Night of the Notables

Your Research Guide to Biographical Resources

"A Notable is someone who has had a positive influence on our lives and the progress of humanity."

The Night of The Notables Programme involves an in depth study of a notable person, what influences and achievements made him or her famous, what difficulties she or he endured, what drove that person on to become notable.
Your research will involve locating resources to answer questions about your notable person. This guide will help direct you to some useful and authoritative biographical resources, both in print and electronic formats.

The Library Catalogue
The Library catalogue contains information to direct you to the biographical resources held in the library.
The library catalogue is called "Oliver". The logo below will link you directly to the catalogue.

Remember that the library collection has information in many formats including books, links to websites, clickview video clips, DVD's, videos and cd-roms.

Books in the Library Catalogue
Biographies are books about people, their lives, influences, achievements etc. These books are shelved in the alcove near the large display table. You can locate these books through the library catalogue by entering the name of your notable or the profession of your notable in the search window of the library catalogue.

        Biography books that are available for loan are shelved in the Biography Section.
        The call number of biographical books begin with the letter "B". For Example: B 759.9 PIC
        They have a bright green label on the spine.
        Biography books are shelved in Dewey number order according to the person's profession, what they were famous for or the historical period in which they lived.
        The library also has Biographical Reference books such as biographical dictionaries that are NOT available for loan and may only be used in the library
        These books have B REF at the beginning of the call number are shelved in the same Biography Section as the lending copies.

Videos in the Library Catalogue
Begin with the call number "Vi".
Videos are held in the Library Audio Visual Room and are available for overnight loan.
DVD's in the Library Catalogue
Begin with the call number "DVD".
DVD's are held in the Library Audio Visual Room and are available for overnight loan.

Link to Web Sites from the Library Catalogue
You can search for web sites on the library catalogue and connect to these sites directly from the URL on the catalogue record. Web sites have the call number WEBSITE

Link to Biography Web Sites from the Library Web Page
From the Library home page under the heading Information for your Assignments select the link "A-Z websites by Assignment Topic". On the right of the page "Quick Links" select "B" for Biography. Some Biography databases are listed.

Biographical Databases & Websites

General Research Databases
Use the keyword "biography" or the name of the person you are investigating to begin your search.

Library Webs
You have 2 ways of locating biographical information through this database.

Type in the search term "Biography" in the search window and press "Submit".
Select the icon entitled "Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and Newspapers". Click on "Reference Library" and the click on "Biography."

Web Links
Use the search term "Biography" , the name of the individual or their profession.

General Biographical Databases & Websites

Night of the Notables - official site
http://home.pacific.net.au/~greg.hub/notables.html
Famous People
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/famouspeople/
List of Famous People
http://www.selfcreation.com/creation/famous_people.htm
Biographical Databases : Research a Person
Australian War Memorial
http://www.awm.gov.au/database/biographical.asp
Info Please
http://www.infoplease.com/people.html
The Biography Project
http://www.popsubculture.com/
100 People Who Shaped our World
http://www.time.com/time/2006/time100/
Google Directory: Biography
http://www.google.com/Top/Reference/Biography/
Biography.Com Database
http://www.biography.com/
Heroes of the 20th century
http://www.moreorless.au.com/heroes/
Enough Rope with Andrew Denton (ABC TV)
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/

Australian Biography

Australian Achievers
Includes sportspeople, politicians, musicians, artists, writers, women.
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jmresources/achievers/australian.html
Dictionary of Australian Biography
http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/00-dict-biogIndex.html
The White Hat Guide to Australian People : 200 Significant Australians
http://www.whitehat.com.au/Australia/People/People200.asp
Australian of the Year Award
http://www.australianoftheyear.gov.au/pages/index.asp
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/scripts/adbp-ent_search.php?functype=all&functext=%22Australian+Rules+player%22
Notable Australians
http://www.a-scot-down-under.com/aussiewomen.html
Notable Australians - List
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Notable_Australians_-_actors,_actresses_and_comedians
Digital Pictures Collection: National Library of Australia
http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an11655884

Athletes

Olympic Athlete Profiles
Olympic Games official site
http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/profiles/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=71583

Artists

Art Encyclopedia: Famous Artists
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/mostpopular.html
QuotesArt
http://www.artquotes.net/quotesartists.htm

Historical People

Historic Figures Biography
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/
Who's Who in American History
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/bios/bios.html
Find a Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/

Musicians

Music Australia Database
You can find music scores, sound recordings, websites and a range of other music-related material held by a large number of Australia's cultural institutions and specialist music services. It includes all formats, styles and genres, and both heritage and contemporary music. Information about people and organisations is also included.
http://www.musicaustralia.org/
Australian Composes
http://www.amcoz.com.au/composers/default.asp

Women

Notable Australian Women
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jmresources/achievers/women.html
Distinguished Women Past and Present
http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/subject/field.html
Australian Women's History
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/lenorefrost/women.html
Biographies of Notable Women
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_list.htm
Victorian Women Vote 1908 – 2008
http://www.women.vic.gov.au/web12/owpMain.nsf/AllDocs/EA743C27D823C1A2CA2573DA000C3B92?OpenDocument
Women Mathematicians
http://www.agnesscott.edu/Lriddle/WOMEN/alpha.htm
Women Inventors
http://inventors.about.com/library/blwomeninventors.htm
Women's Voices : Quotes from Famous Women
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/qu/blqulist.htm

Scientists

Bright Sparks
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/bsparcshome.htm
World of Scientific Biography
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/

How to Organise your Research
The Research Organiser will help you to organise your research notes, keep you on track and help you to match your information to your research questions. You can save a copy to your
user space or print a copy from here.

Use your Research Organiser to:
1. Record the questions you are answering about your notable person
2. Dot point the answers to your questions and collect information
3. Record where you got your information from so that you can easily produce your bibliography

Your Workbook
You have been provided with a Night of the Notables Workbook which outlines in detail the Night of the Notables Programme.