1. B
OAKLEY

2. Just what is a biography?
A good biography brings a real person to life
and makes us care about what he or she did.

3. The three types of biographies
are:
- Biographies - books about the
lives of famous people.
- Autobiographies - written by
people about themselves.
- Collective biographies - books
about two or more famous
people

4. This individual biography is the story
of Harriet Tubman, a courageous
woman who helped slaves escape to
freedom. It was written by Judy
Carlson.
Individual biographies and
autobiographies are shelved in the
biography section by the person they
are about—not the author.
B Biography (individual)
TUBMAN
The person’s last name.

5. Gary Paulsen, author of Hatchet,
wrote this autobiography. An
autobiography is when a person
writes a book about his or her
own life. Gary tells about his
life by telling stories about some
of the dogs he has known.
The shelf label looks like this.
B Biography (individual)
PAULSON
Person’s last name.

6. Ten Kings and the worlds
they ruled
Discusses ten kings from
around the world. We call this
a collective biography because
it contains information about
more than one person. It was
written by Meltzer.
Look at the shelf label
920 Collective Biography
MEL First 3 letter of the author’s
last name

7. Biographies are found in THREE difference areas
of our library:
1) 920 – Collective biographies in the Reference
and Non-Fiction section
2) B – Autobiography and Individual biographies
are at the end of the Non-Fiction
3) INDIA 920 & 921 – Collective
/Autobiography/Individual biographies
Non-fiction INDIA collection

8. Biography
B (Individual)
SHAKA
The person’s last name
• By shelving individual biographies this way, all of
the books about one person will be together.

9. Most biographies are about:
Politicians
Athletes
Scientists
Religious leaders
Entertainers

10. When you search for a biography, it is best to search by:
• person’s name eg. Michael Jackson
• topic eg. Baseball
• monarch’s first name eg. Queen Elizabeth I
If you type in biography, you will get hundreds of listings!