1. Chapter 11: Answering Questions about the Lives of People– Biographical Information Sources Tessa Brawley Allison Kowalski

2. DEFINITION OF BIOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES Type of reference source that provides answers to patrons about the lives of people Offers information about living and deceased people o More commonly these will be about important historic figures or those presently in the news or media

3. EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS Where was he born? What other books did she publish? What did this president die from? Which celebrity is an advocate of St. Jude’s Hospital? How many children did this celebrity couple have? Where did he go to college before law school?

4. How Biographical Resources are Used Can be electronic (online database) or print (subject encyclopedia) Information can be quick ready reference o Correct spelling of name, date of death or birth, who the spouse is Or information can be more general o Bibliographies are common with these questions because they can provide additional information for the patron

5. How Biographical Resources are Used At times, utilized to define the correct person for the patron if there is more than one person with the same or similar name (i.e., Christopher Columbus) Patron may be searching for more detailed information about a person o Point him or her to a source that has a thorough biography and lists links for additional research Biographical resources may also be grouped by profession or subject

6. Types of Biographical Resources Indexes Biographies of Contemporary People Retrospective Biographies One Volume Biographical Dictionaries Subject-based Biographical Tools Biographical Resources featuring Ethnic/Cultural Heritage Obituaries

7. WHO USES BIOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES Students looking for information for a report Family members researching history about ancestors The average American looking for background information about Barack Obama Psychologist looking for information about colleagues

8. Reference Interview for Biographical Resource Questions Determine if the person is living or dead, as well as the nationality Figure out if the name given is actually the name of the person you are providing resources for Attempt to categorize the person Does the patron want specific information or a general overview? Note the reading level of the audience Suggest bibliographies for additional information

9. EVALUATION OF BIOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES Scope Accuracy Length of entry Criteria for inclusion Audience Authority Frequency of updates Photo References for additional reading

10. American National Biography (ANB) -accessible through SU Bird Library with user ID and password -this is a retrospective biographical resource (no living people will be listed here!) http://library.syr.edu/index.php