  We present new and exact ``sign rules'' for various spin-s anisotropic
spin-lattice models. It is shown that, after a simple transformation which
utilizes these sign rules, the ground-state wave function of the transformed
Hamiltonian is positive-definite. Using these results exact statements for
various expectation values of off-diagonal operators are presented, and
transitions in the behavior of these expectation values are observed at
particular values of the anisotropy. Furthermore, the effects of sign rules in
variational calculations and quantum Monte Carlo calculations are considered.
They are illustrated by a simple variational treatment of a one-dimensional
anisotropic spin model.
