Biography in Context

In addition to the online encyclopedias, we also have access to a database with biographical information, Biography in Context.

I find this resource is helpful when students want to look up information about a famous person who is not yet so famous that there are books written about them-- new Red Sox players, for example. It is also helpful for getting the most up-to-date information about a person-- Barack Obama is a good example--we have books about him, of course, but to find out about a new policy he's promoting or the latest news about his family, Biography in Context is the place to look. It pulls information from all the major newspapers and magazines and is updated much more frequently than our book collection could possibly be!

To get to this resource, start at our library's homepage: Lawrence homepage
Then find the section labeled "Biographies" and click on the link. This resource is provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

Did you know?

Did you know that Lawrence School students have access to many online resources through our library home page? Two examples of excellent online resources follow. To use some online databases from home you need a password--see the librarian to learn what our passwords are.

First, go to the library home page: Lawrence library homepage
Then choose your resource.

World Book Online is an excellent, reliable online encyclopedia on at least three different reading levels-- World Book Kids; World Book Student; World Book Discover. This is the place we encourage students to start their research rather than "googling" their topic. Students will find readable text here and will find reliable, correct information.

Encyclopedia Britannica is another online encyclopedia with a variety of reading levels-- elementary, middle and high school. We've found that some topics are covered here more thoroughly than in World Book Online so it's worth it to look at both sources especially if students are having trouble locating their topic in World Book Online.

Please ask the librarian if you have questions about using either of these resources.