LIBRARY PATHFINDER FOR JOMC 53 :
SELECTED RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHING BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

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News reporters, editors and photographers are frequently looking for information about individuals on deadline. Sometimes the information required is merely for a quick check for a spelling, verification of a title, or address and phone number. On other occasions, a detailed profile is required. A complete history or professional vita, with as much personal information as possible is needed...fast! Frequently, the request is phrased something like this: "All I need is a little background on ___________....ASAP."

In the larger news organizations (metropolitan newspapers, national wire services, big circulation magazines, network television or radio), the first place to check for this type of information is the in-house news library. Determine as much as you can about whether the individual is prominent nationally or significant locally. What job/profession/trade in he/she in? Where does the individual reside? Has she/he been newsworthy for any reason? Have you got the correct spelling of the name?

Finally, be aware that many prominent people are not listed in standard biographical sources; and further, what you do find may be incomplete, incorrect or out-of-date.

Nevertheless, the best place to start your search is in your corporate library's:

  1. clipping collection under the individual's name. (Note: not all clip files on individuals contain bio info; rather they are news articles where the individual may be pictured or quoted. Hope that clips with profiles, features with bio or background info are filed in such a way as to permit easy access.)

  2. in-house online database under the individual's name. (Note: again, hope that you or the librarian can search in such a way as to pull up only the relevant articles with bio info, for example:
    ? michael jordan AND terms (profile or feature or biography)

  3. background folders under the person's name or related topic. (Note: most wire services, AP for example, already have periodically updated features on prominent national and international figures. When injury, disaster or death strikes, the material is released for use by member papers, magazines and networks. Rarely do local papers have to independently provide detailed information on such people for their readers, but what you will likely be sent to do is to get a "local angle," such as finding when that person was last in your area or who had personal knowledge of him/her.)

  4. reference book collection:

    GENERAL: (Note: these reference books are more useful for national and international personalities rather than local people. Also be prepared to check in more than one source to find information as well as to verify conflicting facts such as birth dates.)

  5. online news databases (NEXIS, VU/TEXT, DATATIMES, and Dialog) search full-text, but not necessarily cover-to-cover, on certain newspapers, journals and magazines. (Note: the JoMC Library subscribes to these databases. Check with the library director about scheduling online searches.

Barbara Semonche, JoMC Library. October 1993

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This page was created by Barbara P. Semonche and Brian Raitz. It was last updated on August 17, 1995. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to contact Barbara here.