[Avodah] Investigating Issues when Learning Gemara

[Moshe Y. Gluck]

R' MB:
But the truth is, different kinds of questions get different mefarshim's
attention. The only shortcuts I can think of before when gets a feel for who
gets bothered by what (or those of us only partway there) are:

1- Encyc Talmudit on topics in the first part of the alef-beis.
2- Bar Ilan CD, search for key buzzwords in the text.
----------------------------

There are also the Shabsi Frankel indexes (I think available on Bava Kama
and Bava Basra - one is called Raza D'Shabsi - and yes, I know that's not
helpful to anyone learning Berachos now). And just about any large sefarim
store will stock seforim of likutim of questions and answers of Acharonim,
which often include large numbers of Marei Mekomos. It's hard to give names
- I can't think of any series offhand that covers all Shas - maybe Birchas
Avrohom. But there are quite a few from different authors on individual
mesechtos, which is why it's a good idea to shop in a large seforim store
with knowledgeable staff, if you can. Oh, there's the Otzar Meforshai
Hatalmud from Mechon Yerushalaim - that's very good. And there are the new
Daf Yomi sets of Gemara, like HaMesivta (I think there's at least one other
one, too), which add copious amounts of information without overwhelming the
reader, by putting it into sections after the Gemara's text. 

KT,
MYG