Continuing our sporadically added-to series of iTunes guides, here's a collection of tips for getting more out of the software--multiple libraries on a single machine, the best uses for Smart Playlists, getting true CD-quality rips from your CD and tips for getting perfect album art.

For reference, we're using iTunes 8.2 on both Mac and PC, unless otherwise stated.

Multiple iTunes libraries on one PC

Your kids, perhaps, have an iPod each, want their own iTunes libraries, but have to share the family PC with you and your iPod. This means you need three or more separate libraries. It's actually really, really easy, despite what you may have heard.

We're assuming you've already got one iTunes library. We'll call that "Library 1" and work on creating "Library 2". First, close iTunes completely. Then go to the Start Menu and find the iTunes entry. Hold the right-hand shift key and keep it held down as you click to open iTunes and keep holding it afterward. In a couple of seconds a box will pop up allowing you to either "Choose Library" or "Create Library" Obviously, in future, you'll use the choose library option to select one of your many libraries, but for now click to create a library.

Now, just give your new library a name and save it somewhere you'll remember in future. And that's it! You can repeat this process for each new library you need, each of which can have its own iPod synced to it. Just use the Choose Library option to pick your own library whenever you load iTunes

iTunes built-in album art database

This feature is free to use and was introduced in iTunes 7. First, make sure you're logged into your iTunes Store account (this won't cost you anything, don't worry). Then pick the album from your library that's missing its cover art, right-click on any of its tracks and choose "Get Album Artwork".

That's actually all there is to it--your cover art will be downloaded and inserted into each track in that album. You should be aware of a couple of things if you experience problems. Firstly, iTunes pulls art from the iTunes Store by matching song titles in your library with those it lists for sale in the store. If iTunes isn't downloading art, or isn't downloading the correct art, search for the album in the store and make sure it's listed. If it is, make sure artist, album and song titles match those in your library.

Tags: Library, Apple iPod, database, software, Apple Macintosh