  We present the first results of a near-infrared (0.96-2.31 micron)
spectroscopic survey of M, L, and T dwarfs obtained with NIRSPEC on the Keck II
telescope. Our new survey has a resolving power of R = 2000 and is comprised of
two major data sets: 53 J-band (1.14-1.36 micron) spectra covering all spectral
types from M6 to T8 with at least two members in each spectral subclass
(wherever possible), and 25 flux-calibrated spectra from 1.14 to 2.31 microns
for most spectral classes between M6 and T8. Sixteen of these 25 objects have
additional spectral coverage from 0.96-1.14 microns to provide overlap with
optical spectra. Spectral flux ratio indexes for prominent molecular bands are
derived and equivalent widths (EWs) for several atomic lines are measured. We
find that a combination of four H2O and two CH4 band strengths can be used for
spectral classification. Weak (EW~1-2 angstrom) atomic lines of Al I and Ca I
disappear at the boundary between M and L types.
