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FYS - Lead Out Loud: Books (Biography Assignment)

Biographies: Background Information

Biographies: Background Information
A biography is an account of someone's life, written by someone else. An autobiography is an account of a person's life written by that person. Before you begin searching for a biographical work on the person you selected, consider the following:

  • Name: Full name, nicknames and variant spellings (e.g., Abraham Lincoln OR Abe Lincoln)
  • Time Period: Years in which the person lived and worked (e.g., 19th century, 1960s)
  • Country: Where the person lived (e.g., United States, England)
  • Occupation: What the person did for a living and associated synonyms (e.g., writer, author, novelist)
  • Characteristics: Ethnicity, gender, genre, etc. (e.g., black, women, post-modern)

Struggling to Come Up With a Person?
Take a look at these databases. 

Spartan Search: Books & More

Access Books, eBooks, DVDs and More
 

Your Library Account

Locating Biographies @ Funderburg

Locating Biographies @ Funderburg
Funderburg library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification System which groups books on similar topics together. With this in mind, all books about U.S. presidents, for instance, will be located on the shelf near each other. All books about musicians will be together also, and so on. 

Unfortunately, this means that biographies aren't all located in one place, but instead are spread out according to what the person was known for. 

Once you've looked at the Background Information section of this page, use the Spartan search box above to search our catalog of books.

Sample Selection of Biographies @ Funderburg

eBook Databases

Use the following links when accessing ebook databases directly:

Access Your Library Account

When accessing your library account online, you can view:

  • What you currently have checked out, the due date of those items, and the opportunity to renew the items online
  • Holds that have come in and are ready for pick-up
  • Fines accumulated
  • Your personal contact information and the ability to make quick changes

Access your account by:

  1. Clicking the Your Library Account link from the Spartan Search box on the left
  2. Logging in with your MU network username and password, making sure to capitalize the 1st three letters of your username
  3. Clicking the My Account link found at the top right corner of the search page that appears

Questions? Ask your friendly librarians using the contact information on the Home tab of this guide!