Monday, April 29, 2013

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.