Philatelic library group to meet at AmeriStamp

Anyone with an interest in philatelic libraries (including librarians, staff, volunteers, board members, and others) is invited to the Philatelic Librarians Roundtable at APS AmeriStamp Expo in Charleston, SC on Feb. 11.

The Roundtable is scheduled for noon-2 p.m. The agenda will include discussion of digitization projects, duplicate materials exchange, and the Philatelic Union Catalogue hosted by the APRL. If you have additional items you would like to discuss, please contact me.

In addition to periodic roundtable meetings, those interested in philatelic libraries can also communicate with each other using the Philatelic Library Forum, hosted on Google Groups. The Forum provides an email discussion list and a place to share duplicate and want lists.

New books at the APRL, January 2011

Arge Danzig e.V Rundschreiben (Wiesbaden; Berlin: Arge Danzig e.V, [1936?]-): ill.; 30 cm. [Journal]

ArGe Fiskal Philatelie im BDPh. Deutsche Stempeltarife aus einem Tagesnotizbuch des Jahres 1916: Jaresgabe 2000 (Solingen [Germany]: ArGe Fiskal Philatelie im BDPh, 2000): 21 cm. [Shelved with the journal Fiskal-Philatelist]

Basaran, Mehmet. Cover story: one man’s journey in to the unknown, part 2: Tughra stamps on cover 1863-1865 (Turkey: M.I. Basaran, c2010): 208 p.: col. ill.; 29 cm. [Call No. G7431 .S4 B297c 2010]

Bertazzoli, Enrico, Beppe Ermentini, & Gianluigi Roncetti. Perfin italiani: catalogo delle perforazioni commerciali de francobolli dell’area italiano, con valuazioni = Italian perfins: catalogue of trade perforations on stamps of the Italian area, with evaluations (Vignola (Mo), Italy: Vaccari, 2009): 299 p.: ill.; 25 cm. + 32 transparencies + 1 computer optical disk [Call No. G6711 .P438 B536c 2009]

Branz, Hermann. Deutsche Post in Marokko: Tarifanderungen im Uberweisungsverkehr (Berlin: Berliner Philatelisten-Klub, 1968): 15 p.: ill.; 21 cm.

Bundesmuseum. Europa-Marken 79: Geschichte des Post- und Fernmeldewesens: Sounderausstellung des Bundespostmuseums, Schaumainkai 53, 6000 Frankfurt 70, Geoffnet, Dienstag bis Sontag 10-16 Uhr: 3. Juni bis 7. September 1980 (Frankfurt [Germany]: Bundesmuseum, 1980): 32 p.: ill. (some col.); 21 cm.

Continue reading “New books at the APRL, January 2011”

Philatelic Literature Review 4th Quarter 2010 features

The online edition of the Philatelic Literature Review 4th Quarter 2010 issue is available to subscribers. In this issue:

President’s Message — Roger Brody

From the Librarian’s Desk — Tara Murray

Colophon — David L. Straight

Library News — Larry T. Nix

What’s on Your Bookshelf — Kathy Johnson

Keeping Up with the Latest News Online — Tara Murray

Philatelic Decoupage — Bonny Farmer

A Peek Inside the APRL Archives: The Clipping Files — Tara Murray

Philatelic Fiction: A Bibliography, Part I — Gerald Strauss, Paul Albright and Michael Meadowcroft

2011 Postal History Symposium

Philatelic Exhibits Available from the APRL Part II: Italy – Viet Nam

APRL New Acquisitions

APRL Want List

Book Reviews

Postal employee activities highlighted on new website

Postal Employees After Hours is a new website from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum about the group activities of postal employees outside of work, including sports, musical groups, and charity work.

The website includes activities discovered during research in the summer of 2010 but is not exhaustive. The museum welcomes information about other groups and activities, both historical and contemporary.

Large U.S. Banknotes Identification Guide published

Large US Banknotes Identification Guide The American Philatelic Society has published Large U.S. Banknotes Identification Guide by Bob Pipes and Steve Einhorn.

