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The American Topical Association (ATA) is a US-based philatelic society and the largest organization devoted to topical stamp collecting. It was established in 1949, and currently serves members in over 60 countries. ATA publishes ''Topical Time'', its bimonthly journal. It also publishes numerous handbooks and maintains checklists of philatelic material organized by topics. The organization runs the National Topical Stamp Show as well as supporting 49 study units on various topics and 32 local chapters.〔 The American Topical Association is an affiliate of the American Philatelic Society. ''Topical Time'' is the official journal of the American Topical Association. It is a 92 page bi-monthly publication. The journal includes illustrated and informative topical articles, checklists and dealer advertising. Among the regular features in ''Topical Time'' are "Publication Reviews," "Chapter Chatter," and "Units in Action." ATA members receive six issues of ''Topical Time'' with each year of membership. Topical Time depends on its readers for articles. Therefore, all ATA members are welcome to submit manuscripts for publication consideration.〔http://americantopicalassn.org/topicaltime.shtml〕 ATA Checklists ATA is the world's leading supplier of topical stamp checklists. Checklists are one of the many benefits of membership in the ATA. The ATA is now making its checklists available to members from a new database containing more than 400,000 stamps. The latest checklist update includes a total of 631,879 items. 10,734 items were added in the last two months, including all the new stamps in the Linn’s New Issue listings for January and February. Major additions (more than 100 entries added) have occurred in all of the Railroad-related lists, Watercraft, Sailing Vessels, Plants including Roses, Orchids and trees/Forestry, Presidents (worldwide), Coats of Arms/Heraldry, Bodies of Water, Maps, Flags, Fish/Fishing, Art and Statesmen/Diplomats. American Topical Association Study Unit Program The American Topical Association is composed of members who specialize in thematic or topical philatelic collecting. Those who share a specific topic band together to form "study units." These units promote their specific topic and encourage research on that topic. These groups then affiliate with the ATA to receive various benefits, including a free review of their journal in ''Topical Time''. The units are eligible for a free meeting room during the annual National Topical Stamp Show (NTSS). The study unit receives free publicity in ATA listings, literature and press releases. There are at present over 50 individual units covering a large diverse group of areas from Americana on stamps to Wine on Stamps. These individual groups in many cases produce their own journals (either online versions or printed). The information contained in these publications adds to the knowledge base of topical collecting. Each study unit agrees to file an annual report with the American Topical Association, listing its officers and including a list of the unit's membership. The unit is encouraged to promote membership in the ATA by individual members.〔http://americantopicalassn.org/studyunits.shtml〕 ATA Affiliated Chapters American Topical Association Chapters are geographical stamp clubs who have affiliated with the ATA. These chapters meet throughout the United States. There are a total of 25 chapters, including 5 Canadian and 4 international chapters.〔http://americantopicalassn.org/chapters.shtml 〕 Distinguished Topical Philatelist Service Award The Distinguished Topical Philatelist (DTP) designation is awarded for service to topical philately in general and to the ATA in particular. It was established in 1952 by ATA's founder Gerry Husak and has been presented to over 120 individuals, including residents of Canada, Great Britain, Italy, and the United States, since its inception. This is the most prestigious award given by the ATA. 〔http://americantopicalassn.org/awardsdtp.shtml〕 ATA's National Topical Stamp Show This ATA-sponsored annual show features an all-thematic philatelic exhibition and a 30+ dealer bourse offering a variety of philatelic material for collectors. Several cachet makers offer their distinctive and unique covers. There are many meetings, seminars, youth activities, free stamp appraisals and special touring events. 〔http://americantopicalassn.org/home.shtml〕 ATA Handbooks Over the years the ATA has published a wide variety of topical handbooks covering many areas. The ATA released in August of 2014 a new ''Insects on Stamps'' handbook, as well as a DVD, with stamps listed by country and scientific classification. The book, in convenient six-by-nine inch spiral-bound format, includes all insect stamps from 2003 to 2013. Also published in 2014 was a comprehensive handbook, ''Plants on Stamps''. The handbook is available as a spiral-bound book, or electronically on a DVD. The electronic version includes the four previous plants handbooks, beginning with stamps issued prior to 1959, and following through to the new book. It also includes ''Orchids on Stamps''. Editor Chris Dahle, an active philatelic botanist, noted that the electronic version allows users to search by country, as well as plant family, making the reference flexible. For collectors of presidents on stamps, the ATA released its seventh in the long-running Presidential series written by Melvin Morris. This handbook will be of special interest to collectors of Americana, U.S. presidents, Black history on stamps, and politically-related philatelic issues. It covers the period of time between Obama's announcement of his intent to run for U.S. President and his selection as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in late 2009. This guide consists of 96 full-color illustrated pages, with eight short chapters and 113 high-quality illustrations. Stamps from 30 different countries are listed and illustrated. Chapter titles include "Senator Obama's, Free Franks," "Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize," "The Coming of 'Bo' Obama," and "Michelle Obama Stamps." This handbook will be a fine visual reference for philatelic bookshelves. Morris was the editor of ''Americana Philatelic News'', newsletter of ATA's Americana Unit, from 1992 thru 2009. He is a retired high school and college teacher and was an editor for Grolier's Encyclopedia International. His collecting interests include U.S. Presidents and dogs on stamps. His brief biography in the Obama handbook relates the story of how he collected stamps before he was born!〔http://www.americantopicalassn.org/handbooks.shtml〕 Topics Online Another valuable resource is the ability to add to a topical collections is by accessing the ATA's online sale site. TopicalsOnLine is a service of the American Topical Association to promote thematic stamp collecting through online sales, It offers: *Convenience: all stamps are listed by topic as well as country and catalog number. A robust keyword search capability allows collectors to search for specific items for their collection. *Confidence: all sellers on TopicalsOnLine are members in good standing of the American Topical Association and all sales are subject to the ATA Code of Ethics. Violations of the Code of Ethics are subject to ATA disciplinary action. *Low prices: there are no listing fees for sellers. Sellers only pay a small commission if stamps are sold. These low service charges make it possible for members to list inexpensive stamps and sets.〔https://www.topicalsonline.com/〕 ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「American Topical Association」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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