The following was added on the original first page of the members area.
Welcome to the members' only area - one we hope will expand rapidly into all sorts of fascinating areas as we invite members to share their research and their discoveries with fellow members. In this way eventually we envisage the website as becoming a true encyclopedia of all aspects of Egyptian philately, using the most modern methods to return to the original concept of the Circle, in which knowledge was shared for the benefit of all.
We are off to a wonderful start, with three top-class members' collections paving the way - Dick Wilson on the British Army in Egypt in the Nineteenth Century, Stephen Kaplan on Egyptian Meter Marks, and John Davis on Egypt's Zeppelin visits. In addition, our respected former President and Chairman Professor Peter Smith has given the green light for updates of his magisterial book Egypt: Stamps and Postal History, a Philatelic Treatise to be placed exclusively in this area. No need to publish a new book - the "second edition" will be here on the website.
It is early days for this section, and already questions have arisen on how to order and display the varied pages. Website pages are nested one within another, sometimes making it difficult to find the section you want, so how to display? The division between Stamps on the one hand and Postal History on the other seems an obvious place to start - but after that there may be problems: for instance, is the 1971 Army stamp a "stamp" or a "military" item, or both?
The obvious contenders for a main index may well be the Circle's original Studies for "the Book", as laid down in the QC some 60 years ago, or Peter Smith's book, which follows the Studies fairly closely but of course researches far beyond them. A small departure has already been made, however, with the Napoleonic Post placed in the "military" section. In addition, some of the topics so far submitted are given little or no mention in Smith's Egypt, Stamps and Postal History.
As members contribute and the section grows, no doubt the indexing pattern may change: we hope members will bear with us.
We also hope that as members look at this section they will see its potential for the benefit of all of us, and even for Egyptian philately more widely. Please give some thought as to how YOU can contribute and add to the efforts of that small band among us who have enormous enthusiasm for this exciting and worthwhile project.
The web committee September 26, 2008.