ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 32 / C&RL News ■ January 2002 I N T E R N E T R E S O U R C E S Biography resources Finding information on the famous, infamous, and obscure by Susan A. Schreiner and Michael A. Somers F inding biographical information on the Internet is both time-consuming and frus­ trating. While any particular name can retrieve a number o f hits on any search engine of your choice, finding current, accurate biog­ raphies can b e difficult. Fortunately, the Internet is a rich source o f diverse biographi­ cal information, and the following sites will guide users to an array o f information on numerous topics. This collection is by no means com prehensive (what guide on the Internet is?), but the sites were chosen for the depth of their articles or the sheer bulk of biographical materials available. B io g ra p h ic a l search e n g in e s • F r e e a lity . The site offers users a variety o f sources for searching online biographies. There are links to both general and specific resources, such as “Information Please” and “First Ladies.” There is also a section labeled “Famous People” with links to ten additional resources, which run the gamut from “Women in Science” to “Billionaires” to “Popes.” Each resource contains both a link to the resource itself and a search box that searches that particular site. It is an easy-to-use site with many navigational links and eye-catching graphics. While this site does not attempt to b e exhaustive, it is a good first stop. Access: http://www.freeality.com/biograph.htm. | • Y a h o o : P eo p le. Has anyone on this p lanet not used Yahoo? T h e organization o f the site is Y a h o o ’s hallm ark. T h ere is a gen eral list o f categ ories follow ed by site listings. T h e c a teg o ries are useful, but the ex ten t o f the links is inconsistent. Access: http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/ People/. G en e ral b io g ra p h y • B io g ra p h y .c o m . Created by the A&E network and based on the popular show B i­ ography, this site offers basic biographical information on more than 25,000 famous and notable persons. Although popular figures and historical names tend to have much more in- depth biographies than important scholars and obscure names, this is an excellent starting point for anyone searching for biographical information. Access: http://biography.com/. • B io g ra p h ic a l D ictio n ary . Offering in­ formation on more than 28,000 persons, this site is another good starting point for bio­ graphical research. Usually presenting good and somewhat in-depth preliminary informa­ tion on historical figures, this site tends to be w eaker on current biography. While som e­ tim es provid in g m ore in fo rm atio n than About the authors Susan A. Schreiner is pursuing a second master's degree, e-mail: libschr@isugw.indstate.edu; and Michael A. Somers is assistant dean for library services at Indiana State University, e-mail: isugw.indstate.edu http://www.freeality.com/biograph.htm http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/ http://biography.com/ mailto:libschr@isugw.indstate.edu C&RL News ■ January 2002 / 33 Biography.com, it is presented in a less read­ able fashion. Overall, this is a good site that will help students find basic information, es­ pecially on historical figures. Access: http:// www.s9.com/biography/. • D istin guished W om en o f P ast an d P resent. Created and maintained by Danuta Bois, this site links to numerous biographies of “women who contributed to our culture in many different ways … [including] … educa­ tors, scientists, heads of state, politicians, civil rights crusaders, artists, entertainers, and oth­ ers.” Although many o f the links tested are n o longer available and the collection of names is still limited, the biographies reviewed are well-written and the links informative. Ac­ cess: http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/. A rtistic lives • th e-artists.org. The splash page for this site is deceptively simple. There are two pri­ mary search options— biographies of 20th cen­ tury and contemporary visual artists from an alphabetical list or artist’s name from a list or­ ganized by art movement, style, or medium. Although the biographical data is brief, each contains a picture of the artist and each has links to additional sites and resources. Access: http://www.the-artists.org/. • U n io n List o f A rtist N am es (ULAN). ULAN is, according to its help screens, a struc­ tured v ocabu lary “that c on tain s around 220.000 names and other information about artists.” The scope is global and the periods covered are from antiquity to the present. Each record includes variations of the artist’s name, dates, geographic locations, relationships (such as student-teacher relationships), notes, and sources for the data. Records can b e pur­ chased and downloaded so that an institu­ tion can create its own database with this in­ form ation. A ccess: http://www.getty.edu/ research/tools/vocabulary/ulan/. • Artists’ B iographies. This is one of the most comprehensive sites for information about painters, sculptors, photographers, architects, designers, and other artists. Of the more than 16.000 biographies listed, some 15,000 are de­ rived from articles in The Grove Dictionary o f An. All o f the articles on this site are free and available to users. Since the additional links on most pages are to the online version o f the dictionary itself, the user may