Tar And Scp

Hey guys I have to small issues that I was hoping I could get some help with. First is a script using tar. Keep in mind that I am a noob lol, and this is my first script. I am taring tar files within a directory, for example, /backup/working/files. How can I back it up without the tar file containing /backup/working/files? I would prefer that when open it up it starts at /files/-then goes into the other tar files.
The other issue is SCP. How can I use it in a script as I cannot type in my password. I was told to use public and private keys, but I am not sure how secure they are. Any help would be great thanks

For additional info type:
"man tar" or "info tar" at a shell prompt

Sometimes it's easier to read via Konqueror. Just type "man:/tar" in the address text field.

Look at tar's, change directory, include, and exclude options.

Might want to take a gander at rsync.

This might help:
How to Copy Files Across a Network/Internet in UNIX/LINUX (Redhat, Debian, FreeBSD, etc) - scp tar rsync