New APS Member Survey

I recently went through all of the "benefits" that I get from the APS and frankly, I don't use the vast majority of them. I'll page through the magazine once a month, but mostly there's very little there I care about. I don't use the circuit books because I only collect MNH. I can get stamps cheaper just ordering off of Hipstamp or eBay than using Stampstore (or the new version), so... why bother? The APRL, we already covered. So long as they're living in the distant past, it's pretty useless. Even "keeping members safe" isn't that useful because I don't do anything unsafe. Anything I'm buying online, either it's cheap enough to be covered by the policies of Paypal, eBay or my credit cards, or I'm not buying it. I'm not spending a lot of money on Joe Blow from Kokomo where I have no direct legal action against them if they decide to rip me off. It might work for stupid people but I'm not a stupid person. Buyer beware is a thing. I'm not getting $45 worth of benefits from the APS. That doesn't mean I'm ready to walk away, any more than I am from any of the other groups for which the same thing is true, but honestly. the APS (and philately in general) needs to join the 21st century.

Cephus - I agree with you on all points and have a similar experience as yours. Toss the magazine after a flip through and so on.

My belief, which could be completely wrong, is that the APS is hesitant to make major changes for fear of alienating their base, to use a political term. I think that they are mistaken though given the technology-centric proficiency and acceptance of technology that I see from many older members of this forum. Revenue-Collector, PostmasterGS, Rodney and our esteemed moderator Don come to mind immediately as well as many others. If I were to focus budget and manpower on one area it would be technology and digitization of the APRL. All hands on deck for that one.

I completely agree with you. Since 2021, I've raised $250,000 for our digitization project to build the digital library. In 2022, we launched Phase I, adding more than 2,600 journals year-to-date, doubling our digital holdings in 2022.

We launch Phase II in 2023, including bringing a digital librarian on staff to better manage the project, add journal and literature permissions, and launch a scanning project. The DL will also seek grant funding to move even faster on scanning and uploading.

The interesting statistic is the monthly research requests to the APRL versus online research. In 2018: 188 library v. 180 digital. YTD 2022: 161 v. 931.

We see more people using the digital library to research first before making a library request. Over the next three years, we expect to add thousands of more journals, books, and exhibits for research.

The Mason Digital Library is open to anyone to use and can be found on our website. I welcome folks to use the library and give us feedback. We will be digging into the digital library in an upcoming survey. We have 4,000 unique users this year, which grows as we add to the holdings. This is the priority of the APRL.

Scott - Great news and work! That is something I can truly get behind. The YTD 2022 stat is interesting and speaks volumes. Thank you for what you are doing.

PS: If the APS offered a APRL only membership/use option I would gladly take advantage of it. I wonder how many others feel the same way.

The APRL is a public library, so there is not really a membership. Additional benefits are afforded to APS members because of the Code of Ethics and the enforceability of collections. You can subscribe to the Philatelic Literature Review, but that does not really enhance the benefits.

I am a Vooys Fellow granting me lifetime "membership" to the APRL. That was because I made the $5,000 commitment to the Foundation, which gives me a lifetime subscription to the PLR. We've added 25 new Vooys Fellows in my time here, most of them in the past three years. A good deal of FR before 2021 was related to mortgage debt.

Their base is dropping dead and if they want to remain an ongoing concern, they're going to have to figure out how to appeal to a younger audience and a younger audience isn't going to put up with this stuff. This goes across all of philately. There are still dealers out there who don't want to deal online at all. They don't have e-mail. They don't have websites. I'm frankly surprised they're still in business at all.

Scott what, exactly, does being a "public" library mean? Are non-APS members permitted to search / access the online material? Are they permitted to check out materials?

Hear, hear!
The early work Google carried out on digitising British Monographs, boosted my enjoyment of philately 10 fold.

More credit needs to be given to the benefactors funding these rather first person credit. The fact that is as solvent as it is is because of donations from people supporting a cause and not a person.

We are open to all visitors to use the services in person. Others can also make research requests remotely, though pay higher fees in advance for the research. Non-APS members cannot request books to be shipped. So non-members can still access the library, including the digital library, but other privileges are limited.

Scott

Two things to consider, APS and APRL operations are largely driven by business dollars and not donations. Donations allow us to expand and invest in services, such as the digital library, the initial C3a investment, etc. Our donors have been critical in helping add the technological capabilities we've deployed over the past five years and eliminating the mortgage debt far faster than projected. We promote their contributions regularly and will always make sure they get thanked in several ways.

So when we operate on a cash-positive basis, our Bellefonte team deserves credit too. Having said that, it seems that some folks feel it's okay to casually dismiss any of the work that goes into those things happening. Especially on a first-person basis.

I agree that the Bellefonte volunteers deserve big 'thank yous' and accolades. I cannot judge the paid employees because I do not know how much more they 'give' beyond doing what they are paid for.

How many of the Bellefonte team are volunteers and what are their names?
Don

Don --

Excellent question: We have a few volunteers in Bellefonte. Our weekly contributors are Ellen Peachey, Kitty Wunderly, Karen Robbins, and Bill Monsone in the APRL. Dennis Gilson and Mercer Bristow for the APS.

There are two volunteers who are more than just volunteers. They are family members and absolutely wonderful folks, Leonard and Darlene Bloom, who manage our donation processing, among other things. They are in the building 4 to 5 days a week and give in so many ways that it is impossible to measure.

I am sure Ken Lawrence volunteers advice.

I took it and had 31 questions. Now my opinion might be biased because I am so involved in trade associations on the board level. but as far as membership I feel I should be a member of any association of something I have a passion about. I want my lawyer to be part of the American Bar Association not just the local Bar. I want my Dr to be a member of the American Medical Association in fact I would really prefer they be a fellow of whatever specialty they are in.

I belong to APS, ATS, USCS and my local club.