Goonswarm has put together a new guide for new players and made it available publicly in .pdf form.
Traditionally, the new player portions of their Wiki (which is a gold mine of information, lore, and bee caricatures that I have spent hours pouring over) has been viewable by all. Their recent effort to update their guide for new players took an odd turn and eventually came out in the form of a pulp science fiction magazine, complete with ads and tales of the astounding.
The .pdf is available for download here.
While oriented towards Goonswarm, the whole thing is worth a look whether you are a newbie, an old hand, or have no real interest in EVE. Better than Breathtaking Dogfights.