During the course of our event here at the American Philatelic Research Library (APRL) celebrating the 50th anniversary of the library’s incorporation in 1968, I was reintroduced to a historic yet no less significant resource which I first came across in my earliest days here at the APRL as a Reference Assistant. In learning all about the APRL and philatelic libraries and their collections in those first moments in my new position back then, I decided to perform a simple search of the online Philatelic Union Catalog using such general terms as “library”, “resources” and “research” supplemented by the terms “philately” and “philatelic.” One of the resources that my search retrieved struck me immediately as one that I should pursue further, particularly given its author.
Continue reading “Resource of the Month – Tiffany’s “The Philatelical Library””
While celebrating 50 years of research and resources of the American Philatelic Research Library another highlight of the 
One of the special events that will take place as part of the upcoming Golden Anniversary Celebration is a series of authors’ talks scheduled throughout the day on Saturday November 3. The idea beyond the talks is to highlight the American Philatelic Research Library (APRL) as the home of philatelic research and knowledge sharing. Topics for the talks were chosen by each of the invited speakers under the general theme of “the role libraries, like the APRL, play in philatelic research.”
One of the best ways to keep in touch with the latest philatelic publications of note are philatelic literature competitions at World Series of Philately shows. Coming up the weekend of November 16-18 is 
Christmas Island. Philatelic Bureau. Information booklet (Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: Philatelic Bureau, 1981). [VF Christmas Island]
With October being Stamp Collecting Month, what better time than this month to select not just one, but a number of special resources that can assist not only the beginner hobbyist but the experienced philatelist with their collecting. A while back at the Columbus StampShow, I had the opportunity to ask a number of collectors if there were one resource that they felt their philatelic library couldn’t be without, and if so, what would it be. In the process I received a number of great suggestions, here are just a few.
One of the challenges for non-U.S. worldwide postal stationery collectors is finding a reliable catalog for all types of postal cards, letter cards, envelopes, letter sheets and other stationery items officially produced by worldwide postal entities. Often postal stationery listings and values can only be found in specialized catalogs for a specific country meaning that for the worldwide collector a fair number of specialized catalogs would need to be consulted when researching a collection. There are just very few resources that include in one place listings and catalog information for worldwide postal stationery.