3 questions

1.i have customized weapons and weapons given to me at the start of one of the campaigns, i cant salvage these items, any idea why?

2.are there any guides as to what missions you need to do for each handbook, i looked on guild wiki but couldnt find anything.

3.i have a good few collectors items in my chest, i dont need them, is there any point posting in the forums here about what i have or message in the trade window. or should i just salvage them all?

1. not everything, like starter weapons, can be salvaged (anet's decission)
2. that info should be on wiki... as an example hero's handbook
3. not sure if they can be salvaged, but imo it is hardly worth trying to sell them (other than to merchant)

1) If it is a /bonus weapon, a green weapon, or a few collector weapons, it can't be salvaged. Any weapon from a crafter or a monster drop can be salvaged. PvP weapons can't be salvaged.

2) Wiki and Wikia both have the lists of what missions need to be done. There are several handbooks, so I'm not sure which one(s) you are having problems with. For instance, if you wanted to work on Shiro's Return, the page on Wiki clearly tells you which missions need to be done, and each has a link that provides info/walkthrough for it.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Shiro%27s_Return

3) If you are talking about the items the collector asks for to get his weapons/armor, then I'd save them unless they are EASY to get. Nicholas asks for these things each week, and if you already have them, it saves time on obtaining his gifts. If you are talking about the weapons/armor you get from the collectors, I'd use them if they are worth using (or give to a hero), sell them if they are worth 125g or more, or salvage them if they have any mods worth using.

Starter weapons and items have been unsalvageable from time immamorial for a very good reason. It keeps people from creating new characters just to sell starter equipment.

If you can beat a given campaign you'll know the majority of the missions necessary. Not sure if you tried it, but double click on the book, it'll tell you the missions that have already been filled in and show you the number that's left undone.

It's at your personal discretion. A few collectors items are actually very good and I use the mod-able ones to equip heroes sometimes. Whether the items are worth inventory space is up to you really.

Drag them to the garbage icon in your inventory, those are useless items as soon as you find anything even remotely better. All they're there for is for you to have something to start with.

The missions for the books are the missions in the game, nothing more, nothing less. wiki is your friend, look up the title of that book for details.

Don't bother selling to players unless you know there is a demand, most runes or dyes either end up in my xunlai or to the trader (not merchant) only bother selling to players if you know its worth your time (and theirs).

cheers all. i actually had blond moment and forgot all about the trash can lol.

and some missions are missed out in the books i just wanted to make sure i hadnt missed any ive unlocked so far, now i can get around them wiki pages, dont know why it wouldnt work for me when i looked.

and salvage most it is then.need more space in my chest

cheers again

Wiki main page - http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Scroll down to "Guilds, professions, skills and gear" - the green section. Under the "Items" heading there is a subsection called "Books".

Or - http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Book