Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking.
For you to show your clients when they blame you for no rankings because you did not put in any keywords (even if they never sent you any) and insist on jamming 600 keywords up there.

10 Best Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Blogs : Media : Technology : Blogs.com.
I think these 10 could give a n00b a bit of knowledge.

Boy, has Ian really said what many in this profession, the designer end, go thru all the time. So it is not all that much different from a SEO firm! How many times have designers heard the following in a slightly different form?
Have you seen this new tool…?
You just found a neat new gadget that [...]

Google Land.
some good reading here, good page to send to your clients who call you the day after you launch a site and ask why they cannot find their site in Google, and will it appear there tomorrow on the hom page. SEO is a separate profession. A nice one too, I just find it [...]

ahhh the dark arts! problem is, that there is probably some SEO/SEM company out there that actually employs these tactics to get those clicks.
PPC Villain | PPC & Search Marketing Worst Practices Blog

Keyword Search Is Just Fine, Thank You | Internet Marketing Strategy: Conversation Marketing
Ian is a good marketing person. His company does some good design as well. You might want to subscribe to his feed, and get a unique outlook. I’m sure I’ll be posting more of his articles

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO » Google supports META NOODP tag

A Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization