Training Presentation Notes
Background information
1. Work began in 1880s, release from 1890s. 60 volumes in print. Short and long
articles (35,000 words longest). Complete rewrite in 1990s, 10,000 contributors.
2. Criteria for entry – people who have made a significant contribution to British life,
culture, entertainment, sport etc. Not necessarily born in Britain.
3. Updates – January for people who died 4 years previously, May, September –
new biographies by theme, & essays.
Home Page
1. Left column - Oxford DNB resources, learning resources, library resources, local
history, open shelves – Sgt Pepper’s – link to George Harrison, see themes &
contributor link
2. Search for Fred Dib* (example of * for difficult spellings),
3. Right column – Life of the Day, Featured in <month>, Podcast, Updates
4. Routes into DNB – tabs & quick search
5. Browser lookup tool (Subscriber services)
Browse
1. A-Z list. Left column to refine, reorder, go to a particular point.
2. Birth date entry (death date for most recent entries). Reverse order & explore.
Quick Search
1. ‘voltaire’ for pseudonyms, non-British biographies, links to EE, OI. John Locke for
fuller OI underbar links
2. Search ‘stephen’ – will find surname, pseudonym, maiden name, nickname, title
etc. 36 results – can be printed & emailed.
3. Narrow down by field of interest – scholar. 3 results (image icon)
4. Also Quick Search with full text on drop-down. Search for place
Biography (Leslie Stephen)
1. Left column – print, email, cite, section headings, References, See Also, Themes
(e.g. Gladstone, Lennon), Other Online Resources (go to WW, NPG).
2. Text – hyperlinks
3. Link to Virginia Woolf, DNB archive
People Search
1. Most useful for local history, school projects, family history etc.
2. Simple level – search for local area. People buried in Highgate cemetery/refine
for Politics.
3. Example of a more complex search - Methodists from Rochdale with an interest
in social reform in the nineteenth century. Step-by-step – Music, Manchester,
1800-1900. People from Hampshire with a connection to the Somme.
4. Fields of Interest full list. Librarian poets. (Religion full list) Composers who also
played strings. Politicians & fraudsters
5. Text Search/Statement of occupation – swindlers, Robert Maxwell – WW
(complementary). Highwayman/woman, rake, wastrel etc.
Last updated 7.11.13
Training Presentation Notes
Reference Search
1. Sources – letters/dickens
2. Archives – Wakefield
3. Likenesses – Holbein, Canterbury Cathedral
4. Wealth at Death – more than £10 million, sheep, debts, servants, slaves. Official
records = those made for tax purposes.
Contributors
1. May know local contributors – search for Roy Jenkins
Themes
1. Grouped by field of interest on the left.
2. 3 types in right column– follow links to each.
3. List – prime ministers, Nobel prize winners, Olympic medal holders, VC holders,
4. Groups – political groups, philosophical societies, the few, the Goons
5. Essays – Five Lives
Last updated 7.11.13