The Electronic Newsletter of the Palm Beach County Library System

Contents:
1/ Introduction to Books & Bytes
2/ Library Card FAQ
3/ Database of the Month – “InfoTrac”
4/ A Quick Byte – The F11 Key
5/ In Next Month's Issue

1/ Introduction to Books & Bytes

Welcome to the April issue of Books & Bytes. This month we will address many Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about your library card. In addition, we will learn how to locate magazine and newspaper articles in the “InfoTrac” 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/ Library Card FAQ

A library card account is one of the greatest values you can find today. Your card gives you free access to our entire collection of books, CDs and videos, along with our electronic databases. To help you get the most value out of your card, we have assembled an FAQ page on our web site. It is located at:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/cardfaq.htm

Library cards are free to all residents in the Palm Beach County Library District. Cards are issued at all locations in the System upon verification of address. Children under 16 can get a card with a parent's or guardian's identification and signature. Your card may be used at any branch in the Palm Beach County Library System. Every two years we will re-verify your address and renew your card. There is no cost to replace lost, damaged, or stolen cards.

Library patrons may borrow up to 20 cataloged items at a time. Patrons are limited to 5 nonfiction books on the same subject. Late materials are subject to fines. Fines stop accumulating when the materials are returned or when the maximum fine limit is reached.

The loan period for library materials varies according to the item and the demand. Listed below are the borrowing periods for our items:

Videocassettes and DVDs - 7 days
New Books & Best Sellers - 14 days
Music CDs - 14 days
Audiobooks (6 or fewer Tapes or CDs) - 14 days
Audiobooks (7 or more Tapes or CDs) - 28 days
All other books including children's books can be checked out for 28 days.

The Library Card FAQ page also contains important information on your PIN (Personal Identification Number), renewing materials, placing items on hold, and overdue fines. If you have any questions about your library card that cannot be answered by this page, please talk to a staff member at the circulation desk of your local library.

Your library card is one of the most useful tools in your wallet. To make full use of it, please read the information provided on the Library Card FAQ page:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/cardfaq.htm

3/ Database of the Month – InfoTrac

Are you looking for articles from “Consumer Reports?” Do you want access to newspaper and magazine articles from across the country? Would you like to have access to all this information from your home computer? You can get all this and more from InfoTrac, located on our Electronic Databases page:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/patronlinks.asp

InfoTrac contains articles on subjects such as education, business, science, current events, art, politics, entertainment, law, health care, technology, and general interest topics. In many cases, users can find the full text of an article. When the full text is not available, users will find a citation to the print copy.

Here's how you can search:

*Subject Guide: Find articles by topic
*Relevance Search: Find articles by matching words in titles, citations, and abstracts, or in the entire text. The result list starts with the best matches according to how and where the words occur in articles.
*Keyword Search: Find articles by matching words in titles, citations, and abstracts, or in the entire text. The results list runs from newest to oldest.
*Advanced Search: Find articles by using any of several indexes, alone or in combination.
*Journal Search: Find all available articles in a specific issue of a journal or newspaper. The results list displays in page number order.

InfoTrac contains an extensive set of help files to aid in your online searching. A successful search will locate one or more articles, usually with links to related articles as well. These articles can then be printed out or e-mailed to your home account.

InfoTrac is a great resource for articles from newspapers and magazines. It is located in our Electronic Databases page at:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/patronlinks.asp

4/ A Quick Byte – The F11 Key

If you want to take full advantage of your screen space when browsing the Internet, then the F11 key is for you. Press F11 when you are working in Internet Explorer and the window will open to full screen mode. This will make almost all the toolbars disappear and is useful to see more information on the screen, particularly if you have a small monitor. Press F11 when you are in the full screen mode and to toggle back to your normal view.

5/ Next Month in Books & Bytes

Next month we will demonstrate how to find online map resources, such as Flood Maps and PalmTran routes maps, through our web site. We will also dive into the business world by examining the “Wall Street Journal” in our Electronic Databases.

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

To unsubscribe from Books & Bytes, send an e-mail message to
listserv@co op.pbcl.lib.fl.us
with the words "signoff books and bytes" in the body of the message.

Please direct any questions or comments about Books & Bytes to: webmaster@pbclibrary.org

You may contact us by regular mail at:
Webmaster, Palm Beach County Library System, 3650 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach, FL, 33406