I've done the exact same thing, starting about six months ago. Most of it is sitting in my house, several thousand dollars worth, unlisted, ha...as I learn about the items, painfully, one at a time. Don't list it if you don't know what it is! You could make a mistake in either direction, a sorry buyer who wants a refund, or a great loss comparatively to what you could have sold the item for.
Almost everything about any item is online somewhere, but you could buy the individual books, but that would be costly. Eventually we will both probably have to do that.
It's a learning experience, and a slow one at that. Today at a thrift store a man was checking out some English bone china in his huge telephone sized book, and I just whipped around him and bought every piece of English china I saw, just like I usually do, including the one he was busy looking up. I figure, snooze you lose on English china.
Condition is everything unless you have true relics of Greek, Roman, Chinese, or Egypt...everything made in the last couple centuries...look for flaws! Don't buy chipped glass items! You'll have a hell of a time selling it on ebay listing flaws which you must, when at an estate sale they purposely I think don't tag "as is". I always run my fingertips along the edges of every item. There are flaws that the eye doesn't pick up, but the finger finds.
It's trash if it is chipped bone china or glass. It's treasure if it's in excellent condition. If it doesn't have a name, it's usually nothing unless it is something like unmarked Fenton glass. Maker is everything! Collectors never want the copycat items.
I've found you also have to study marks and signatures carefully, there are lots of fakes out there, especially popular items like Roseville.
Sorry I can't tell you what the telephone sized all antiques in one book was, haha.