The Philatelic Brain Drain

Very few can dispute that philately is a hobby dominated by older people. As many collectors get older and sadly pass away, the hobby is losing many experts in their fields with knowledge that is not passed on or documented for others to build upon or continue. Some of the wise elders within the hobby have shared their knowledge and expertise through books, articles, videos, stamp club meetings, workshops, and other media. Others have not and their valuable contributions to the hobby have seemingly vanished.

One of the current popular discussions on this board is focused on how others collect, especially in a large worldwide collection. Although I don't collect worldwide stamps, I'm thankful for the ongoing discussion that shares knowledge and answers questions.

"Knowledge is power." Many in philately are concerned that there are fewer young people collecting stamps than ever before. The same concern is true of brick-and-mortar stamp stores, stamp shows, and the growing digital divide. Times have changed and many have been dragged, from reluctance to kicking and screaming, into the 21st century. We should be equally concerned at all of the lost knowledge that comes with losing experts in the many different facets of philately.

The point of this post is to ask: what can we do, as participants in philately and stewards of philatelic information, to preserve the brain drain that sucks away expert philatelic knowledge from the hobby?

It is an excellent topic and timely as well. It seems as if in the past year or two the number of people who were important cogs in the philatelic wheel have passed on. Sergio Sismondo comes immediately to mind but there have been many others such as Jim Dempsey and Kurt Schau. Our forum moderator Don Denman passed away not long ago and left a solid legacy of Stamp Smarter along with a foundation to continue it. He also participated in an APS Stamp Chat video which you can watch. But the Sismondo death really left me thinking about what can disappear overnight if preparations are not taken to preserve a legacy.

Sergio apparently, and this has been discussed at length on this forum, left little in the way of archives that were to be preserved. No one seems to have an answer as to what happened to the many thousands of opinions he wrote while expertizing stamps from around the world. His library contents were auctioned off but what must have been voluminous notes and expertizing paperwork has not been talked about. There was some murmuring off the contents of his apartment ending up in a dumpster. If true that is shocking.

My opinion is that organizations such as the APS should put an emphasis on reaching out and helping people like Sergio create digital copies of his life's work and ensure as best they can that it is preserved.

There are some extremely knowledgeable people on this forum, and I wonder what if anything is being done to preserve the knowledge that they have.

We could say that this forum is itself a preservation of knowledge, but God forbid it disappears someday, then what? That is why I think that a serious institution such as the APS or even the Smithsonian should take great measures and use their resources to preserve the knowledge of philatelists that have accumulated a lifetime of knowledge and expertise.

PS: One of my favorite philatelists and someone I consider a friend is Christopher Rupp and the amount of knowledge he has about US stamps and postal history is stunning. It is in his head. Not sure how you could even go about that. The best way of carrying it forward is younger generations being mentored and essentially serving a long apprenticeship but for that you need a strong interest in doing so and that may be in short supply.

"We could say that this forum is itself a preservation of knowledge, but God forbid it disappears someday, then what? "

Even with it present, it just doesn't have the same format as a book or article, so it is far harder to find something that was discussed some time ago. Also, with something published by the APS or USS or some other society, you know it was done by someone they consider an expert. Here anyone can say anything, accurate or not.

This sums it up to a tee.

Hopefully collecting for pleasure continues, but I would expect far less experts in another 50 years.

Specialists and those with advanced knowledge should know that with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing - Amazon), a prospective author can make available books in several formats. Like hardcover, softcover, electronic for kindle. Absolutely no up front costs, whatsoever - as publishing on demand is used. Free ISBN, etc. Heck, you could even use AlbumEasy to typeset your book...

Someone who has spent years (decades) finding a niche in philately should have no difficulty figuring out how to upload and publish a book in about a week on KDP.

Of course, since it is so easy for anyone to publish for free, one must watch out for garbage in, garbage out - but that is true in every form of media.

John

----I didn't know GOD commanded only philatelic truth comes from the APS and other stamp societies but only us reprobates and sinners who screw up and post lies are all on chat rooms .

What a insulting thing to say here .

Not sure what you are talking about. The point isn't who is right or wrong or a mix of both. The point is about preserving knowledge after people are gone. That is the point.

Any suggestions on how to preserve knowledge?

You know a few things. They are in your head. If you are interested in what you know being carried forward where and how should it be preserved? Or would you rather it not be available to others?

Curious to hear your thoughts.

Sorry about that ......woke up this morning and spit out my coffee reading this chapter . Don't like what I read about half-truths posted on the chat boards and the correct information is done on the APS and stamp societies publishings .

Yes was upset to see what happen to Sergio's records and how the family threw a lot of stuff in the dumpster . I seen this type of stuff for decades with stamp auction firms with what's gets put in the auction house company trash dumpster . .I recently purchase a outstanding Yugoslavia collection with a lot of noted special items but the collection didn't come with the supporting information and notes on research that was done ,so guess what the auction house did with the collectors supporting research ,yep thrown in the dumpster behind the auction house or left with the collectors wife to be trashed .

The APS does have some interest in this subject

From a older thread here

https://goscf.com/t/81641&whichpage=1

At GASS in Hartford, Aug 15, 2024 there was a Digital Preservation Roundtable led by Gary Loew.

It is here on YouTube.

I don't know. Exhibits are being digitized. Auction catalogues are becoming available as PDF files more frequently. Many decades of society journals are available on the internet. It's a pretty good time for the preservation (and dispersion) of philatelic knowledge. More can be done.

That said, I download (and back up) most things that I think I might want to see in the future, as I learned my lesson with assuming that internet resources would always be available.

Yes, preserve *your* knowledge before you are gone and do not rely on your family, an executor, dealer, or auction house to do it for you.

Very wise words.

Everybody should be doing this

You can be as offended as you want to be, but I named no names. This board has knowledgeable people and less knowledgeable people and their input (the good, the bad and the ugly) is all mixed together with no editor.

You assume the auction house saw the alleged supporting documentation (which the collector may or may not have had). If it did exist, the heir could just as easily have been the guilty party.

As someone who recently saw the homes of an older persons cleaned out and disposed of, I would urge people not to save everything just because someone might look at it one day. The more likely outcome is your descendants will have to sort through your stuff and get rid of everything. My father's notes on geneology were interesting just to look at something he enjoyed, but worthless as a research tool because his organization was his, and since he wasn't a Nobel laurate no university wants his collection. I urge people to simplify what they leave behind, or most likely it will end up at best in bankers boxes that get thrown away by the 3rd generation, or at worst straight in the dumpster rented to clean out the house. Separate notebooks with research notes have almost no chance of seeing the light of day unless a complete layman can decipher what they are for and where the stamps are they discuss.

Information is being preserved better than ever before. We'll be fine.

That's interesting to me, as I've done my paternal genealogy.

I've left instructions to forward the research to the Family History Society closest to where the paternal ancestral home is.