How to import Downloaded Materials/Files? This is an absolute beginner question, I'm hoping it's not to broad, I will attempt to narrow it down.

I have just downloaded a handful of .zip files for several material packages (all for cycle render) and a "Modified Toon Shader" .zip file as well. I am super excited about using these but just realized I have no clue how to import them into Blender or how to really use them.

Do I just go User Preferences > Add-ons > Install From File? Or is there a Material and Shader specific path I need to follow? 

And then once I do get them imported, will imported materials show up in a drop down menu of sorts? Or do I go to Node View and then I will be able to drop the specific nodes in and plug them into my objects?

I'm sorry I know this question is a bit open, I'm hoping it's narrowed down enough to be answerable. I have not unzipped the files yet because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to or not. 

Here are a couple examples of the files I downloaded:

http://www.blendswap.com/blends/view/82742

http://www.blendswap.com/blends/view/70644
Blender has no specific file formats for objects, materials, shaders and so on. To reuse the material from one .blend file in another, you can either create a link to the material in your material blend or you can append said material. 

Linking materials is a great way to create material libraries. If you make changes to the material blend, those changes will be visible in all files that have links to the material file, as soon as you open or reload them.

Appending materials creates copies of the source material in your current blend file. 

The process for both methods is the same. 


Open the file you want to link/append the material to.
Go to "Files - Link/Append"
Navigate to the .blend that contains the material and click on it
Open the Material Folder and double-click on the material you want to link/append.




After that, your material should be visible in the Material selector.