UPDATE is published bimonthly by the Palm Beach County Library System, Government Research Service at 3650 Summit Boulevard, West Palm Beach, FL 33406, as a guide to information resources available for use by county agencies and the public. Palm Beach County staff wishing to receive a copy of the newsletter, please contact Government Research Service.

  Library Offers New ‘U.S. Public Documents’ Site

  SOE-Library ‘Voter Information Workshops’ Offered

  Special Database Helps Find Local Clubs and Organizations Online

  Find E-Government Forms @the Palm Beach County Library

  PBC Library System Offers Reference E-Books Online

  Local Documents Collection Features PBC, School District Budgets

  Newspaper Resources @ the PBC Library System

  ‘Foundation Directory’ Grants Database Offered at Main Library

  Using 'Florida State Document Depositories' Collections

  Using the Library of Congress 'THOMAS' Database

  Using the PBC 'Florida Electronic Federal Depository Library'

  U.S., Florida Serial Documents @ the PBC Library System

  Library Offers New ‘U.S. Public Documents’ Site

The Palm Beach County Library System’s Government Research Service section has designed a new “U.S. Public Documents” web page to assist the public in locating full-text federal government documents and archival depositories of information.

The “U.S. Public Documents” information site features digital links to a “Federal Depository Library” locator, which includes the Florida Atlantic University Library documents collection. The index also includes connections to the U.S. Government Printing Office’s “GPO Access Home Page,” full-text links to “Core Documents of the U.S. Government,” and the GPO Access “A-Z Resources List” of online federal agency publications.

The new site is linked to the PBCLS “Government Research” website, under its “Florida & U.S. Documents” heading, and is now available for remote computer access from home. Internet address: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-usdocs.htm.

  Special Database Helps Find Local Clubs and Organizations Online

The “Local Clubs and Organizations” database of nonprofit service, recreational, social organizations in Palm Beach County is a special online service provided to the public by the staff and volunteers of the PBC Library System.

The searchable records are updated weekly and contain the club’s name, contact information and a brief description of the functions and mission of the organization. The database is accessible from computers located in all 14 PBCLS branches, or via home or office remote access.

The “Local Clubs and Organizations” database is a menu option on the PBC Library’s “Electronic Databases” digital index, listed under the “Local Community Resources” subheading. Home computer users may access the database 24/7 online at: http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/ss2004_local_community_resources.asp.

  SOE-Library 'Voter Information Workshops' Offered

The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) office is offering a series of “Voter Information Workshops” this summer and fall at local public libraries throughout the county.

The public is invited to attend a workshop at their nearest participating library and learn about local election resources, and the voting process and procedures in Pam Beach County. The workshops are free and prior program registration is not required.

The SOE “Voter Information Workshops” schedule of programs and locations is linked to the Palm Beach County Library System’s digital “Election Resources” information site, under its “Local Web Sites” menu. Address: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-elections.htm.  

  Find E-Government Forms @ the Palm Beach County Library

Many governments agencies at the federal, state and local levels are using electronic "E-Government" sites on the Internet to process interactive registration forms and applications for their services.

As a public service, the Palm Beach County Library System's Government Research Service (GRS) has created a digital guide to high-use E-Government services and forms used by consumers, businesses and taxpayers.  The "E-Government Forms" index consists of four menus for Local Government Forms, Court & Legal Forms, State Government Forms and Federal Government Forms.

The index links to such high-demand services as the Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service tax forms, and the Florida Department of Children & Families.  Online Access:  http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-e-governmentforms.htm 

July/August

  PBC Library System Offers Reference E-Books Online

Patrons of the Palm Beach County Library System may now access 11 encyclopedias and specialized reference sources through their home or office computers by accessing the Library’s “Online Reference Books” database.

Comprehensive reference materials in the fields of business, health, science, religion and popular culture once were only available in print format. Now they are accessible online as electronic books (E-Books) through the Library System’s SIRSI catalog. The full-text titles provided through a publisher agreement with the Library System are:

• “Beacham’s Guide to the Endangered Species of North America.”

• “Biology.” 1^st edition.

• “Encyclopedia Judaica.” 2^nd edition.

• “Encyclopedia of Small Business.”

• “Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America.”

• “Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine.”

• “Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer.”

• “Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders.”

• “Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine.”

• “St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture.”

• “World of Earth Science.”

