I'm thinking it would be informative to report on comments to my post of--was it only less than two days ago?--on the subject of eBird. Most of what I heard from others (18 messages) came in private mail, so I summarize it as well. I heard from only one sorehead, which is a pretty good score these days. I was gratified to hear from a number of knowledgeable people: a couple of biology professors, other academics, a world-level lister, and some highly-regarded bird-records experts here and in adjoining states and provinces who more or less approved of what I had to say. Plus some scribblers who, like myself, may at times join conversations on this list. One prominent thing I noticed is that a perceptible rift roughly separates younger techy-types and older adherents to more traditional ways of collecting and exchanging information. 'Twas ever thus, and the new will shortly become the old. Looking back, what constitutes a "record" worthy of remembering and relying upon has changed: a hundred years ago, a bird record was characterized by a well-preserved specimen physically attached to specific written details and signed by the collector; such specimens were preserved and verified by and published in print by recognized scholars. Nearly all of them are now in museums, and may be examined by anyone. I dunno--tomorrow, complete amateurs may find it easy to get instant entire DNA readings via specialized remote sensors built into their binoculars, but interpreted information will still require verification and permanent storage that does not rely upon certain advanced but vulnerable technologies. Sorry. I heard lots of characterizations of eBird, but will only say that not everyone had praise to offer. The folks who had complaints and suggestions about the Ohio Bird Records Committee had shared records with the RC, and certainly deserved replies about delays. As a member for many years, I agree that feedback from the RC has been slower than normal of late; it needs to improve, but should catch up within a month or two. Through rotations, the membership changes yearly, and we probably ought to keep up with that on the web site, too. Current members are Ned Keller (Secretary), Ed Pierce, Sue Tackett, Gabe Leidy*, Mike Busam, Su Snyder*, Rob Harlan, Matt Anderson*, and myself (*=members whose appointments expire next month at the annual meeting). As for publication of decisions in the Ohio Cardinal, that depends largely on that journal's catching up. It has been delayed since 2007, but I feel confident the new editor Craig Caldwell will see to catching up on six delayed issues on an expedited schedule. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]