Miami, Fl April 15, 2004 - - In its continuous commitment to meet the informational needs of South Florida residents, the Miami-Dade Public Library System recently added three new databases – Science Online, Personal & Business Forms and United Nations Treaty Collection. All three resources are accessible from inside and outside the library in response to an ever-increasing number of residents needing research support to impact their business, education, family and health interests. To use the databases from home or office computers, patrons with a library card number can go to www.mdpls.org and click on the link to Research & Databases.

Science Online – Facts on File’s Science Online is a curriculum-oriented database that offers comprehensive, authoritative overview of the sciences. Diagrams, essays, definitions and biographies are arranged by topic and contain thousands of hyperlinks that create thematic paths through the content. More than 600 experiments, covering all of the key principles of science, encourage hands-on learning. Each experiment is indexed by grade range and by subject categories, and contains links to related definitions, essays and diagrams. Joining a powerful search engine with broad-ranging science material, Science Online provides students, teachers and researchers with a complete science reference solution.

Personal and Business Forms – Organized by type of form, Facts on File’s Personal and Business Forms contains reproducible forms and checklists for a wide range of personal, business and government situations – from applying for financial aid to submitting federal and state tax forms to negotiating a rental agreement. Among the more than 14,500 current, easy-to-access forms are those needed for the top 500 government services used by the public and links to many online college application forms. All forms are updated for each tax year and can be printed and saved.

United Nations Treaty Collection
Provides access to over 34,000 treaties. These include all multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and those formerly deposited with the League of Nations – their latest status and a link to the full texts; bilateral and multilateral treaties registered with and published by the United Nations Secretariat since 1946; and recently deposited multilateral treaties that have been deposited but not yet published – available for viewing and downloading in some or all of their authentic languages. These documents can be searched by chapter and subchapter, date of adoption, participants, subject terms, popular name, registration number, or title keyword.

Knowledgeable and courteous librarians are always ready to assist patrons in the use of the databases. Staff teach new computer skills to patrons of all ages at the North and South Dade Regional Training Labs. With more than 660 public computer stations available systemwide with Internet, online databases and other valuable resources, the Miami-Dade Public Library System is the County’s largest provider of free Internet access. For additional information, please call (305) BOOK or visit, www.mdpls.org.