be thwarted if the user or the library does not have a sub­ scription. A ccess: http://www.artnet.com/ library/index.asp. H ollyw ood lives • In tern et Movie Database (IMDb). IMDb (Access: http://www.imdb.com/) allows search­ ing of anyone involved with filmmaking. Al­ though this site provides good information on a variety o f different Hollywood types, the search engine brings up many trivial hits. A better choice is to go directly to the alphabeti­ cal biographies index at http://us.imdb.com/ Sections/Biographies/Index/A. • W h at a C h a ra cte r!.co m . Providing bio­ graphical information on hundreds of charac­ ter actors, this site allows searching by an al­ phabetical index that also includes each actor’s photograph. Great fun to search as you learn more about many actors you know only by sight. The site provides a brief bio and com­ plete filmography of the film and television appearances o f each actor. Access: http:// www.what-a-character.com/. Le gal lives • Suprem e C ourt Ju stices. This site of­ fers comprehensive biographical information on every Supreme Court justice from John Ja y to Stephen Breyer. It includes details on each justice’s personal life, education, legal career and case participation, as well as his or her predecessor and successor. A very well- d one site. A ccess: http://oyez.nwu.edu/ justices/justices.cgi. • W om en ’s Legal H isto ry B io g ra p h y P roject. Developed for a Stanford course on Women’s Legal History, these biographies on women in the field of law were written by students. Due to difficulties in maintaining cur­ rent information on living women, the site now plans to add only posthumous biographies in the future. Although limited in subject and number of women studied, the articles are com prehensive and well written. Access: http://www.stanford.edu/group/WLHP/. Literary lives • B ook Lovers-G reat W riters. This per­ sonal page is wonderfully eccentric. The owner clearly states that the writers listed have achieved “world literature level” and that they have at least one “significant” Web page de­ voted to them. Although some of the links are no longer active, the majority are and they lead http://www.s9.com/biography/ http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/ http://www.the-artists.org/ http://www.getty.edu/ http://www.artnet.com/ http://www.imdb.com/ http://us.imdb.com/ http://www.what-a-character.com/ http://oyez.nwu.edu/ http://www.stanford.edu/group/WLHP/ 34 / C&RL News ■ January 2002 to some intriguing, informative sites. By no means a comprehensive site, some o f the links are unique and beneficial. A ccess: http:// www.xs4all.nl/~pwessel/writers.html. • Voices F r o m th e Gaps: W om en W rit­ ers o f Color. Hosted by the University o f Min­ nesota, this instructional site focuses on the lives and works of North American women writers o f color. Writers can be located either by name, birthplace or geographical location, racial/ethnic background, or significant dates. Not all o f the writers listed have completed biographies. However, the ones available are very well crafted and include bibliographies and related links. A very valuable tool for stu­ dents and sch olars alik e. A ccess: http:// voices.cla.umn.edu/. • B iog rap h ies: T he P oets. A general util­ ity site, the descriptions o f the poets’ lives and works are usually succinct. The list of poets is rather brief and biased toward British writers from the 17th through the 19th centuries. What is intriguing about this site are the eccentric related links, which range from more complete biographies o f the poets themselves to indi­ vidual poems to other biographies in different section s o f the site itself. Access: http:// www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Liter- ary/BiosPoets. htm. M ilitary lives • H isto ry M akers. This site contains two related pages: C onfederate G enerals o f th e Civil W ar (Access: http://www.historycentral. com/bio/CWcGENS/index.html) and U n io n G enerals o f th e Civil W ar (Access: http:// w w w .h is to r y c e n tr a l.c o m / b io / U G E N S / Index.html). Accessed from the historycentral. com splash page directly or via the “History Makers” page, the biographies are listed al­ phabetically. Each general’s page includes an image o f some type, vital statistics (including highest rank achieved), and an extensive bi­ ography. This is a useful tool for the casual learner. Access: http://www.historycentral. com/bio/index.html. • WWT B io g rap h ical D ictio nary. Promi­ nently displayed on each page o f this site is a disclaimer that the site is incomplete and un­ der construction. However, the site does con­ tain valuable descriptions o f some of the ma­ jor world figures from this era. The biographies vary from the succinct to the more extensive and each includes an image. As an educational site, its value will improve as more biographies are added. Access: http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/ ~kansite/ww_one/bio/bios-home.html. M usical lives Finding information on famous musicians is made easier by several sites. • Classical composers are presented both on the N axos site, provided by HNH Interna­ tional Ltd. (Access: http://www.naxos.com/ newDesign/fcomposere.flles/bcomposers.htm), and at Dr. E strella’s In cred ib ly Abridged D ictio n ary o f Classical C o m p osers. Access: http://www.stevenestrella.com/composers/ index.html. • R o ck a n d Roll H all o f F am e. Informa­ tion on rock stars inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall o f Fame can b e searched by name or induction year at this site. Access: http:// www.rockhall.com/hof/allinductees.asp?sort= ln%2Cfn. • PBS Jazz. Nearly 100 famous jazz musi­ cians are profiled at this site; audio samples of th e a r tis ts ’ w o rk are in c lu d e d . A ccess: http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/. • All-Media Guide. This site provides in­ formation on all types of musicians, with bio­ graphical details presented in six languages, in­ formation on recordings, tours and history, list­ ings and links to major influences, and a sum­ mary of the artist’s/group’s achievements. Access: http://www.allmusic.com/. P hilo so p h ical lives • M ajor W orld P h ilo so p h ers. For basic information about the major philosophers of the world, this site provides concise descrip­ tions o f the philosopher’s origins, major field of philosophical investigation, and bits of other pertinent information, which helps identify the accomplishments and achievements o f each philosopher. For those just learning about phi­ losop hy , this is a b e n e ficia l site. A ccess: h t t p ://w w w .c f t e c h . c o m / B r a i n B a n k / O T H E R R E F E R E N C E / P H I L O S O P H Y / MajWrldPliilsop.html. • Stanford E n cyclop edia o f Philosophy. A dynamic reference tool, the entries are writ­ ten and maintained by experts in the field, who update them as needed. All entries, whether new or updated, are rigorously reviewed by the editorial board before they are loaded onto the site. The biographical entries are richly detailed, containing lengthy explanations o f the http://www.xs4all.nl/~pwessel/writers.html http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Liter- http://www.historycentral http://www.historycentral.com/bio/UGENS/ http://www.historycentral http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/ http://www.naxos.com/ http://www.stevenestrella.com/composers/ http://www.rockhall.com/hof/allinductees.aspPsort%e2%80%9c http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/ http://www.allmusic.com/ http://www.cftech.com/Brain C&RL News ■ January 2002 / 35 philosopher’s areas of inquiry, bibliographies, and links to related sites. By no means com­ plete, the encyclopedia is impressive, even in its current abridged form. Access: http:// plato.stanford.edu/. Political lives American politics are always a favorite research topic. Fortunately several good sites offer in- depth information on our national leaders. • Both A m erican Presiden ts, developed b y C -S p a n (A c c e s s : h ttp :/ / w w w . americanpresidents.org/22.asp), and POTUS: P resid en ts o f th e U nited States, an Internet P ub l i c L ib ra ry s ite (A ccess: http:// www.potus.com/), offer detailed information on all 43 U.S. Presidents, including film and audio clips, transcripts o f speeches, and fur­ ther research information. • F irst Ladies o f th e USA. This site pre­ sents each First Ladies’ history in an interest­ ing, easy-to-read manner. A ccess: http:// www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/. • B iog rap h ical D ire c to ry o f th e United States C ongress. Interested in learning more about your favorite senator? Try this site, which offers a brief summary o f the historical high­ lights o f the mem­ b e rs o f Congress from 1774 on. Access: http://bioguide.congress.gov/ biosearch/biosearch.asp. • Th e P olitical G raveyard. Finally, al­ though professing to be “The Web site that tells where the dead politicians are buried,’’ the Political Graveyard also provides basic biographical information on tens o f thousands o f politicians, including dates o f birth and death (if applicable), political position held, relationship to other political figures, and numerous links to other pertinent informa­ tion. Access: http://potifos.com/tpg/. S cie n tific lives • 4 0 0 0 Y ears o f W om en in Science. This unique site of­ ANTH RO PO LO G Y B i o g r a p h y w e bfers browsers a glimpse into the lives o f an impressive handful o f women sci­ entists. Arranged alphabetically, the list can also be sorted by field of study or time period. Each biography is too brief, since the discoveries and accomplishments are certainly notable. A good starting point to pique one’s curiosity. A ccess: http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000W S/ summary, shtml. • A frican-Am ericans in th e Sciences. As an information resource, this site excels at both the depth of the information provided and the ease of navigating through it. A great compilation o f African American scientists and engineers, the men and women featured on this page have achieved success in mathemat­ ics, chemistry, physics, meteorology, and zo­ ology, as well as other related sciences. Cer­ tainly, this is a worthwhile educational site. Access: http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/ display/faces.html. • M athem aticians. A great resource, this site is updated regularly and provides the depth o f information to ensure its educational utility. The site is comprehensive and well organized with universal scope and detailed biographies. Most biographies include a portrait, a list of references, a link to other mathematicians born in the same country, and other useful links. This educational site is a reference librarian’s best friend for information in this subject area. Access: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/ -history/Bioglndex.html. • National In ven tors. Sponsored by the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the biogra­ phies listed on this site range from the brief to the detailed. Each inventor is an inductee into the Hall o f Fame and each biography lists the date of induction, the notable invention(s), and the patent number(s). The biographies are in­ formative with links to additional sites. Access: http://w w w .invent.org/book/book-text/ indexbyname.html. • Biographies o f Biologists. A BIOSIS re­ source guide, the entries listed are selectively culled from other online sites and organized alphabetically. This is not an exhaustive list, but it is impressive and easy to use. For those who need quick access to information about biologists, this is a good starting point. Access: h ttp://w w w .biosis.org/zrd ocs/zoolinfo/ biograph.htm. • A n th ro po log y B iogra­ p h y W eb . T h is site w as (continued on p a g e 39) http://www http://www.potus.com/ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ http://bioguide.congress.gov/ http://potifos.com/tpg/ http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/ http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/ http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/ http://www.invent.org/book/book-text/ http://www.biosis.org/zrdocs/zoolinfo/ C&RL News ■ January 2002 / 39 and Rare Books cataloger, Stanford University Libraries, Catalog Department. U niversity Lib rarie s Section V ice-chair/Chair-elect: Bruce Henson, acting head, Reference Department and reference librarian, Georgia Institute o f Technology; Gillian McCombs, Central University librarian, Southern Methodist University. M em ber-at-large: Najit Brar, assistant dean, Access and Bibliographic Services, and Library Systems, California Polytechnic State University; Lynn S. Cline, head, Collection Development and Acquisitions, Southwest Missouri State University Libraries; F ra n k Mols, assistant director for Technical Services, State University of New York at Binghamton, Libraries; Peter Watson-Boone, library director, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. W estern European Stu d ies Section Vice-chair/Chair-elect: Katalin Radies, West- European bibliographer, Charles E. Young Research Library, University o f California Los Angeles; A nn P. Snoeyenbos, librarian for West European Social Science, New York University. S e c r e t a r y : C a n d a c e Y. Miller, re fe re n c e librarian, James Madison University; Louis Reith, “Becom ing p a r t o f the course ” con t.from p a g e 13) E x te rn a l Lin ks The External Links area is used to reference W eb sites related to a course. Use this area to showcase a list of evaluated electronic ref­ erence materials that you have discovered. You can also use External Links in conjunc­ tion with the Discussion Board. Have stu­ dents send the URL o f one W eb site on their research topic to the Discussion Board and then post all the sites to the External Links page. Have students evaluate the W eb sites and discuss whether they would be worthy o f citation in their final bibliographies. As you can see, Blackboard and similar courseware packages offer librarians an op­ ( “Biography resources” con t.from p a g e 35) developed by students in the anthropology pro­ gram at the University of Minnesota, Mankato, as part o f an e-museum. The site is “by no means a comprehensive list,” but more names are added rare book cataloger, Georgetown University. M e m b e r -a t-la r g e : L a u r a D a le B isc h o f, librarian for Western European History and Social Sciences, University o f Minnesota; Bryan Skib, c o o r d in a to r o f G ra d u a te L ibrary Collections, University o f Michigan. W om en's Stu d ies Section V ice-chair/C h air-elect: Laura Micham, head o f Public Services, Special Collections and Archives Division, Emory University; Sandra A. River, curren t periodicals/m icroform s librarian with dual appointment in Information Services (liaison to English, Philosophy, and Women’s Studies). S ecretary: Cynthia A. Johnson, reference and collection developm ent, Barnard College; Martha Henn McCormick, Women’s Studies and English librarian and program director, Information Resources Unit o f the Center for Teaching and Learning, University Library of In d ia n a U n iv e rsity P u rd u e U n iv e rsity Indianapolis. M em ber-at-large: Je n n ife r R. Gilley, assistant librarian, Penn State New Kensington; Kelly B. Hoυendick, reference librarian, Sociology and Women’s Studies Specialist, Syracuse University, E. S. Bird Library. ■ portunity to participate more fully in the coursework o f our university’s students. Even if a one-hour session is all the class time a faculty member is willing to give us, we can be active members o f a course, answering questions, participating in discussions, direct­ ing students in the successful completion of their research. Notes 1. WPI currently uses Blackboard 5.5 Level 3. For more information, see Blackboard’s Web site at http://www.blackboard.com. 2. Nancy K. Getty, Barbara Burd, Sarah K. Burns, and Linda Piele. “Using Courseware to Deliver Library Instruction via the Web: Four Examples,” R eference Services Review 28 No. 4 (2000): 349-59. ■ each semester. The list, arranged alphabetically, contains almost 500 names o f people who have influenced anthropology. A very useful tool that is easy to navigate. A ccess: http:// emuseum.mnsu.edu/information/biography/. ■ http://www.blackboard.com