Biography Lab
Elizabeth Rose
ILS 504-S70
6 April 2011
Biography Labs
Using the Online Databases in Buley locate the Biography Resources.
Locate Biography & Genealogy Master Index
Select “Help” Evaluate the resource
Select Biography Resource Center
Evaluate the resource
Select an Individual and search for the individual in both Resources
What is the difference between the two resources?
Biography in Context (formerly Biography Resource Center):
Provides biographies on more than 525,000 individuals, with integrated reference
material and multimedia content. Biographies are drawn from high-quality reference
sources, and the database is easy to use in searching for a particular individual. The
splash page also provides different categories (social reformers, environmentalists,
athletes, etc) with examples of individuals to help guide users, as well as a Featured
News section with links to relevant news stories from the New York Times, USA Today,
and UPI NewsTrack. Users can also browse the People section, arranged alphabetically
or by categories. Coverage seems partial (only three First Ladies are included, and there
is only one entry under Asian Americans).
A search for suffrage leader Alice Paul produced three reference articles all dated in the
1990s (from Encyclopedia of World Biography, American Decades, and Dictionary of
American Biography), a magazine article from American Heritage dated 2010, and three
copies of an image of Paul from the Library of Congress. Each of these entries could be
saved, printed, shared, or listened to with an audio file.
Biography & Genealogy Master Index
This resource provides an index to biographical articles in a range of reference works:
biographical dictionaries, subject encyclopedias, indexes, and volumes of literary
criticism.
A search for Alice Paul produced multiple entries, five of which were for the person I
was searching. Choosing the one with the most citations led me to 69 citations, of which
about 10 were to multiple editions of the Biography Index. Other entries directed me to
American Decades, American National Biography, American Heroes, Biographies of
American Women, Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia The Readers’ Companion to
American History, and other reference sources. Since it is an index, this resource would
be helpful in producing a list of citations for me to look up elsewhere; it does not link to
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full text or provide any actual information about the subject. The additional entries for
Paul directed me to obituaries, and to citations in different reference sources.
Comparison:
The difference between the two resources is that Biography in Context provides the user
with brief biographical articles, whereas the Biography & Genealogy Master Index
provides a more extensive list of citations to biographical entries in other reference
sources. The first resource is therefore more helpful for ready reference and a user
wanting immediate access to information, whereas the second resource is more helpful
for a user who wants to make sure she has consulted all the available reference sources.
Since it does not contain a full-text link, many users might find it cumbersome to use.
You also need to be familiar with Biography Resources on the web
See also
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2002/jan/biographyresources
.cfm and http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/reference/bioref.htm
For this exercise
Locate and annotate FOUR Biography resources on the web. Post your work to the
assignment box.
1. The Biography Channel: http://www.biography.com
This site, affiliated with the A&E television series “Biography,” provides
short articles on more than 25,000 living and dead subjects. Information is drawn
primarily from A&E and Encyclopedia Brittanica. The site focuses on American
figures but includes well-known figures from around the world as well. Its
coverage is fairly comprehensive.
Entries for better-known figures (such as Martin Luther King or Marilyn
Monroe) run several pages and include video, quick facts, and related websites or
works. Entries for lesser-known people, including historical figures, are shorter
and simpler. Each entry includes a link to “related people,” and generates
suggestions for recommended biographies which may be thematically related.
The site includes full-length episodes of the television show, photo
galleries, featured biographies, and special sections on women’s history, black
history, U.S. presidents, and others. Overall the site is a rich resource, and is fairly
easy to use, making it a good tool for quick reference. Given its commercial
orientation, I would use it as a starting point for reference rather than an
authoritative source.
2. Biographical Dictionary: http://www.s9.com/
This wiki-style site offers information on more than 28,000 subjects. It claims to
be one of the largest biography sites in the world. It is stronger on historical
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figures than on current biography. (For instance, it does not include entries for
Barack Obama or Bill Clinton, although it does include one for Roger Clinton.)
Entries are at a basic level, with the information arranged as a list of significant
dates in the person’s life. The entries are not very informative and contain no
assessment of the person’s impact or importance. I would not particularly
recommend this resource.
3. POTUS: Presidents of the United States: http://www.potus.com/
Sponsored by the Internet Public Library, this site offers detailed information on
all 43 U.S. Presidents. Each entry provides biographical information (including
family, religion, education, occupation) and information about political party,
other government positions, presidential salary, election results, cabinet members,
notable events, historical documents, and audio and video resources when
available. Links to other online resources are provided, and First Ladies and
Cabinet members are hyperlinked to other sources (although several of these,
especially links to the MSN encyclopedia, were not working links). The site has
not been updated since January 2009.
4. National Women’s Hall of Fame: http://www.greatwomen.org/
This site provides brief biographical entries for each of the women it has inducted.
To be eligible, women must be citizens of the United States and have made
contributions “of national or global importance and of enduring value.” These
contributions may be in a variety of fields: arts, medicine, government,
humanities, or science. Entries include a one-paragraph overview of the subject’s
life and a photograph or drawing, as well as a list of additional sources (archival
collections and published books and articles). These entries are brief but
authoritative, given the research that goes into accepting someone for induction
into the Hall. There is also standard information on her year of induction into the
Hall of Fame, birth and death years, education, countries and states worked in,
and field of achievement. The database can be sorted by first name, last name,
year honored, year of birth, or year of death. Adding the ability to sort this list by
field of achievement would enhance the site’s value to general users and students.
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