All E-Books accessible through the Library System’s “Online Reference Books” service are searchable by keyword, and the text can be downloaded to a printer. The “Online Reference Books” service is a menu option on the Library System’s Electronic Databases Index. Address: http://www.pbclibrary.org/edb/ss2004_books_and_literature.asp .

“Online Reference Books” is accessible from computers located in all 14 PBCLS branch locations, or by remote access from home. Library card identification numbers are used as a password for home users. For more information, contact the Government Research Service (GRS) section at: grs@pbclibrary.org

  Newspaper Resources @ the PBC Library System

The Palm Beach County Library System’s Government Research Service (GRS) section maintains two automated information sites to assist patrons and local government staff locate current and archival newspapers in our collection.

The “Newspapers Index,” a menu option on the Library System’s “Government Research” website, links 21 official Internet sites for papers serving Palm Beach County. The index includes local daily, weekly and business publications. A second feature of the index is a “Florida and National News” menu of news websites and digital news archives accessible on the Internet.

The “Newspaper Index” is an information guide updated and maintained by GRS section staff. Online Access: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-newspapers.htm .

The “Genealogy Research – Newspapers & Magazines” web page is a second digital information site provided by the Library System as a guide to local newspaper and magazine holdings archived at the Main Library. The index is used as a genealogical resource for family history researchers.

The digital guide lists the Library System’s microfilm holdings for the Palm Beach Post, Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald, and Palm Beach Daily Business Review. It also lists local history and genealogical magazines with back issue holdings at the Main Library.

The “Newspapers & Magazines” index also features links to electronic E-Journal genealogical publications found on the Internet. The information site is accessible at: http://www.pbclibrary.org/genealogy-newspapers_magazines.htm .

  Local Documents Collection Features PBC, School District Budgets

The Palm Beach County Library System’s digital “Local Documents Collection Index” is a great source to check when searching for current or archival budget information about the School District and Palm Beach County Government.

The “Local Documents Collection,” located in the PBCLS Main Library Research Center, is an archive of select records provided by PBC departments, as well as special districts, such as the South Florida Water Management District and the School District of Palm Beach County. The “Local Documents Collection Index” is a listing of print holdings in the collection, as well as links to local digital documents provided by the agencies. All documents are indexed under departmental sub-headings.

For example, the “Local Documents Collection Index” provides listings of Palm Beach County Budgets archived in the library collection, and also links to the online PBC OFMB Budget Directory which features recent budgets in digital format.

To locate current and archival School District budget information, The Library’s “Local Documents Collection Index” is linked to the School District’s Division of Financial Management’s Budget Services digital archives. Older budget summaries dating back to the 1997-98 school year are archived in print format in the Local Documents Collection.

New Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller digital documents were recently added to the “Local Documents Collection Index” as an enhancement to this service. As with many E-Government services, the Library System’s Local Documents Collection is currently making the transition from a print to a digital document service as agencies make their records available on the Internet.

The “Local Documents Collection Index” is accessible via home or office computer at: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-local_county_resources.htm.

  ‘Foundation Directory’ Grants Database Offered at Main Library

The Foundation Center’s “Foundation Directory Online” database is now available to government and private sector grant seekers through computers located at the Palm Beach County Library’s Main Library.

The grantseeking database provides online access to profiles of nearly 80,000 grantmakers, and about 500,000 listed grants. It also contains 250,000 IRS (Form 990) filings of grantmaking organizations.

The Foundation Directory allows grantmaker name and category searching, company searches, grant searches, and also searching for IRS Form 990 nonprofit organization data. The site features user FAQs, a search tutorial, and grant provider news updates.

Computer access to the Foundation Directory database is provided at the PBCLS Main Library Research Center only. Reference staff will assist users in accessing your library’s newest digital information resource. For more information, contact PBCLS at 233-2600, or e-mail: grs@pbclibrary.org

March/April

  Using 'Florida State Document Depositories' Collections

The Florida State Documents Depository Program was established in 1967 by an act of the Florida Legislature to meet the needs of researchers and the general public for access to information by and about Florida government.

As envisioned by the Legislature, the Documents Depository Program is designed to make state documents from all agencies readily available to the public in a cost-effective and timely manner, by placing state documents in depository libraries in all regions of the state.

There are currently 24 depository libraries in the State of Florida, located mainly in state universities and large urban public library collections. Palm Beach County has one Florida depository library collection housed in the Florida Atlantic University Wimberly Library in Boca Raton.

