News Library

The Database of Biographical (People) Files

This database contains information about the people files in the University Communications Library. The entries are based on what is on the label of the file.

The purpose of the database: The primary purpose is have a record of the biographical files. Secondary purposes include: quick fact checking, an indication of biographical information, and a way to tell the physical location of a file.

How to use the database:

Simple Search:

  1. Type either the last or first name (or part of the name) or both names into the blank(s).
  2. Click on "Find."

Advanced Search:

You do not have to complete all the blanks for this search to work. Any information in any field will allow you to execute a search.

  1. Type either the last or first name (or part of the name) or both names into the blank(s).
  2. "In the," "before the," and "after the" selections narrow the search, but must be combined with a year to work.
  3. The year selection can be combined with a name to narrow results or it can be used singly to show files for people who left in a particular year.
  4. The department name choice can be combined with a name or year to provide more searching or it can be used alone to show files for people in a certain department. The name of the department comes from the file label, which may not be completely up to date. Also, the database only allows a person to be listed in two departments, so faculty with appointments three or more departments will not appear under all departments. Where this is the case, the departments listed first on the label are listed first in the database. Sometimes a faculty member may be listed under the larger department, school, or college instead of a smaller department or vice versa.

Interpreting the Results:

The results will show the name of the person, a link to contact information (if available), information about the person as included on the label of the file in the library, and information from the Experts Database.

When you enter a name for searching, the database will retrieve any records with those letters in the name section. For example, searching on the last name "Hill" will retrieve records with the last name "Churchill." Entering both the first and last name of a person will work. When you search, you will probably not get the exact file you want, unless the person has a unique name, so look through a few records to find the one you want.

If the database doesnít find a file or name, it will say "Nothing matched." This statement means one of two things: The library does not have a file for the person or something is wrong with the search. Check for spelling errors. Try searching with just the last name, first name, or try using a shortened form of the name.

There can be seven lines of information. In the order they appear:

Lines 1-2: Department: Two lines are for departments, but not everyone has two departments. The department list comes from the front of the staff directory. Some people have no department listing, like guest speakers/lecturers, administration members, and a few others.

Line 3: Position or Title: The position is indicated by the file label: professor, dean, staff, alumnus/alumna, guest speaker/lecturer, coach, scientist/researcher, etc. These terms are picked from a fixed list, so they may not be the exact title. For the database, a person only has one position. Usually the highest position is indicated. If the person is a dean and a professor, the dean position will be indicated. If the personís position or title is not a choice on the list, either "staff," "none," or the closest possibility is used.

Line 4: Left the University in: This line only appears if the person has left the university. It indicates the year the library has on record for the person leaving the university or becoming emeritus. The library gets this information from the press, from a list of faculty who have left, and other sources. This year comes from the year written in black marker on the file. For guest speakers/lecturers who have files, this year is the most recent year the person spoke here. For example, the Dalai Lamaís file has a year of 1998 because that was the most recent year he spoke here, although he has spoken here a few times.

Line 5: CV/Bio Available: This line only appears if there is biographical information in the personís file, which is information written by the person or the personís department. The year of the biographical information is indicated on the file, but not in the database.

Line 6: Emeritus and/or Deceased: This line only appears if the person is deceased and/or emeritus. If the library has information that the person attained emeritus status or is dead, it is indicated on the file by an "e" or a red dot. If a person is both, both will be indicated.

Line 7: File moved to: This line indicates if the file is in the "Inactive" files or in University Archives. If neither is indicated, the file is in the "Active" files.

When you have located a file or files, read the "Using the Library" and "Location and Hours" sections of the Web site to learn how to access the materials.