Welcome

This guide is focused on how to locate information about people, past and present. Most of the detail is aimed at utilizing resources "behind the pay wall" - i.e. subscription databases and ebooks that Penn Charter pays for you to be able to access. Many of the resources may be useful for both the "past" and the "present" persons (the present section will be posted at the time of that assignment).

Information is also included about finding quality resources on the Internet, as well as evaluating sources in general.

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Somewhat related - Noodletools has been upgraded over the summer. Your librarians highly recommend using Noodletools for this project.

REMEMBER TO EXPORT YOUR CITATIONS AND USE THE ISBN FOR BOOKS AND EBOOKS. Not sure how? Your librarians can assist.

NOODLETOOLS INBOX = "Leader-Past Lead Profile"

REMEMBER YOU NEED A USERNAME AND PASSWORD TO ACCESS OUR DATABASES WHEN NOT ON CAMPUS - THis will be provided in class.

Resources

There are several types of books that may offer varying perspectives about the person you are researching.

An autobiography was written by that person. Generally it covers the person's whole lift or may be published in a series of books done by time period.
A memoir is often just about a portion of a person's life relating to a topic or theme.
A biography, like an autobiography, is generally concerned about getting the facts in writing from the author's perspective. Biographies may be authorized or unauthorized.

All of these contain some level of bias and perspective.

Look for books (or ebooks) written both by and about your selected leader. Compare what they say, and what do others say about them.

Biographical information may also be in collections, works about a specific time, location, occupation, or other topic such as environmentalists.

AccessIt Library Catalog This link opens in a new window Catalog of library books and online resources
You may browse the Catalog as a Guest or use Single Sign On / SSO to use other features such as "Holds" and to sign on to other databases and ebooks when you are off-campus.

Proquest Ebook Central This link opens in a new window More than 150,000 ebooks are available for multiple people to access at once. This new platform allows you to find books for your research in many subjects. Your PC Gmail username and password allow you to log in with a Single Sign On. These titles do not appear in the AccessIt catalog, so remember this source when looking for research or non-fiction books.
Gale Virtual Reference Library "GVRL" This link opens in a new window (ebook and database cross-searchable)

Encyclopedia of World Biography (part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library

American History (ABC-CLIO) This link opens in a new window American History surveys American history from the colonial era and American Revolution through to the nation’s rise to eminence as a global superpower, analyzing American political conflict, economic development, and changing culture and thought as they tell one continuous and continuing story of America’s history.
American History (Infobase) This link opens in a new window Has maps, charts, timelines, videos in addition to in-depth articles.
Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World This link opens in a new window
Gale Power Search (Gale - metasearch) This link opens in a new window A cross-searchable tool for Gale online resources.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window An archive of fully searchable back issues of scholarly journals in anthropology, African- American studies, ecology, economics, education, finance, general science, history, literature, music, philosophy, political science, sociology, and statistics.
Modern World History (Infobase) This link opens in a new window Modern World History offers a comprehensive look at world history from the mid-15th century to the present, fully cross-searchable.
New York Times Historical Newspapers (Proquest) This link opens in a new window Covers the New York Times from1851 - present - available in Proquest. Graphical Interface http://hn.bigchalk.com/hnweb/hn/do/search
Oxford African American Studies This link opens in a new window 20,000 articles by top scholars in the field on various topics including arts and leisure, business and labor, and history
Oxford Islamic Studies Online This link opens in a new window Encompassing over 5,000 A–Z reference entries, chapters from scholarly and introductory works, Qur'anic materials, primary sources, images, maps, and timelines, Oxford Islamic Studies Online offers a multi-layered reference experience designed to provide a first stop for anyone needing information and context on Islam
ProQuest Database collection This link opens in a new window contains the full text of articles from over 2000 newspapers, magazines, journals

The credibility of content on websites may be more difficult to determine. A source such has Biography.com has mixed reviews in terms of content reliability. Remember that sites such as this, are created by entertainment companies. So, verify what you see in these sites through other sources.

Use a technique called "lateral searching" to establish the expertise of the author, and look for reviews of the website.