Very elementary....what is the check box for in itunes?

Question

Would someone please enlighten me on the functionality of the check boxes next to items in itunes? I check several songs I want to delete and then click Edit>Delete but only the ONE ITEM selected by the cursor is deleted. OK, so I know how to do shift-click to select a number of items then click Edit>Delete, but what in the dog-gone world is the check box for?!? when I search for help on "Check Box" no results are found. Also, if you like to show me how non intuitive I am by demonstrating how to find this solution in the Help menu, I would love to learn something from the exercise. Otherwise, I'm going to believe, beyond belief, that the itunes help is not very helpful!
Thanks, inspite of this insanely simple problem!
Alan

Answer 1

you can multiple select songs from your list by using the CTRL or SHIFT keys, and then you can right-click on the selected items and choose delete.
the check box is actually for auto-syncing; which means that if you have some songs checked in your library, then you connect your ipod, those checked songs will automatically update on your ipod, or transfered. (of course, thats only true if you have the auto-sync option selected, and not manual update).
another thing for the checked box; if you change anything to the song like ID tags, or artwork, .... they will automatically be changed and updated on that song on the ipod next time you plug it in.
i found out that this check box thing is useful if you wanna update your ipod ONLY with the new songs added recently to your library. this way, your ipod wont update all songs, it will only do the ones checked.
you can also right click on a bunch of songs and choose check selection, or uncheck selection.
hope i didnt forget anything, and i hope that helps.