Researching Your Biography

By Mrs. Manross

What is a Biography?O A biography is a history of

someone’s lifeO It includes important facts about that

person’s lifeO It should also talk about interesting

experiences the person has had

Getting Started O You will need to do research to learn

more about your famous personO When you research you must know

how to find a good website

Finding Good WebsitesO Not all websites are created equalO Some are better than othersO How can you tell what a good

website is?

Tips on Finding Good Websites

OCredibilityOAccuracyOReasonablenessOSupport

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OCredibilityO Who is the author?O Do they have the background needed

to be an expert on the person?O What is the extension of the web

address?O A .edu or .gov usually has more

credibility than a .com

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OAccuracyO Is the web site up to date?O Does the web site include as much

information about the person as possible?

O What is the purpose of the web site?

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OReasonablenessO Is the information fair?O Does the writer take a biased point of

view?

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OSupportO Where did the information come

from?O Did the author use more than one

source?

Now You Are Ready to Begin Researching

O Your first step will be to type in your person’s name in a reputable search engine such as Google

O Look at the file extensions for the sites that come up-is a .gov going to be more reliable than a .com?

O Take notes!

Note takingO What kinds of things will you jot

down?O Start with:

O Where and when your person was born

O Why was your person famous?O At least two interesting things about

your person

You are Ready to Begin!

O Find out as much as you can about your person, but most of all have fun doing your research!