The Dead Sea Scrolls are found in many varied publications — often ordered only by publication date, rather than a more easily navigable system — making specific texts difficult to find.

Joseph Fitzmyer's guide offers a practical remedy to this dilemma. A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature starts by explaining the conventional system of abbreviations for the Scrolls. Then it helpfully lists specifically where readers can find each of the Scrolls and fragmentary texts from the eleven caves of Qumran and all the related sites, using the officially assigned numbers of the text.

Fitzmyer supplies information on study tools helpful for scholars — concordances, dictionaries, translations, outlines of longer texts, and more — and briefly indicates electronic resources for the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls.