There is a small booklet, published by The Bead Museum in AZ, and composed by my dear departed friend, Elizabeth Harris. It is a basic introduction for investigating beads, and, in particular, has advice for distinguishing glass beads from one another.

The book is titled, "A Bead Primer."

I would be happy to distribute xeroxes of the book to anyone interested.

However, this is a very basic treatment, for beginners. It is not comprehensive—and in some respects is somewhat out of date, in relation to beads that have been brought into the marketplace since the time of its publication.