Questions to consider:
1- Is the person dead or alive? Think: obituaries.
2- What years did they live? Life-time indicates age of
material.
3- What did they do? What do they do now? Inventions, discoveries,
prizes, honors all count for something, especially news
coverage.
4- What was their occupation? Company histories are a good place to
look; like the International Directory of Company
Histories, HD2721.I630 in RR.
5- Could they be associated with any particular time
period (like "the 60s") or movement (like "civil
rights") or person/group (think Ringo Starr and the
Beatles)? Prominent people may be featured in a book about
something larger than just them.
Relying On
Tidbits
Tidbits: tiny pieces of information you can pick up from reputed
sources to form a picture of that perons's life. The less famous a
person is, the more you will have to rely on such tidbits.
Reference materials often provide such information.
Reference
Materials
In Regenstein Library
(first floor reading room):
Current
Biography, CT100.C94
Who's Who in America (brief info), E176.W62
Who's Who in the World (brief), CT120.W62
Concise Dictionary of American Biography, E176.D571
1997
St. James Guide to Biography, Z5301.S34 1991
American National Biography, E176.D58 1999
**Who's Who Among Outstanding Business Executives,
HF5500.3.U54.W496 1995
**Who's Who Among Top Executives, HD38.25.U6 W36 1996
** Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors
and Executives, HG4057.A1P81
Books at
Regenstein
Fame often accounts for
a lot in terms of biography. In the library catalog, try a
subject alphabetical browse on the name of the person or
the company they work for.
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Databases
African American Biographical
Database (1790-1950) includes photographs and
illustrations.
American National Biography Click
on "subscribers enter here". Deceased people only. Excellent
cross-references.
Biography Index (1984-) Includes individual and collective
biographies from all fields and nationalities. You can search by
industry ( i.e. "computers" and "executive"). Some full-text.
Articles often provide information. We suggest looking in Factiva, ABI/Inform and OneSource Global Business
Browser.
Pictures
The top two places to look for a picture of
your favorite executive: 1- company homepage. 2- annual
report.
Web
Sources
Try the company's homepage.
Often the top executives are listed and pictured within the
company's info. Try searching for your person's name if the site
has a "search" function. You never know what you may find.
Also, SEC documents, like proxy statements (form 14A), reveal the
age, position and brief backgrounds of top execs and directors.
Check Lexis-Nexis
or FreeEdgar for this
info.
Finding Obituaries
If you know where they
lived (hometown), or where their company was headquartered, the
local paper may have written something. Check the library catalog
for newspaper holdings and get ready to load up the microfilm. For
national characters, check the big newspapers: (N.Y. Times, L.A.
Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune).
Obituary Index: CT210.o24, in RR1
In-person help:
Stop by, call or e-mail.
Reference and Business Information Center
First Floor, Regenstein Library
Monday-Friday: 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday: closed
Phone: (773) 702-4685
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