Arguing that providing instruction in the use of common indexes and abstract services is one of the most repetitious, most important, yet most time-consuming activities of the college reference librarian, this guide notes reasons why students fail to take full advantage of currently available guides to the use of common indexes and abstract services. These reasons include such common faults as illegibility, wordiness, and the use of jargon. Ways in which good printed guides can help reduce repetitious tasks and supply a vital supplement to group and individual instruction are then described. Offered here is a new series of 17 point-of-use guides which were created at the Oscar A. Silverman Undergraduate Library, State University of New York at Buffalo, to overcome the aforementioned objections and to teach undergraduate students how to access basic information sources. Suggested as models of legibility and user-friendliness, these guides exclude extraneous information, supplying the minimal amount of information required to make effective use of a printed index. Instructions in their use are free of specialized vocabulary and guide the user in a step-by-step fashion. The introduction offers advice on instructional uses for such guides and on the mechanical details of their production. The 17 guides constitute the major part of the document. (Author/CGD)