February’s final database highlight is Biography Reference Bank [1]. This is the place to go when all your Black History Month biographies are checked out or you come across a student needing information on an African American inventor by tomorrow.  With the ability to filter by occupation, gender, and place of origin, the database scans the lives of over 750,000 individuals to return targeted results.

This biographical database offers the in-depth profiles from Current Biography and World Authors, the periodical coverage of Biography Index and the specialist content of Junior Authors & Illustrators. It provides full-text articles, images and abstracts from today’s leading magazines and journals. – from the vendor

This week’s open site comes with an ‘at your discretion' warning. That’s right, the FBI Vault [2] contains 'actions, words, or images of a graphic nature'. With files being added on a continual basis, there’s always something to dig into. You’ll find the files for Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Dorothy Dandridge, Nelson Mandela, and more. Many are handwritten scans so they are difficult to read but offer a unique view into history.

Action Steps

• Run a keyword search in Biography Reference Bank [1]. List one interesting fact about the person you discovered.
• Search Biography Reference Bank [1] and filter for an occupation you’re interested in. Name a person from the search results.
• If you’ve read a good biography recently, share the title and author in the comments!

Notepads for all respondents