Biographical Sources Sajjad ur Rehman

Use Ready reference Brief background Extensive information Historical/biographical research

Types of Sources Direct: Brief or extensive information Indirect: Pointing to sources; indexes, guides, etc. Original Sources: biographies, autobiographies, primary sources

Considerations Time factor Coverage Retrospective Current Coverage General and comprehensive Subject or specialty (artists/authors, etc.) Area: universal, regional, national, state, city, etc.

Evaluation Criteria (1) Scope: criteria for inclusion of entries Comprehensiveness Accuracy: use of original sources, biases, conflicting facts Authority and Authenticity Objectivity Format

Evaluation Criteria (1) Currency Frequency of revisions and updating of entries Responses to questionnaires in many direct sources References Other Factors User needs Cost Uniqueness

Biography & Genealogy Master Index (B&GMI) Most comprehensive, covering both current and retrospective; more than 6 million references to hundreds of biographical sources International coverage; American emphasis 1981- base of 8 volumes; annual updates; 5-year cumulative indexes Dialog Online: Biography Master Index CD version

Biography Index One of the Wilson indexes; quarterly; annual and biennial cumulations; retrospective as well as current coverage; heavily used in public and academic libraries Indexes 2700 periodicals and thousands of biographical monographs Available as Dialog file and on CD-ROM

Brief and Direct Sources-Current International Who’s Who Current coverage, annual, Europa publication, more than 20 k entries; readable; detailed information Who’s Who in the world Current coverage, annual, Marqus pulication; based on questionnaires; liberal criteria for coverage; targeted for international market

Brief and Direct Sources-Retrospective McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography 11 v, 12th volume is the index; 884 contributors; authoritative Webster’s Biographical Dictionary, 1943- 20 updates, since 1983 name changed to Webster’s New Biographical Dictionary; 30 k entries; international coverage New Century Cyclopedia of Names: 100,000 entries from English-speaking world

Specialized Sources Contemporary Authors 3 types of articles: basic information, sketches on several columns, and essays 9,500 authors included references included complex organization cumulative index

Extensive Information Current Biography monthly, each issue containing 15 long and analytical essays, authoritative, contains a photo, has history of the individual and the family, updated essays, obituaries included, cumulation named as: Current Biography Yearbook

Biography Sources on Web http://www.biography.com/ae/ 25,000 current and old biographies http://www.biography-center.com/ 27867 biographies (10989 biographies in English) http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica Public information facility used for learning; covers many areas