Sub-models in scenes? I have never used Blender before. Is it possible to create a hierarchical super-model or "scene" that contains the lighting, camera and so forth, and have it reference multiple sub-models stored in separate files? What I mean is, I want to be able to edit the sub-models separately and have the changes automatically be reflected in the hierarchical super-model. How do I set this up?

Let me know if you need me to explain this more clearly.
Yes, this is possible through linking objects.

In the master scene file simply go to file > link or hit Ctrl + Alt + O, choose the file you want to link an object from, go to object and select the object.  Then when you change the files containing the objects they will change in the master file.

Linked objects will be highlighted with light blue.


Something to keep in mind is that you can't edit the linked objects in the master file which makes it cumbersome to make small adjustments.