Documents from state agencies are distributed to depository libraries, and are available to Florida citizens for use either in the library collections or through inter-library loan subject to each library’s regulations. Requests are submitted to the library’s Government Documents staff.

Florida Atlantic University has been a Florida depository library since 1968. The library features an automated “Florida Documents Index, 1967 – Current,” allowing remote online searching of the documents collection by keywords, author or document title. The FAU Government Documents Collection staff may be contacted at 561-297-3788.

The FAU Florida Documents Index, and a directory of Florida State Documents Depositories, is linked to the Palm Beach County Library System’s “Government Research” website, under the “Florida Public Documents” menu. Online access: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-fldocs.htm.

  Using the PBC ‘Florida Electronic Federal Depository Library’

The “Florida Electronic Federal Depository Library (FEFDL)” is a project of the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries Government Documents Department to provide indexing and access to digital government information on the World Wide Web.

The primary mission of the information site is to meet the needs of researchers and the public for access to government resources of Florida and its local governments found on the Internet. Its secondary objective is to provide a useful research tool for federal depository librarians within Florida. The project received initial funding from a Federal Library Services and Technology Act grant through the State Library of Florida.

The FEFDL is a free service accessible to all remote Internet users with Explorer or Netscape 4.0 or later version browsers. It is designed so all government information sources will be accessed “within 2 or three mouse clicks” on the computer. The site is maintained by University of Florida library staff.

Each county in Florida has an electronic web page linked to local government digital resources and agencies. The FEFDL “Palm Beach County” index includes cities, commissioners, departments, courts and legal system, education, elected officials, elections, geographical information, libraries, newspapers, planning, recreation, and statistical information headings.

The “Palm Beach County: Florida Electronic Federal Depository Library” site is linked to the PBC Library System’s “Government Research” website, under its “Florida Public Documents” menu. Online Access: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-fldocs.htm .

January/February

  Using the Library of Congress ‘THOMAS’ Database

The Library of Congress (LC) is the largest library in world, with about 530 miles of bookshelves that hold more than 29 million books, 58 million manuscripts, 4.8 million maps and 2.7 million recordings.

The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its resources available in a useful manner to both members of Congress and the public, while maintaining and preserving its collection for future generations. As the official research arm of Congress, LC librarians have created an automated catalog of holdings, and several specialized databases to access information and services.

The “THOMAS” database, named in honor of President Thomas Jefferson, went online during the 104^th Congress, January 1995. The LC was directed by Congress to make federal legislative information accessible to the public using the new medium of the Internet.

Today, services provided by the LC through the THOMAS database include bills and resolutions (summaries, current status and full text), Congressional schedules and calendars, the daily Congressional Record, committee information, presidential nominations and treaties.

Bill summary and status information is searchable on THOMAS from the 93^rd Congress (1973) through the current session. The Congressional Record is a summary of each day’s activities in both chambers of Congress, and includes a “Daily Digest” for the latest information.

THOMAS also features a Treaties option which provides legislative information about international agreements dating from 90^th Congress (1967) through the current session. THOMAS data-files are updated daily.

The THOMAS database can be accessed by home computer at: http://thomas.loc.gov . LC services are linked to the U.S. Government menu of the Palm Beach County Library System’s Government Research website. Address: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-fedgovtinfo.htm.

  U.S., Florida Serial Documents @ the PBC Library System

The Palm Beach County Library System (PBCLS) archives a select collection of high-demand Florida and United States government serial documents in its Main Library Research Center.

The serial holdings in this special collection include such federal documents as Current Population Reports, CPI Detailed Reports, and Climatological Data. Some of the state serial documents featured in collection are Florida Consensus Estimating Reports, Florida Labor Market Trends and the Florida Price Level Index.

A digital index of the PBC Library System’s Government Serials Collection is a menu option on the “Government Research” information site. The index, listing document titles and holdings, is accessible at: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-serials.htm.

In addition to PBCLS documents, there is currently one officially designated Federal Depository Library serving residents of Palm Beach County - the S.E. Wimberly Library located on the Boca Raton Campus of Florida Atlantic University. Federal Depository Libraries procure and archive government agency information provided through the Government Printing Office (GPO).

To learn more about the FAU’s government depository library collection, access their government documents site at: http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/govdocs/govdoc.htm . The FAU “Florida Documents” automated catalog is linked to the PBC Library System’s “Government Research” web page at: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-fldocs.htm.

Updated: February 27, 2008   

Related Pages: Genealogy Research - Legal Research - Government Research