How do I find biographies?
Answer
There are three types of biography. According to The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, their definitions are the following:
- Autobiography: A narrative account of some person's life, written by that person. Autobiography differs from biography not only in its evidently more subjective narrative point of view but in its inconclusiveness: an autobiographer cannot recount her or his own death.
- Biography: A narrative history of the life of some person; or the practice of writing such works.
- Memoir: A narrative recollection of the writer's earlier experiences, especially those involving unusual people, places, or events. A memoir is commonly distinguished from an autobiography by its greater emphasis on other people or upon events such as war and travel experienced in common with others. Memoirs are supposed to be nonâfictional.
You can find all three types in our library catalog, as well as certain databases linked in this FAQ. Here are some keyword combinations to try:
- Person's name
- Person's name (using the Author field)
- Person's name AND biography
- Person's name AND memoir