Q. I have a work of art, book, or document that I'd like appraised. Can I have this done at one of the Yale museums or libraries?

Yale University policy prohibits librarians and curators from providing financial appraisals, authenticating, or otherwise assessing items held in personal collections.

Below are some resources to help you locate professional appraisers and booksellers who can authenticate and evaluate your books, artwork, or documents.

For books, manuscripts, and other documents

• The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) has a search function which allows you to limit to booksellers offering appraisals by geographic area and/or specializations.
• The  International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has a search function  which allows you to limit to booksellers offering appraisals by country and/or specializations.
• For general information about the value of your book, you may also wish to read a publication of the Rare Book & Manuscript Section (a professional society), "Your Old Books."
• AbeBooks, one of the largest sites online for used and rare books, can be searched for other copies of the book on the market.
• viaLibri will search many other booksellers' sites simultaneously.
• You might be interested to see what other libraries hold a copy of this title via WorldCat.

For art

• Appraisers Association of America
• The American Society of Appraisers
• Appraisals Research Guide -- The Getty Research Institute
• Additional information is available on our  "Collecting and Provenance Research" guide.