I have the yearbook of the dept of agriculture 1911 printed in 1912. 
It is in okay but delicate condition.  Is it worth anything?  How did
you determine that?

Hello elizabeth199-ga,

The Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture 1911 is
indeed worth something.  It has been offered at a range of prices, as
you can see on the links on these pages.

"Searching for books where Title is yearbook agriculture 1911"
Book Finder
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=&title=yearbook+agriculture+1911&submit=Begin+Search&new_used=*&binding=*&isbn=&keywords=&minprice=&maxprice=&currency=USD&mode=advanced&st=sr&ac=qr

"1 item found for yearbook agriculture 1911 - Located In: Any country"
[active items]
eBay
http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?satitle=yearbook+agriculture+1911&salocatedincountry=-15&sosortproperty=1&ht=1&from=R10&sorecordsperpage=50&sosortorder=1&sotextsearched=2&BasicSearch=

"1 item found for yearbook agriculture 1911 - Located In: Any country"
[completed items]
eBay
http://search-completed.ebay.com/search/search.dll?GetResult&srchdesc=y&ebaytag1=ebayctry&ebaytag1code=0&ht=1&from=R10&query=yearbook+agriculture+1911&maxrecordsperpage=50&completedonly=1

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by elizabeth199-ga on 02 Jul 2003 14:08 PDT

Hi there.  Although I appriciate your answer, I can search ebay and
see what it sells for on there.  I am looking for a quote from a book
or website or book expert that appraises books or lists what they are
worth.  Not just kind of what they seem to be selling for online.  I
assume there are reference books for this sort of thing.  Also, it is
important what condition the book is in.  It is in "delicate"
condition which I would think would affect what it was worth.  So, I
was looking for something more specific.  Thank you.

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 02 Jul 2003 17:25 PDT

The chances that there will be a pricing guide that mentions a
particular book is likely inversely related to the typical selling
price of the book.  If you were to ask about the first edition of a
Charles Dickens novel, I assume that I could find a pricing guide that
lists it.  But since you are asking about one of thousands (or tens of
thousands, or more) of U.S. government book titles, and one that is
not offered for a lot of money, I assume that I cannot find a pricing
guide for it.

As a Researcher for Google Answers, I've seen lots of questions asking
for a source for everything about a particular topic.  While your
question, as revised by your clarification, certainly does not look
like that, in effect, it really is.  If someone asked for a expert
price guide for every book ever published, it would seem obvious that
such a guide does not exist.  (Can you imagine how much time and
effort it would take to compile such a book!)  Well, it would not be
much less difficult to find an expert price guide for one of the more
obscure and less valuable books among every book ever published.  You
could get very lucky and find a specialized price guide with every
Department of Agriculture Yearbook listed.  But more likely, you would
need a guide to all books, which I doubt exists.

My strong suspicion is that booksellers buy and sell most books
according to what the general market will bear, and their prior
experience with similar books and the field of bookselling.  I presume
that there are relatively few collectors of Department of Agriculture
Yearbooks, and therefore, that there is no specialized market.  EBay
and Bookfinder reflect the general market, and that should be a good
sign of a book's true worth.

I feel that I have answered the question that you initially asked --
"Is it worth anything?  How did you determine that?"  My next step
beyond that would be to contact the dealers of these books to
determine how they came to those prices, and how they would price the
book in the condition you've described.  I would be happy to do that,
but I think that you would gain more by doing so yourself, without me
as the middleman.

Technically, this answer counts as the answer to the question I asked.
 However, it isn't really what I wanted.  I, obviously, could have
looked this stuff up on ebay or a book sales site and didn't need to
pay someone 4.00 to do it for me.  When I shared this, he stuck by the
answer, which I guess is fine, but a three-star average kind of
answer/service.  I better approach, I think, would have been to ask,
first, if I just wanted him to tell me how much the book was currently
selling for on ebay or a book site and if this counted for the answer
I was looking for.  But oh well.  Three stars-average.