The book aims to help the collector identify these stamps, and includes large illustrations and a summary of the information and methods used to distinguish between soft and hard paper, which is crucial in correctly identifying the stamps in a series.

The book is available for purchase from the APS Marketplace.

Caring for your personal library

Bound journals — The APRL binds many of its journals to protect them

Since coming to the APRL, I’ve learned that many philatelists have extensive personal libraries. Here are a few tips for storing your literature collection as safely as your stamp collection:

The ideal environment for books and documents is free of dust and pollutants, not exposed to sunlight or bright artificial light, and has moderate temperature and humidity.
Avoid storing your library in an attic or basement if possible. These spaces are often prone to excessive heat and moisture.
Avoid storing books in spaces exposed to direct sunlight or bright light.
Store unbound documents and newspapers flat in boxes.
Binding can help preserve journals or loose manuscripts, especially if they will be used frequently.
Store clippings and other small items unfolded in folders.
Avoid excessive handling of fragile books and documents.

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New books at the APRL, December 2010

Aizenberg, Salo. Postcards from the Holy land: a pictorial history of the Ottoman Era, 1880-1918 (Shaker Heights, OH: Society of Israel Philatelists, 2010): 385 p. : col. ill., maps ; 29 cm.

Beauregard, Gerard de & H. de Gorsse. The stamp king (London: Stanley Gibbons, c2010): v, 119 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. [Call No. HE6184 .L776 B383s 2010]

Bechtold, Gunter, Udo Fleiner, & Rolf Tworek. Gebrauchte Inflationsmarken – echt oder falsch? ([Berlin]: Verein der Deutschlandsammler e.V., INFLA Berlin, c2008): 86 p. : col. ill. ; 21 cm. [Call No. G6081 .I43 I43 no.48]

Burns, Ronald A. A type written transcription of the U.S. Post Office Dept. Stamp Bill Book numbers for the Issue of 1870 Ordinaries, 1870-1879. Part One. The National & Continental Issues (Shelbyville, IN: Ronald A. Burns, [2010?]): 71 p. : ill., facsims. ; 28 cm. [Call No. G3701 .D313 B967t pt.1 2010]

Burns, Ronald A. Selected records from the files of the 3rd Assistant Postmaster General, 1869-1907 [papers on the large Bank Note period of 1870-1890] (Shelbyville, IN: Ronald A. Burns, [2006]): 111 p. : facsims. ; 28 cm. [Call No. HE6340 .B967s 2006]

Continue reading “New books at the APRL, December 2010”

Return your books using Delivery Confirmation

When you borrow books from the APRL by mail, you can now return them using Delivery Confirmation instead of the more expensive Signature Confirmation.

We will still ship your books to you using Signature Confirmation, but will now enclose a green Delivery Confirmation form for your return. We will still be able to track return shipments, and can be sure they are delivered back to the library since all packages are received in the APS mailroom.

If your package contains only library books being returned to the APRL, you can use Library Mail or Media Mail.

Embroidered Christmas postcards

Imagine spending an entire day’s wages on a postcard. During WWI, some soldiers did just that.

The Canadian War Museum has a collection of embroidered postcards sent by soldiers during WWI. In a new article, the museum’s Research Centre highlights a few Christmas postcards from its collection.

If you are interested in studying postcards, the following book would be a good starting point. It includes library and archives collections as well as a bibliography of books about postcards:

Postcards in the library : invaluable visual resources / Stevens, Norman D. — New York ; London: Haworth Press, c1995. (Book) HE6184 .P839 P857 1995

The APRL has many more books and catalogs to assist the postcard collector. Go to our Online Catalogue and search for “post cards” in the Subject field and “book” to the Record Type field. You can also add a keyword (for example, a country or topic) to the Any Word field to narrow your search.

Welcome Neil Coker to the APRL

Neil Coker joined the staff of the APRL today as our new Reference Assistant.

Prior to coming to Bellefonte, Neil lived in St. Louis and worked for Regency-Superior as an auction manager and lot describer. In addition to his philatelic knowledge, Neil has a degree in geography and Soviet studies, and experience maintaining a reference library.

Neil will provide reference assistance, copies or scans of articles, and book loans.