GALE's Biography in Context

Biography in Context, GALE, n.d., http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1

Plot Summary and Critical Evaluation

GALE’s Biography in Context serves as a wonderful resource for those wishing to know more about influential people throughout history. This user-friendly database allows users to search for people by their name, occupation, nationality, birth place, and death place. As a result, it would be easy to discover information ranging from the famous people born in your hometown to influential Columbian politicians. Of course, if a user does not have a certain person or topic they wish to search for Biography in Context has popular searches displayed on their homepage. Divided into categories such as African American, Athletes, Children’s Authors, and Social Reformers the database’s homepage invites users to learn more about Clara Barton, Dr. Seuss, Mia Hamm, and Langston Hughes amongst others. The homepage also has a blue column to the left that includes a featured video (such as President Kennedy’s Moon speech) and featured news from The New York Times, USA Today, and the UPI News Track. For those wanting a more complete listing of famous people, they have only to click on the People tab where they will see forty-eight different categories (some of which are quite detailed such as Nobel Peace prize winners). Once there, users can browse through the different categories to find a person they would like to learn more about.

Once a user decides who they want to read about the database takes them to that person’s page where a variety of media is displayed. There, users can browse through academic journals, news articles, speeches, video clips, and websites in order to find all the information they need on the featured person. Indeed, Biography in Context does a brilliant job dividing the wealth of information up into categories based on media type, making it easy for students to include a variety of sources in their research. Biography in Context also provides valuable information on how to conduct research under their Resources tab (found on the front page). Here, students learn tips on how to find the information they want as well as advice on how to determine whether a piece of information if reliable. With research tips and accurate information on a wide range of people, Biography in Context is a valuable database for any library to own.

Reader’s Annotation

Biography in Context is a useful and easy-to-use database for those wishing to discover facts about famous and influential people.

About the Author

N/A

Genre

History, Human interest

Curriculum Ties

This is a great resource for students wishing to find concise, academically sound, information on influential people. It could easily be incorporated in a history unit or one on research methods.

Booktalk Ideas

N/A

Reading Level/Interest Level

Interest Level: 7^th grade +

Challenge Issues

N/A

Why Was This Included?

I decided to include Biography in Context because, as a student, I have found it useful and I believe other students, particularly high school students who are still trying to determine their research style, will also find it useful. Additionally, my local library has this database listed under the Homework category so I felt that the library was marketing it to high school students.