iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition

iTunes Administration

At its heart, iTunes is nothing more than a glorified database. Its job is to search, sort, and display information quickly and efficiently. Here, for example, are some powerful managerial tasks it stands ready to handle.

Figure 5-17. You can watch videos right in iTunes. You can see them in the Album Artwork Window, in a separate floating window (shown here) or at full-screen size by clicking the Full Screen button (circled). The two icons on the far right of the Search bar let you see your collection of videos—either as a list or as thumbnail images.

Searching for Songs

You can call up a list of all the songs that have a specific word in their title, album name, or artist attribution, just by typing a few letters into the Search box at the top of the window. With each letter you type, iTunes shortens the list of songs that are visible, confining it to tracks that match what you’ve typed.

And for even more searching precision, the iTunes Search bar appears at the top of the browser windows as you type. The left side of the Search bar lets you sort your results by category, like Music or Videos, and the right side lets you winnow down those results even more by letting you choose where the search keyword appears, like in the album’s name or the podcast’s title.

For example, typing train brings up a list of everything in your collection that has the word “train” ...