Finding Material

No index to any set of writings can cover all the topics on which the researcher might want to find comments. While the Index to the Writings of Ellen G. White is helpful and should be used regularly in the gathering of material, it cannot be depended on to list all the references on any subject. It is necessary to think of related topics, and of books in which the desired type of comment might appear. Frequently, a review of the table of contents in some of the books will direct the mind to chapters that should be read. Do not limit the reading to looking for individual sentences or brief paragraphs that might be inserted into the study outline. In every instance read enough of the context to be certain that any selection from it is to be used in accordance with the intent of the author.APAY 461.1

On subjects directly connected with a Bible text or series of texts, the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary will prove helpful. In comments on verses will frequently be found references to Ellen White statements on the subject. At the close of the comments on each Bible chapter is an additional list of references. Each volume of the Commentary has at the back of the book a supplement containing further Ellen White comments, drawn from sources not easily accessible, or previously unpublished.APAY 461.2

Every serious student of these writings will want to keep a card file in which he will note items he may use in the future. Memory is not reliable enough to recall all that has been read and where an item of particular interest is to be found. It is a waste of time and effort to have to go back to look for something that might have been noted easily when it first attracted attention. There is particular value in materials gathered while one is doing general reading. They stand clearly in their context, and may be items that would not be found in an ordinary search.APAY 461.3