kyraeh --
Thanks for your response to my clarification. I hope and expect that
the information I can provide will be useful to you.
The Liberian government agency responsible for postal policy and
regulation is the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Unlike
many such agencies around the world, this ministry does not appear to
have a website or a published e-mail address.
However, according to "The Liberian Connection," a comprehensive
Liberian website that appears to be regularly updated, contact
information for the Minister is:
D. Maxwell Kaba
Carey Street, Monrovia
Tel: 22 60 79/22 67 16
The Liberian Connection: Executive Branch
http://www.liberian-connection.com/lc-govn.htm
Alternatively, numerous philatelic websites include a generic mailing
address for the Liberian Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, as
follows:
Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications
GPO 1000
Monrovia 10, Liberia
Ask Phil: Worldwide Philatelic Agencies: H-L
http://www.askphil.org/b38c.htm
Because getting information directly from the Liberian government may
be difficult for the time being, I have located some other sources
that might well lead you to information about the process employed by
the Liberian government to choose postage stamp designs.
First, the government has engaged two companies as agents for the
worldwide distribution of its postage stamps. Their expertise with
regard to their clients' postal systems, as well as their relationship
with the Liberian government, should prove useful to you.
Liberia's two agent companies are the Inter-Governmental Philatelic
Corp. and Crown Agents Stamp Bureau:
Linns.com: Postal Administrations of the World
http://www.linns.com/reference/postadmin/admins_l.asp?uID=
Here is complete contact information for each, along with links to
their websites:
Crown Agents:
Main Office:
St Nicholas House
St Nicholas Road
Sutton
Surrey, SM1 1EL
Tel: +44 (0)20 8770 0707
Fax: +44 (0)20 8642 0769
Telex: 916205 Calond G
E-mail: allen.price@crownagents.co.uk
Washington, DC Office:
818 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 840
Washington, D.C. 20006
Tel: (+ 1 202) 822 8052
Fax: (+ 1 202) 822 8064
E-mail: info@crownagentsusa.com
contact: Ms Jennifer Katzka (General Manager)
Website: http://www.crownagents.com/default.asp
Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corp.:
460 West 34th Street
10th Floor
New York, NY 10001
U.S.A.
Tel: (212) 629-7979
Fax: (212) 629-3350
E-mail postmaster@igpc.net
Website: http://www.igpc.net/
Under ordinary circumstances, I would expect that the above
information would be sufficient to give you reliable leads to
establishing the contacts you need. However, in light of the current
volatile situation in Liberia, I thought I would take the research one
step further.
I discovered that there is a small group of academics and other
experts who comprise the "Liberian Philatelic Society." Here is a
link to their website:
Liberian Philatelic Society
http://faculty.carlow.edu/~trichard/liberia.htm
The website has not been updated since February 2000 and the contact
information for its author is out of date. However, I followed the
trail of that author, Tom Richards, and discovered an updated resume
with contact information. Here is a link to his page at the Franklin
University website:
Franklin University: Thomas J. Richards
http://www.franklin.edu/fachomepages/facresumes/richards.html
Based on his apparent interest in philately and in Liberian postal
history in general, I would expect that he would make an especially
useful contact for you.
Finally, I have found a book on the history of Liberian philately.
The book is by Henry H. Rogers and is entitled "A Century of Liberian
Philately." At the time I drafted by clarification request, I had
just come across it at a specialized philately auction site. I have
now located 34 used copies for sale at Bookfinder.com, at prices
ranging from $11.95 to $55.00. Here is a link to the page on the
bookseller's site:
Bookfinder.com: A Century of Liberian Philately
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=ErWJtX1638ws0edMwnpir2eQ,kE_8813251022_1:1:1
For completeness, here is the link to the auction site, where the book
is described as "one of the finest reference volumes on the country's
stamps and postal history":
Michael Rogers Inc.: Liberia
http://www.michaelrogersinc.com/auction/results.asp?filename=WW16&category=EINA
Search strategy:
I found the basic information about the Liberian ministry, its
international agents and the book through progressively focused
Google searches, starting with these:
liberia philately
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=liberia+philately
liberia philatelic
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=liberia+philatelic&spell=1
liberia "ministry of posts and telecommunications"
://www.google.com/search?q=liberia+ministry+of+posts+and+telecommunications%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1
I found the contact at the Liberian Philatelic Society by first
determining his last name and his then-current academic affiliation
from his e-mail address on the site. I then searched on his name and
the college with which he was then affiliated and found his current
affiliation and published contact information.
I would have like to have found an "easy" answer to your question;
that is, a Liberian group that is analogous to our Citizens' Stamp
Advisory Committee. However, I hope that the information I did find
will prove to be helpful in pursuing your interest in this subject.
If any of the information unclear, please ask for clarification before
rating the answer.
markj-ga |
