The books below provide a broad overview on the field of historic preservation. The print resources will also help identify building styles and give proper nomenclature for their various elements.
Encyclopedia of the vernacular architecture of the world / edited by Paul Oliver
Fine Arts Library - Reference NA 208 .E33 1997 v.1-v.3
A field guide to American houses / by Virginia and Lee McAlester; with drawings by Lauren Jarrett, and model house drawings by Juan Rodriguez-Arnaiz
Fine Arts Library NA 7205 .M35 2013
Illustrated dictionary of architectural preservation: restoration, renovation, rehabilitation, reuse / Ernest Burden
Fine Arts Library NA 105 .B87 2003
An illustrated glossary of early southern architecture and landscape / Carl R. Lounsbury, editor; with editorial assistance by Vanessa E. Patrick; prepared at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Fine Arts Library NA 727 .I44 1999
The interiors handbook for historic buildings / edited by Charles E. Fisher, III ...[et al.]
Fine Arts Library NA 2850 .I580 1988
Old house dictionary: an illustrated guide to American domestic architecture, 1600-1940 / written and illustrated by Steven J. Phillips
Fine Arts Library NA 7205 .P48 1989
The visual dictionary of American domestic architecture / by Rachel Carley; illustrations by Ray Skibinski and Ed Lam
Fine Arts Library NA 7205 .C27 1994