The Electronic Newsletter of the Palm Beach County Library System

Contents:
1/ Introduction to Books & Bytes
2/ Legal Research @ your library
3/ Database of the Month – “New York Times Historical”
4/ A Quick Byte – The F4 Key
5/ In Next Month's Issue

1/ Introduction to Books & Bytes

Welcome to the December issue of Books & Bytes. This month we will highlight the newest section in our Research Resources, the Legal Research pages. In addition, we will learn how to locate articles from the “New York Times - Historical” database. Finally, “A Quick Byte” will feature a tip to assist you in your daily computer use.

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

2/ Legal Research @ your library

Do you need help selecting a quality lawyer? Are you looking for the full text of a Florida statute? Perhaps you simply want to find a good legal dictionary? The library can help you with all these questions through our new Legal Research web pages:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/legal.htm

The Palm Beach County Library System holds legal materials such as statutes, codes, and regulations for local, state, and federal law, with the largest collection at the Main Library. The Library also owns helpful resources such as legal encyclopedias, self-help guides, and books of legal forms. In addition, our Legal Research web pages contain links to a wide variety of online legal resources to assist users with their information needs.

The Legal Research section has a collection of links under the following topics:

County Legal Resources
Florida Legal Resources
Federal Legal Resources
Judicial & Case Law Resources
How to Do Legal Research
How to Find a Lawyer
Law Enforcement
Links for the Layperson

Due to the specialized nature of legal research, legal searches, except for specific citations, cannot be provided because of possible misinterpretation of material by either patron or staff. Our legal reference policy is based on the American Library Association’s Guidelines for Medical, Legal, and Business Responses at General Reference Desk. Given these guidelines, reference staff will look up specific citations. explain what types of materials are available and show patrons how to use them, refer patrons to legal self-help guides, and refer patrons to outside agencies such as the Legal Aid Society and the Bar Association

Next time you need assistance with understanding legalize, why not turn to our Legal Research web pages at:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/legal.htm

3/ Database of the Month – New York Times Historical

“The New York Times” has created a unique database. The newspaper has digitized the entire content of all issues dating back to its first one in 1851 all the way through to 2001. Viewers using this database actually see the original pages of the paper from cover to cover, right down to the advertisements. These pages are viewable in our Electronic Databases page:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/patronlinks.asp

You will find the full text of the paper in this easy to search archive. Quick keyword searches can be performed through the Basic Search page. Articles searches can also be limited to specific time periods, such as 1939-1945. Using this database, users can see the front pages of the newspaper from days of great historical events, such as Lincoln’s assassination, the sinking of the Titanic, and when men walked on the Moon. It is a great resource for researchers, history buffs, and school projects.

The New York Times Current database is supplied through ProQuest.

We invite you to view this great database on our Electronic Databases page at:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/patronlinks.asp

4/ A Quick Byte – The F4 Key

You may be wondering what to do with the row of “F” keys at the top of your keyboard. Each one has a unique function in the Windows operating system. In this issue, we will look at two uses of the F4 key. You can press F4 to open the Address bar when working in Internet Explorer. This will allow you to type the address of a web page for quick access or to select a previously visited web site from the browser history bar. You can also press the Alt key and the F4 key at the same time to close the open Window that you are currently working on. We will explore the other “F” keys in future issues.

5/ Next Month in Books & Bytes

Next month we will highlight the Employment Resources available on the library web site. We will also show you how to search the History Resources Center in our Electronic Databases.