All change?

AS we go to press with this issue of MEDAL NEWS (late July) so we are also working on the Medal Yearbook 2016 ready for launch at the OMRS Convention on September 27 in London. After much deliberation it is likely that this will be the last Medal Yearbook in its current form and the 2017 edition will be a little different. Don’t worry, we aren’t suddenly going digital only (although an e-version is available of course), nor changing the size, layout ,etc. No, we have simply looked at the book, and in particular the size of it, and have realised that perhaps it has got a little too big in recent years. After all, the idea of the tome was to be a quick reference—something you could take to shows, use daily, write in and refer to if you wanted to, but over the years, as we have added more countries, and those countries have added more medals, so it has got bigger and bigger and, for some, too unwieldy. We took action a few years ago to remove some pages by taking out the Cumulative Index to MEDAL NEWS but that has met with mixed response, so we feel we need to put that back in and, if we do, something else needs to go. So we have decided that the 2016 is likely to be the last book to contain everything it currently does and whilst we have no fixed ideas on what will have to go, or what we will do with it, we do have some tentative thoughts.

It is possible (although again I stress not set in stone) that the 2017 Medal Yearbook will be “British groups and medals” only—so anything you are likely to find in a British group (that includes the unofficial medals—included for identification purposes as they do turn up regularly) will be included within the pages. Some “foreign” medals will remain but only in the context of those found in British groups—and we will aim to expand that section. Sadly, this means that the modern Australian, Canadian, Irish, New Zealand and South African sections will have to be set aside—we simply cannot put everything in every year. Now the question remains what to do with that information? At this stage we are considering producing a Volume II every few years, using all the information that we have and adding other countries to it as we go, eventually ending up with a book devoted to all Commonwealth and related medals. Or perhaps we should continue to update the information we have on those countries we currently include every year and put it on line as an e-book?

We really aren’t sure what the best way to go is, but we do know we need to do something and that’s where you come in. What do you, the readers, think we should do? Should we keep it as it is (an unlikely outcome as it will simply get too big to lift eventually)? Should we split it in two? Should we perhaps put just one country other than Britain in each year as we used to? Should we create an on-line only presence for everything non-British? At this stage anything is an option and we really would like to hear from you.

Whilst we are on the subject of change we would also always like to hear from you if you have any ideas on what we should do with MEDAL NEWS itself (and no, don’t worry, that DEFINITELY isn’t going digital only—even though the on-line magazine is very popular)—are there any areas you would like to see expanded? Are there any subjects you really don’t want to see covered? Do you perhaps think the news section is redundant and would like to see more articles or do you think there should be less talk about Uncle Bill and his trio and more hard news? Do you want to see more medal rolls and less talk of battles or is the background to the medal as important to you as how many received it? A magazine such as this has to continue evolving and we are always keen to hear what you think—after all, without our readers and their input there wouldn’t be a magazine at all. So please do get in touch—either by good old snail mail, by calling us on 01404 46972 or by emailing info@tokenpublishing.com We really would love to hear from you.