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Susan Turkel, Outreach and Information Technology Librarian (BMC)

Sections:

Term paper assignment
Brief biographies of famous people
Biographies & Memoirs: Recommendations
Finding books in Tripod and beyond
Getting help!

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SOWK 142 : Human Behavior in the Social Environment III (BMC)

Term paper assignment:

Write a term paper illustrating the application of theories of human behavior, life cycle theory, and the concepts of vulnerability, risk and resilience to a biography or autobiography of your choice. Ideally, the book should capture the person’s life experience through the early, middle or older years.

Factors to consider:

Individual factors (biological, cognitive, and affective aspects of development)
Family and relationship factors (include patterns of family communication and intergenerational issues as relevant)
Sociocultural factors (culture, ethnicity, race, gender, and sexual orientation, etc., as relevant).
Social class and socio-structural factors (economic factors, social policies, educational and employment opportunities, patterns of discrimination, etc.)

Brief biographies of famous people:

Biography resource center

Provides access to biographical sources on over 325,000 people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas. Look for "Further readings" at the end of each article to identify book-length biographies.

Three ways to search:

Name (for a known person)
Click Biographical Facts Search to browse for individuals meeting your search criteria (sex, nationality, ethnicity, occupation).
Click Advanced Search to search the full text of biographical essays for a term of interest (e.g., lesbian, working class)

Biographies & Memoirs: Recommendations:

New York Times - 100 Notable Books of 2007

Scroll down to the "nonfiction" section to find highly recommended biographies and autobiographies. This site also provides links to lists from the last 10 years.

NextReads newsletters

This is an archive of newsletters from NextReads, a reader's advisory service. Scroll down to "Biography and Memoir" and browse some recent issues. Each provides a capsule description of highly recommended books.

Book review index

Provider: Gale

A comprehensive online guide to book reviews with over five million review citations from thousands of publications. Covers 1965-present.

Ways to search:

Book title or author name
Advanced Search: change dropdown menu to Keyword and enter terms (biography and jewish and childhood, memoir and mental illness, etc.)

Finding books in Tripod and beyond:

Once you've identified a book you'd like to read, go to Tripod to see if we have it. If we don't, or if our copy is checked out, try EZ-Borrow or Interlibrary Loan.

Tripod library catalog.

The library catalog of Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges.

Ways to search:

Do a TITLE search when you know the book's title.
Do a SUBJECT search for a specific person (last name first, e.g., obama, barack)
Do a SUBJECT search for biographies of people by category (e.g., biography jews)
Try a KEYWORD search including "memoir or biography" and other keywords of interest to find books with these words in the title or description (e.g., memoir russian childhood)

You may also want to try the public library. Many public libraries have sections devoted to biography and autobiography.

EZ-Borrow and Interlibrary Loan

If we don't have the book you need, try EZ-Borrow. Log in with your library barcode, search by title, and place your request. The book will be delivered within three to five days, and you can keep it for up to two months.

Getting help!

If you need help: ASK A LIBRARIAN!!! Please come see us and we will help you with your research. Canaday Library Reference Desk Hours:

    Mon-Wed 10am-noon / 1-5pm / 7-10pm

    Thu-Fri      10am-noon / 1-5pm

    Sat-Sun   1-5pm

Reference Desk telephone: (610) 526-5279

Ask a Librarian - Fill in the form, give us your email address, and we will answer within 24 hours!