Your Research Librarian
Librarian
Steps in Researching your topics
Some steps in the process of doing library research for your paper:
- Identify the person you will be writing about.
- Do a little bit of background reading on the person. Wikipedia is a good tool for this.
- Identify words and terms that you can use in searches. These include, first and foremost for any search, the name of your person. Organizations, other people, places, and ideas connected to your person may also be effective search terms.
- Select a range of databases and sources to search for information on your person. Including a diversity of sources will tell a richer story.
- Ask for help if you get stuck at any place in the research process.
- Make an appointment with a research librarian if you have any questions.
Additional Biographical and reference sources
Check out these databases for some basic biographical information on your person.
Note: These should NOT be cited as one of your sources for the paper, but just background info to help get more familiarity with the outline of your person's life and work.
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Biography Reference Bank This link opens in a new window
This biographical database offers in-depth profiles from Current Biography and World Authors, the periodical coverage of Biography Index and specialist content of Junior Authors & Illustrators. It provides full-text articles, images and abstracts from today’s leading magazines and journals. Contains nearly 1 million biographical records, as well as related essays and images.
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Biography Reference Source This link opens in a new windowBiography Reference Source provides thousands of unique and reliable full-text biographies, including the complete full text of Biography and Biography Today. In addition to keyword search, users can locate biographies by subject occupation, activity, nationality, gender, birthplace and more.