Half a century ago inorganic qualitative analysis was an essential part of the college chemistry curriculum. Numerous textbooks were written on that subject; numerous laboratory experiments were developed. Little of this can be found in a modern undergraduate laboratory. Most of general chemistry courses limit qualitative analysis to two-three labs related to detection of 6-8 anions and several cations. These procedures are often considered as boring and irrelevant to real world problems; many colleges skip inorganic qualitative analysis altogether. Analytical chemistry courses seldom mention the identification problems, emphasizing the qualitative character of the subject. Some attention to the identification problems is given in organic chemistry curriculum but naturally it is limited to organic molecules. In spite of this picture, the science of identification is well and alive. It daily appears in forensic, environmental, and pharmaceutical practice. In educational field, the identification serves as irreplaceable tool for developing the logical reasoning in chemistry-related disciplines. To create a bridge between the old-fashioned inorganic qualitative analysis and a modern university laboratory, we introduced several simple spectroscopic techniques. The procedures are user-friendly and can be employed by the students without preliminary training. The modifications to the traditional approach are suggested: a)low-resolution Raman spectroscopy for identification of polyatomic anions; b)atomic emission spectroscopy for identification of Na, K, and Ca (also Ba, Sr, Li, and Rb); c)color spot tests for identification of 3d-transition metal ions (Cr³⁺, Mn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺) with spectrophotometric registration of the resulting colors.