Most people of any amount of intelligence will soon realize they know very little about the collecting field they chose. The amount of information on some collectibles is monstrous and you will be researching forever. In other cases, the scanty information available means you will need to broaden your search to find the information you need to be a great collector.

Of course, many people are aware of the many identification and value books out there. In some collecting fields like dolls, there are dozens. Some are more general, where others will simply specialize in one type or manufacturer of dolls. Each has their own special value and sometimes a book on one brand may contain information about other companies that produced similar dolls.
If your collection is fire arms, you will want to know about ammunition, wars, soldiers, and even particular men in history who created, made famous, or simply used fire arms of the type you collect. You might get further interested in loading cartridges or using black powder. One never knows where their collecting field will take them. Often one major collection leads to several companion collections as well.

The books you choose should give you a background of the times your collectible is from along with information on the people. All this background information can help you date or even identify a particular piece. Even art books are valuable when they contain portraits from the era you are studying since they could even show the4 doll or fan you are collecting.

After you have searched out libraries, thrift stores, and used book stores try the internet. You can find websites with much valuable information or even blogs like this one where you can glean tidbits. Print out the information and add your own loose leaf notebook to the resource area for your collection.
Knowledge is power is buying and especially in collecting.