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Favorite Web Sites: Biography
The web sites featured this month have been critically evaluated and selected
by the IU Northwest librarians as well as a group of academic and public librarians
across the United States who compile a yearly Best
Free Reference Web Sites List for the American
Library Association. Here is a list of selection
criteria initially created by the MARS Best Free Websites Task
Force to choose these sites. The Library hopes our readers will find these
web sites useful for locating reliable, accurate and authoritative information
on the Internet.
Constructed as a companion to C-SPAN's 1999 series, American Presidents: Life
Portraits, the site features basic biographical information and interesting facts
about our nation's 43 presidents along with a wide variety of video and sound
clips and links to other sites of interest on the Web. Texts of speeches and
addresses are included, as well as extensive bibliographies. One unique feature
of the site is the "Presidential Places" search engine, which allows searching
for geographical places of relevance by president's name or by state. There are
also links to photographs of the burial sites of the U.S. Presidents and Vice-Presidents.
A great site for K-12 students as well as a bibliographical resource for older
students and history buffs. (Summary used with permission of the MARS Best
Free Websites Committee)
This searchable directory provides biographical information on the more than
13,000 persons who have served in the U.S. Congress, including those who served
in the Continental Congress. Also included are territorial delegates, resident
commissioners, and U.S. Vice presidents. Based on the print publication Biographical
Directory of the United States Congress, the online version has been augmented
with images from Congressional photo collections, information on related research
collections including personal and business papers and oral histories, as well
as bibliographies from related publications. The interface is clean and simple,
allowing users to search by first and/or last name, state, party, position or
year or Congress, or any combination of these. This is an authoritative source
about those who have served in the country's national legislature, useful both
for younger students as well as more advanced researchers. (Summary used with
permission of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
This Web site, from A&E Television Network, offers over 25,000 biographies
for people past and present. The site is searchable, and each biography includes
links to related people, places, and organizations, as well as A&E's videos-for-sale
section. The site features "Born on This Day" and "Also Born On This Day" biographies.
Upcoming features on A&E's Biography television program are given, and the
left sidebar on the home page lists and links to the "Ten Top Bios." Optimized
for Internet Explorer 5 and above, the only drawbacks to this busy site are large
banner ads and infrequent pop-up windows with featured movies/videos for sale. This
extensive site is the perfect source for anyone looking for background or historical
and biographical information. (Summary used with permission of the MARS Best
Free Websites Committee)
Lives, the Biography Resource is an extensive and well-organized biographical
site that focuses on individuals as well as groups of people. This is mainly
a listing of links to other biographical sites and a disclaimer states that the
links to other sources are not necessarily reviewed for content. That said, however,
the links reviewed appeared to have good credentials. Users can search by name
or browse alphabetical lists. Special pages feature groups such as "African Americans," "Holocaust
Survivors and Rescuers," and "Women." Because this site mainly covers people
who are no longer living, it is a nice adjunct to sites like A&E’s Biography.com that
are oriented toward the contemporary scene and the arts and entertainment worlds.
The site also contains an interesting section of articles on biographical criticism
for scholars. (Summary used with permission of the MARS Best Free Websites
Committee)
Reuters Business Insight Features the Latest Company Profiles from
5 Industry Categories
The IU Northwest Library recently subscribed to Reuters Business Insight.
This online resource provides detailed company reports published by Datamonitor covering
the following industry categories:
• Consumer Goods
• Energy
• Finance
• Healthcare
• Technology
These management reports which are international in scope offer a concise,
yet complete overview of each business sector. They feature up-to-date market
analysis and forecasting data on topical issues concerning leading international
companies.
Company information available on Reuters Business Insight can
be retrieved by keyword in the Search box provided or by choosing
a specific industry link. This database as well as Reuters Datamonitor may
be accessed from IU Northwest campus and off campus computers by IU Northwest students, faculty
and staff by going to the
IU Northwest
Library Electronic Information Page and then clicking on the All Databases
Listed Alphabetically link. At the next screen, select the Reuters
Business Insight or the Reuters Datamonitor link.
Web Of Science and LearningExpress Now Available on a Trial
Basis
The IU Northwest Library has recently made available two new databases on a one month
trial basis, Web of Science and LearningExpress. The
trial subscriptions run from Wednesday, November 5, 2003 through Tuesday, November
25, 2003.
Web of Science contains all three citation databases for the
years: 1975-2002 data, plus all 2003 year-to-date weekly updates.
- Science Citation Index Expanded
- Social Sciences Citation Index
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index
Users will also have access to in-depth chemistry information via Index
Chemicus® and Current Chemical Reactions®.
The LearningExpress electronic product provides information
on test preparation, academic improvement, college preparation and job/career
online interactive solutions.
IU Northwest students, faculty and staff can use and evaluate these products from
IU Northwest
campus or off campus computers through a VPN connection by going to the
IU Northwest
Library Electronic Information Page and under the New Product Trials heading,
click either the Web of Science or LearningExpress link. Each
product's search page has the appropriate login and user feedback information.
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