The Electronic Newsletter of the Palm Beach County Library System

Contents:
1/ Introduction to Books & Bytes
2/ Research Resources
3/ Database of the Month – Reference USA
4/ Photo Gallery
5/ In Next Month's Issue

1/ Introduction to Books & Bytes

Welcome to the July issue of Books & Bytes. This month we will look at the “Research Resources” section of the web site and investigate “Reference USA” in our Electronic Databases. We are also proud to introduce our new Photo Gallery on the web site.

We hope you enjoy receiving Books & Bytes. Please let us know what you think of our publication by writing to: webmaster@pbclibrary.org

2/ Research Resources

The professional librarians at the Palm Beach County Library System answer an average of 3,000 questions a day. Questions range from big to small, from curious to vital, personal to corporate - and all are welcome.

The reference desk is the place to turn to for used car values, information about a prescription drug, the address of a company or how to start researching your school assignment. Each branch of the Palm Beach County Library System maintains a reference collection to provide timely, accurate, and useful information. The reference collections include encyclopedias, atlases, handbooks, directories, and indexes to magazines and newspapers. Convenient Telephone Reference Service is available Monday through Saturday at all library locations.

In addition to our in-house resources, many of the answers you seek can be found in our Research Resources section of the library web site. This section includes:

Electronic Databases: Online phone directories for homes and businesses, and full-text magazine articles and reference resources with answers to your questions on topics such as business, health, science, literature, education, law, current events, the arts, entertainment, and regional information.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/patronlinks.asp

Useful Web Links: The Palm Beach County Library System offers links to web-based sources which have been found to be useful in answering specific questions or locating general information.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/uwl.htm

Government Research Services: A wealth of local, state, and federal government information at your fingertips. Includes information about print government resources available in the library, and access to a broad range of government web sites.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs.htm

Reader's Advisory: Need assistance finding a good book to read? Whether your interests are in mysteries, romance novels, science fiction or something in between, you will find information here about many great authors and titles!
http://www.pbclibrary.org/readers.htm

Business Resources and Tours: For business related questions, the Library System offers many detailed resources. Look here to find a list of business databases, useful web sites, and information about tours of the business reference collections by our Business Librarian.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/business.htm

Interlibrary Loan Service (ILL): When the materials you need are not available in the Palm Beach County Library System, the reference staff can help you request these materials through ILL. Interlibrary Loan staff will search the availability of the materials in other libraries world-wide and borrow these materials for you.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/ill.htm

Email Reference: Can't make it in to the library to look up the answer to your question? Too late to make a phone call to Telephone Reference? Try our E-Mail Reference Service for brief answers to factual questions or suggestions about other sources which will help answer your question.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/email.htm

Community Health Information Service: The mission of the Community Health Information Service is to contribute to the quality of life of Palm Beach County residents by improving their access to health-related information. The Community Health Information Service (CHIS) is a service of the Palm Beach County Library System and is presented in partnership with the Quantum Foundation.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/health.htm

Genealogy Research: This information site is provided as a public service by the PBCLS Government Research Service staff and volunteer subject experts from throughout the Library System. Its mission is to promote the wealth of family history resources available through the library, local organizations, and the Internet, and to assist in their use.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/genealogy.htm

Local Clubs & Organizations: This is a database of non-profit service, recreational, and social clubs and organizations in Palm Beach County. Contains club name, contact information and a brief description of the functions and purposes of the organization.
http://wpalmb.pbclibrary.org/db/inform/inform-kwd.html

Local Documents Collection: The Government Research Service maintains this collection of materials at the Main Library. Links to agency web sites and Internet resources are provided when available. Access to materials from county and city governments outside of Palm Beach County is provided through a microfiche service called Current Urban Documents, located in the Main Library Serials Department.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-local_county_resources.htm

When it is time to search for answers to your questions, start your research on our web site at the “Research Resources” section of our web site.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/research.htm

3/ Database of the Month – Reference USA

Are you searching for a residential telephone number? Do you need the address for the corporate headquarters of Microsoft? Do you need to locate all the businesses in a particular industry by SIC code? If so, this information is contained in ReferenceUSA, available in our Electronic Databases.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/patronlinks.asp

ReferenceUSA is a database that is fast, easy to use, and comprehensive. Whether you are looking on the residential tab for an old friend, or searching out the national offices of an American company with the business tab, you can find contact data for both with this great reference tool. ReferenceUSA contains details on more than 12 million American companies and 120 million American residents.

Your search can begin with either the name and address or the phone number. A test of the database by searching “Bellsouth” retrieved 75 hits across the country, with offices, addresses, and phone numbers displayed in an accessible format. Not only is ReferenceUSA a great source for market research, but it is also a top-notch reference tool. Job-seekers and small business owners can benefit from having this information.

Using ReferenceUSA, researchers are able to locate a vast amount of information, including:

- Addresses for corporation headquarters and regional offices
- Telephone and fax numbers
- Names and titles of high-level executives
- Estimated sales
- Stock ticker symbol
- Number of employees
- Lines of business (with SIC number)
- and more

ReferenceUSA is free for the using both inside the library and from home. Remember, home users must have a valid library card to access this valuable database. To start using ReferenceUSA, please visit our Electronic Databases page.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/patronlinks.asp

4/ Photo Gallery

Special events and activities are happening all across the Palm Beach County Library System. Whenever possible, we take photographs of these events. Now you can view these photos on our web site in the new Photo Gallery. It is accessible from the News and Events menu.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/photo-gallery.htm

On our Photo Gallery, we present a couple of photos from various library events and specials. Click on the thumbnail photos to see them in a larger size. We also provide a link to view more photos, which are often contained in the branch photo galleries. New pictures will cycle through the Photo Gallery every month, so be sure to check back regularly to view the latest that is happening at your local library.
http://www.pbclibrary.org/photo-gallery.htm

5/ Next Month in Books & Bytes

Next month, we will continue exploring our web site in further detail. We will spend the next issue looking at our Special Services section, and we will profile the Auto Repair Reference Center in our Electronic Databases.

Books & Bytes is published on the third Monday of each month.

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