This article presents a process for utilizing a bibliographic system built with Microsoft Excel as well as concept maps to organize and to synthesize information that can be included in a literature review. A review of the conceptual framework behind these tools is included as well as a detailed description about how to build the system in Excel. Also discussed in this article is the importance of the literature review as a dynamic component of any scholarly work. Doctoral students usually face the challenge of writing a literature review, lacking the necessary skills to search, to organize, to analyze, and to synthesize information. Some ideas about how to build relationships among existing scholars' work on a particular topic and ideas for generating new knowledge also are discussed. (Contains 3 figures.)