Vocation Tips

Post your vocational guides here, so that novices can make quicker progress.

A start, courtesy of the African wanderer...

The MiniGeth Scholars Guide

Use Track Artifact Skill
First and foremost make sure that every time you fire up your character you check that the "Track Artifact" skill is enabled. Its a toggle skill and will guide you to scholar's artifacts. If its not enabled you will walk past many crafting ingredients and gathering those is the time-consuming part of this craft.

Keep Everything
Save every scholarship crafting ingredient you come across, you will need them. I have a bag dedicated to these and some extra stuff saved in the vault. You will use everything at some stage.

Dyes/Hunter Recipes Etc
These are useful when you need to level up but do not have all the necessary ingredients for Battle Scrolls or more useful recipes. Dye ingredients are gathered from farming, prospecting etc. Some, like yarrow root, grow in the wild.

Artifacts and Spawning Areas
http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Artifacts
Sometimes you will need to forage for ingredients and the general rule is that artifacts are found in and around ruins and can drop from humanoids found in and around ruins. If you have to forage for them, try to do it in an area where you can accomplish a deed simultaneously.

The Scholarship Guild
Once you reach Artisan level, you will no longer be able to progress until you have joined the guild. The guild HQ is in the Last Homely Home in Rivendell. At some stage you will have to make a pilgrimage on horse-back to there. Critters in the Trollshaws are ~lvl35 so unless you are looking for action stick to the main road and DON'T FORGET TO CLICK ON THE STABLE MASTER THERE. There is a regular route between Os Guruth and Rivendell that you can use when you have clicked on the stable master in Rivendell.

Once there you will need to register with the guild master (mistress as I think the case is...). You will also need to buy guild scroll recipes from the little girl on the chair. These have time restrictions on. Some you can create every 24 hrs, some once a week. Once crafted, you can exchange these scrolls for reputation with the guild. Reputation with the guild will grant you access to more powerful recipes.
http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Scholar%27s_Guild
There really are some powerful recipes so its worth doing if you want to.

Superior Studies
From Artisan lvl and above you will also need access to a Superior Study. There are 2 that I know about, 1st in the Mathom Society House in Michel Delving (Shire) and the 2nd in Elrond's Library (above the Scholar's Guild) in the Last Homely Home in Rivendell.

The Barrows are a great place to forage, you can gather mathoms to increase reputation with the Mathom society (and so gain access to their study), harvest crafting ingredients and kill spiders/wights for deeds. You can also get barrow treasures to increase rep with the Men of Bree who have some cool kit for Lvl 30 players.

-If you have any specific questions let me know. Here's another guide which looks fancy and stuff but does not have my depth or usefulnesseesses: http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Profession:Scholar