The Electronic Newsletter of the Palm Beach County Library System

Contents:
1/ Introduction to Books & Bytes
2/ Employment Resources @ your library
3/ Database of the Month – “History Reference Center”
4/ A Quick Byte – The F1 Key
5/ In Next Month's Issue

1/ Introduction to Books & Bytes

Welcome to the January issue of Books & Bytes. This month we will highlight the employment resources available through our web site. In addition, we will learn how to locate articles from the “History Reference Center” 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/ Employment Resources @ your library

Are you considering changing your career? Do you need to locate Internet job boards for hot leads? Or are you looking for places to go for job retraining? The library can help you with our Career Development and Electronic Job Searching page at:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/jobinfo.htm

The Palm Beach County Library System has identified local, state, and federal Internet resources of special interest to job hunters and career changers. Links are divided into the following categories:

*Internet Career Development Resources
*Local Agencies and Programs
*County and Municipal Job Links
*State of Florida Employment Resources
*Federal and other State Job Services
*Local Newspaper Classified Sections
*National Newspapers
*Private Sector Job Listings
*Job Services for People with Disabilities

In addition to these websites, the Main Library has a large selection of books on job hunting, job changing, resume writing, career development strategies and company information available in the Business Reference Center and throughout the circulating collection. A printed guide to this collection, entitled Job Resources @ your library, is available at the Main Library reference desk.

Build a career and find the job you want by using our Career Development and Electronic Job Searching page at:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/jobinfo.htm

3/ Database of the Month – History Reference Center

Looking for a source of information that covers topics as diverse as the American Civil War, the Chinese Imperial Dynasties, and the origins of the Olympics in Ancient Greece? Whether you are a student working on a term paper or simply a history buff, you will be happy to hear that the library provides access to the History Reference Center. This resource is available at home and in the library by visiting our Electronic Databases page:
http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/patronlinks.asp

History Reference Center is a comprehensive full text database designed for secondary schools, public libraries, junior/community colleges, and undergraduate research. The database features cover-to-cover full text for more than 650 historical encyclopedias and other non-fiction books, including award winning titles from many top publishers. The database contains 58,000 historical documents, 43,000 biographies of historical figures, and more than 12,000 historical photos and maps.

The database is flexible enough to allow simple searches, and has the ability to support complex queries. The basic search allows users to search by keywords and subject headings. It also allows users to narrow a search to a particular publication, such as “National Geographic.” The database also contains a large image collection. For example, a search for “Civil Rights” produces over 60 images, including photos of Martin Luther King Jr. and scenes from the famous March for Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial.

Users can even print files or save them to their home computer.

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 Helpful F1 Key

Computers can be confusing machines. However, they are also able to offer assistance in the form of help menus. Pressing the F1 key will often bring up a help menu. If you press F1 while working in a program, help for that program will usually appear. If you press F1 while at the Windows desktop or when the Windows Explorer is open, a Windows help screen will pop up. Even if you are working in a program and would like to see the Windows help screen, simply press the Windows key (the key with the Windows logo on the bottom row of keys) on your keyboard and press F1 at the same time. So next time you are confused by your computer, press the F1 key and help will quickly be on the way.

5/ Next Month in Books & Bytes

Next month we will show you how to check your library card account from home through our web site. We will also show you how to search the World Book Online Reference Center in our Electronic Databases.