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SAN JUAN ISLAND LIBRARY |
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Email this page to a friend Related pagesSan Juan Island Library Web site Previous columnsWhat a Great Plan! - For The Moment Stock up on books for November Join in "The September Project Family-friendly approach to learning English Book Learnin' Isn't All "How-To" Library's levy lid lift more than a decade old I never thought I'd say these words, but… Flags Will Be Flying High on the Fifth Teens learn and earn at the library It's a Book! It's Art! No, It's Book Arts! Library in the hands of Buffalo Design |
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Bios are us
Biographical information is among the most sought-after types of data in the library world. Whether a patron is doing a school assignment, scholarly research on a specific person, or just suffering a curiosity attack, the quest for resources about people is an everyday occurrence here. The San Juan Island Library has recently acquired three major new reference works, all in this field. I'd like to invite you to take a look. The Reference Library of American Women and its companion set The Reference Library of American Men are each comprised of four volumes. Each set includes 650 biographical entries on individuals "who have gained international recognition for their enduring contributions for human culture and society." The scope is wide and inclusive, with both historical and contemporary figures. The generosity of a library patron has graced our shelves with the venerable American National Biography, a 24-volume encyclopedia of nearly 17,500 biographical entries. While the term "American" is in the title, this collection does include people of other countries if their "significant actions occurred during his or her residence within what is now the United States or whose life or career directly influenced the course of American history." A significant difference between the ANB and the other two collections I've mentioned is that individuals profiled in the ANB must have died by the year 1996, while the two Reference Library sets include people both living and dead. All three resources provide basic biographical information in entries ranging from 750 to 7500 words, with further suggested readings at the end. The ANB is scholarly in style, while the Reference Library sets are somewhat more accessible to school-age patrons, and include a photograph or portrait at the beginning of each entry. All three of these collections are located in the Reference Section, with the call number of 920.71. If you're looking for facts about a person, that's a good place to start.
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