Ind-Biostrat

[poulton@xxxxxxxxxx]

First, heartiest congratulations to Rich and Norm for their leadership in 
helping paleontology to maintain a profile and the enormous step forward 
with the provision of Paleonet. I look forward to seeing minutes of the 
Ind. Biostrat. Coordinators and other groups and notes on their progress 
as things go along. 

I support the contractor register; it should include all those in museums, 
surveys, etc. who can make themselves available even on a non-commercial 
basis. There will be increasingly the need every once in a while for 
identifications by specialists who are fewer and fewer in number - ie. 
lets pool our talent for use by the potential client community. The 
previous IPA directory of paleontologists worldwide was useful, but an 
update is due, particularly one which is more complete and digital, so 
that it can be scanned for keywords and for an indication of availability 
for each individual. Perhaps a spreadsheet format? Compiling it might be a 
big job - perhaps a template could be made available and individuals could 
fill it in and return it to a central location?.

Large industry paleo libraries are not the only ones at risk. Witness the 
large number of retirements in universities, surveys, etc. so that 
lifetime accumulations of reprints, some very complete and well organized, 
are threatened. What to do with these?

You guys are on target all right. Keep up the good work. Paleonet is a 
great success in a short time.