Showing posts with label biographical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biographical. Show all posts

Friday, April 15, 2011

NNDB: Tracking the entire world

 

NNDB is an intelligence aggregator that tracks the activities of people we have determined to be noteworthy, both living and dead. Superficially, it seems much like a "Who's Who" where a noted person's curriculum vitae is available (the usual information such as date of birth, a biography, and other essential facts.)

But it mostly exists to document the connections between people, many of which are not always obvious. A person's otherwise inexplicable behavior is often understood by examining the crowd that person has been associating with.

Eventually, we will have synopses and analyses of creative works by the people in the database, including their books, films, and recordings.

NNDB: Tracking the entire world

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa - The University of Iowa Libraries

The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa - The University of Iowa Libraries 

Online version of The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa, edited by David Hudson, Marvin Bergman, and Loren Horton. Written by an impressive team of more than 150 scholars and writers, The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa was created to spotlight prominent Iowans throughout the history of the region.

Iowa has been blessed with citizens of strong character who have made invaluable contributions to the state and to the nation. In the 1930s alone, such towering figures as John L. Lewis, Henry A. Wallace, and Herbert Hoover hugely influenced the nation’s affairs. Iowa’s Native Americans, early explorers, inventors, farmers, scholars, baseball players, musicians, artists, writers, politicians, scientists, conservationists, preachers, educators, and activists continue to enrich our lives and inspire our imaginations.

The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa includes each subject’s name, birth and death dates, place of birth, education, and career and contributions. Many of the names will be instantly recognizable to most Iowans; others are largely forgotten but deserve to be remembered. Beyond the distinctive lives and times captured in the individual biographies, readers of the dictionary will gain an appreciation for how the character of the state has been shaped by the character of the individuals who have inhabited it.

The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa - The University of Iowa Libraries