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THE GENERAL reference class, as taught in many library schools, appears to give especially high emphasis to understanding the characteristics of a basic list of reference books. Presumably, this prepares the student for the task of structuring search strategies which will provide satisfactory answers to patrons. An area which has been given little consideration in library education has been instruction in the structuring of optimal search strategies. There are at least three values to be gained by including such instruction in library education. First, it encourages the student to compare the characteristics of related reference tools so that they have a better understanding of them. Second, it encourages the student to concern himself with structuring the best strategy possible rather than simply a satisfactory one. Third, it offers the student experiences in dealing with problems similar to some of the more difficult ones he will face at the reference desk and provides a model for self -evaluation of his competency that leads to improved skill. The author of this paper has developed such an instructional model around the study of a small group of related tools. The exercises that have been developed so far are bibliographic problems appropriate to a group of American and British national bibliographies. The student is given the list and asked to study them much as occurs in the tradi-
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