Dispensing with publishing the MD/DC Breeding Bird Atlas in book form 
would be a mistake, in my opinion.

Yes, having it on the web would provide for easy reference (therefore I 
hope it will be made available electronically also). However, web sites 
have a limited lifetime. We are still looking up results from the atlas 
in the 70's. Does anybody seriously think an atlas website will be 
maintained accurately until 2035 and beyond?

Another alternative is to make it available on CD, with a keyword search 
capability. Again, quite convenient - until CD's go out of fashion. Any 
library can tell you what a nightmare it is to first convert books to 
digital media, then re-copy them to new media every several years so 
that computers can still read them.

A high-quality hardcopy can last much longer. (I'll draw the line at 
carving the results on stone tablets, though. :-) )

-- 
June Tveekrem
Columbia, Maryland
tweekiebird|AT|southernspreadwing.com