At last a concise and useful guide to help undergraduate and graduate students use research time optimally by reducing the hours they spend discovering and consulting reference works. It introduces them to general reference books, ready-reference guides, guides to manuscripts and dissertations, available computer databases, and resources in rhetoric and composition. Each chapter is arranged to provide an actual system of research for solving a specific kind of research problem. Includes sample research problems, with analyses and exercises that suggest possible research projects. Users of this book will find it a time-saving resource that will bring order to the often confusing and time-consuming task of doing library and archival research.