Opinions Needed Please!

[Francis Boas]

Hello Everyone,

I'm an avid paleophile and social researcher doing work on natural history museums. I am interested in talking to people who love fossils! I am doing a survey and want to invite you to take it:

Survey for the public:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DFX55S6

Survey for the paleontology community:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/67RNCMW

You might fall into both categories! Please feel free to take them both if you want to. Only 10 questions apiece.

The purpose of this survey is to ask people what they know about fossil collecting for commercial purposes, and what they think about this. I really want to get more perspectives on this issue. Ultimately I will be presenting the data at a conference and then publishing it open-access. I want to bring "amateurs" and the public into the conversation about the market! As a museum professional, I don't think my motivations and thoughts on this topic reflect any of those currently being circulated by the media, and I think it's simply wrong to leave people out of this conversation.

Thanks for your time, I appreciate it!

- Francis B.

PS you can send me a private message if you want to talk about this further, I am all ears.

[Auspex]

What a scintillating subject! To my knowledge, I have never met an Ethnomuseologist before; I hope we can help further your study. Welcome to the Forum

[Xiphactinus]

Francis -

I took the survey....one thing to keep in mind, your survey asks about regulation as if it's all or nothing.....you can go after dinosaurs with backhoes in a national park. I don't know anyone that would support that. That's not what exists nor is proposed by anyone that I am aware of.

As someone who has studied and conducted market research, I'm not sure that your survey will yield the results you desire.

[fossilized6s]

Done. Thanks for including the everyday "joe fossil hunter". Often we are left out of the discussion of the regulations of fossil hunting. For most of us it's a passion. For a few it's a living. But proven time and time again amateur fossil hunters ARE making important discoveries. And most of the time do the right thing and donate them for study, furthering the scientific communities understanding and shaping of our past. And the more we know about the past the greater our knowledge will be of the present day, and ultimately help predict our future.

I truly hope further regulations on fossil hunting will stop. Or at the very least we have to get a license to do so (like driving, guns, etc.).

Halting one's passion for new discovery in a World that has been mapped, bordered and regulated is halting one's dreams.

[Francis Boas]

Xiphactinus, thank you for your input, I appreciate it. The reason I ask about legislation is because my preliminary research indicated that this is what the public (and paleo people) talk about when discussing this topic, so it is a familiar concept.

To repeat, I would simply like to collect information from marginalized voices on this issue and present it to the people who already have a monopoly on the conversation. My own opinions on the matter are not part of this particular survey. Maybe that will clear up the "results I desire" question.

Thanks again!

- Francis

[erose]

I really appreciate the effort you are. making but I am a bit troubled by some of the questions. In some cases I am pretty sure I know what you want the answers to be based on the answer choices. Or the choices are not as black and white as you think. Some questions are combining two ideas.

I develop and design exhibits for museums and have a keen interest in this subject. I don't know what your process involved as you developed the questions but they need further crafting. Always best to run them by a few folks who are not close to the subject to make sure they are clear to the layman.

As you start to see results it will be interesting how clear the data is when looked at in whole.

[Francis Boas]

Erose,

Thank you for commenting. I understand your ideas about how I chose to pose questions. It's a tough thing to do. I tried to leave a space on every question for an open answer.

Thanks!

[Auspex]

I think that the 'regulations' question is an uncomfortable one for we who are deeply into fossil collecting, as there are many nuances of which we are very cognizant.

For John Q. Museumvisitor, an opinion may be much more straight forward.

[Francis Boas]

I would also like to add that the questions went through dozens of revisions from many people, and I am not allowed to adjust them during the survey's duration because of IRB rules. So will be addressing that in the publication. All opinions are very welcome!

[Fossildude19]

Took the survey.

Thanks for bringing it to us here.

Regards,

[busyeagle]

But proven time and time again amateur fossil hunters ARE making important discoveries. And most of the time do the right thing and donate them for study, furthering the scientific communities understanding and shaping of our past.

My sentiments as well. Best when amateurs and professionals can work together, as is frequently the case with discoveries shared on the forum. Then again, I suspect that most of us collect fossils for the thrill of the hunt and the joy of treasuring a prized find rather than for commercial purposes.

[Francis Boas]

Busyeagle,

Thanks for your comment. I believe it rings very true!

Francis