TN-BIRDS have gone 
unanswered. I am deeply concerned about the status of the official Bird 
Records Archives and want to bring this to the attention of all TOS members.  
     
 
Since the last post on this subject, Chris Welsh, the Editor of the Migrant, 
on his second attempt, managed to locate some TOS archives at UT Knoxville. 
However, with the exception of some very old writings and documents, he could 
find little or no documentation on any sightings or any records specifically 
related to Records Committee votes or files. I personally attempted to follow 
what I thought was an appropriate protocol by making requests for access 
through the records committee, but those requests for information by the 
committee about access to the archives have not been answered. 

Does anyone in TOS know where these documents are at this time? If so, could 
you please respond to TN-BIRDS so that everyone might be informed of the 
status of these records? Do others share our concern over the status of these 
records? If they are lost, misplaced, or their status is unknown, then we 
need to give some attention to locating these records immediately.   

When Mark Greene took over the Records Committee's Secretary duties from Don 
Davidson in the 90's, he assumed all of Don's completed records had been 
turned over to the Curator. At that time, Mark received only those records 
still pending. When Mark's term as Secretary expired, he handed his files 
over to the Curator and now present TOS President, Chuck Nicholson. 
Fortunately Mark kept a copy of all the records from his term. Over the past 
year, Mark has repeatedly inquired as to the status of the records and access 
procedures with absolutely no response. 

Kevin Calhoun, during his recent term as Secretary to the Records Committee 
also wrote the Curator, attempting to locate these archives and the procedure 
for accessing them. He also received no answers or even an acknowledgment of 
his multiple inquiries. Upon the recent expiration of Kevin's term, he handed 
his files over to Mark Green, the new short term Secretary rather than 
turning them over to the Curator. We know where those files are, but what of 
the many that went before? 

All this seems to be spelled out in: Article 5, Sec. 7 of the TOS 
Constitution

Sec.7. The Curator shall have charge of all specimens that may come into
the possession of the Society and shall be the keeper of all literature,
field records, papers and the like that may come into the possession of the
Society.

Do these valuable records reside at this time in someone's attic, garage or 
basement? Should they not be in a secure location? Are these records in a 
file cabinet, in boxes, under lock and key, secure from fire or theft? Are 
they in any order, filed by year, by species? Who is now responsible for 
their safekeeping? Should they not be accessible by those wishing to research 
these documents for articles in the Migrant or other legitimate research? 

Shouldn't these records be transferred to a secure location on a regular and 
specified basis? Should there be a committee appointed to collect and 
organize these records? Maybe these records could be copied and the copies 
kept in a central location in the State; let's say at the TWRA offices of the 
State Ornithologist in Nashville. If something like that could be worked out, 
the records could then be accessed with little effort from anywhere in the 
State and these copies would then act as a back up to the originals?

I, along with the others I have spoken with on this issue, believe that these 
records are important to TOS and certainly warrant care and attention. I 
would like to formally request that this issue be listed on the agenda and be 
opened for discussion at the TOS Directors meeting this weekend. I also 
request that this agenda item be initiated with a report from the Curator on 
his knowledge of the TOS archives. Hopefully these archives can be located 
and become accessible to TOS members in the near future.

Looking forward to some input on this situation,


Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL' COOT / TLBA
Bartlett Tenn.


=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
    TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
        jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx      (423) 764-3958
=========================================================

Other related posts: