APS approves Institute for Analytical Philately as affiliate

During its most recent board meeting, held by telephone June 10, the American Philatelic Society board of directors approved the Institute for Analytical Philately as an APS affiliate.

According to the APS, “The purpose of affiliation is to sponsor and engage in such activities as will be mutually beneficial to the organizations and to promote the fullest possible exchange of information and ideas for the welfare of philately.” 

The “organization must be national in scope and must have been in existence for at least two years.”

The organization also “must have at least twenty-five dues-paying members, at least ten of which also must belong to the APS. …”

The IAP is a not-for-profit group of researchers and managers who have come together to apply scientific methods and technical research to stamp collecting.

The purpose of the institute is to promote research to solve philatelic questions and problems through science and technology — in other words, forensic science for stamp collecting.

The institute provides research grants and technical support to assist qualified stamp collectors in performing scientific and technical research.

All collectors who receive grants are required to disseminate their findings by publishing the results in widely circulated journals.

The institute has strategic alliances with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum, the Philatelic Foundation, the Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society and the Confederate Stamp Alliance.

The institute also has created what it refers to as “centers of excellence” at universities “to allow philatelic researchers access to experts in a wide range of scientific disciplines, including color science, paper and ink chemistry, spectroscopy and many other state-of-the-art technologies.” Current centers include Western Michigan University for ink and printability research and Rochester Institute of Technology for color research.

If all this seems a bit daunting, consider this less intimidating topic: Do you want to find out how the common scanner can be used to distinguish small color variations on stamps? This is just one of 12 presentations on the agenda for the Institute for Analytical Philately’s Second International Symposium on Analytical Methods in Philately.

The symposium will take place Nov. 18-19 at the Westin Chicago Northwest, 400 Park Blvd., Itasca, Ill., prior to the Chicagopex stamp show in the same hotel, Nov. 20-22.

For additional information, visit the institute’s website.