There are many places from which to get information about ":how to" and "what is it" and all the many other questions that are going to come to you as you progress in collecting stamps. After 40 years of collecting, I still occaisionally find stamps I can't figure out. This is part of what makes collecting stamps so interesting and so much fun. In this article I am going to discuss some of the ways you can learn. I am going to do this through a sort of "where to go" thing.

The best place to learn about stamps is your local stamp club. It was the last place I went to because I am basically antisocial. The local stamp club is the best place to ask stupid questions. Believe it or not, most people like to be asked stupid questions because they have a good chance of being able to answer them. On the other hand, if you don't ask stupid questions chances are you will remain ignorant. Not all stamp clubs are equal. Some are very good and some are very bad. Some are relevant to beginners. Some are just parasitic social organizations for old bores. Regardless of what they are, they can be changed with effort and more importantly there is almost always at least one person in every club who knows enough to help you. Pay the dues and attend and most importantly ask questions. Spending dues for the local club is the cheapest way to further your collecting abilities. Other member's advice can often save you a lot of money if you listen to it and act on what seems reasonable.

The next must place for you to go is the front part of a Scott catalog. In the front part of the catalog is a great deal of information about how stamps are made and how they are collected. If you don't want to spring for the cost of a catalog, almost all libraries have them in their reference section. This brings us to libraries. Most of the stamp books in most public libraries have been stolen over the years. Now that I think about it, most hobby books in most public libraries seem to get stolen over the years. In any event, your local library should have a set of Scott catalogs in their reference section. They could even have a current set. Many libraries allow the next to current set to be checked out. A lot of libraries sell off their old books. Ask your local librarian when they sell theirs; as this is an excellent opportunity to pick up some Scott catalogs for a couple of bucks.

Now we will go back to the Scott catalogs. After you have read the background info you are ready to tackle the rest of it. Scott now has a stamp identifier in the back that will be of help to the beginning foreign collector. Other than telling you to struggle through Scott until you know how it works, I would suggest you always read the little notes under the stamps that you are looking up.

After you have managed to understand Scott, the only other thing that might be of use to the beginner is a subscription to Linn's or one of the other stamp newspapers like Stamp Collector. Both of these newspapers are fine for US collectors, although personally I feel Linn's is far better for the money. If you collect foreign or topicals, I would suggest that you also subscribe to Scott's Stamp Monthly (which has the added benefit of allowing you to buy Scott albums and other stamp collecting stuff at a big discount from retail). There is another newspaper that caters to foreign collectors, which is called Global Stamp News. I personally don't care for it because of some of the dealers who advertise there.

Beyond the above, most collectors, unless they specialize or become quite advanced, will not need to join anything else or buy any other publications in order to get the information they need to move on.

Later, you should consider joining the American Philatelic Society (APS) and any of the myriad of specialty groups, which will help you mature in the hobby. The thing to remember about groups beyond your local stamp club is the old question. Do you want to spend money on stamps or do you want to spend it on groups. At $15 to $20 per year per group, it doesn't take long to be pouring several hundred dollars a year down a rat hole for which the rewards may be very tenuous. What I like to do is join a new group every year. If after a year it doesn't do anything for me, I quit. This makes life difficult for the groups' treasurers, but they volunteered for it. I keep a small spread sheet on my computer where I list all the groups to which I belong and all the stamp magazine subscriptions. I have it set on auto sum, and I check it before I join anything new. If joining a new group means I will go over my limit then something has to not be renewed. If you don't keep a list somewhere, you will be shocked someday if you ever have to make such a list. I know people who spend over $500 per year on dues to groups. Many of these groups are really of no use to them. Don't get caught up in the cycle of joining groups to impress people, and don't be afraid to quit groups that don't benefit you. Many groups have web sites, and a good starting place to search for specialty groups is the APS web page. You don't have to belong to go there; and if you wish to join, everything is there except the money.