Biography Resource Center is an online biographical reference database is covering figures of note in the areas of literature,
science, multicultural studies, business, entertainment, politics, sports, government, history, arts and newsmakers.
Content description
The Biography Resource Center contains more than 440,000 biographies on more than 340,000 personalities from around the world and
throughout history. It combines more than 135 biographical sources, 325 full-text periodicals and journals, 27,000 portraits and
thousands of news items on high-interest individuals.
Main subject areas
Biography Resource Centre is suitable for areas of literature, science, multicultural studies, business, entertainment, politics,
sports, government, history, arts and newsmakers.
Academic level
Undergraduate.
Date range
Date ranges vary depending on the specific title.
Updates
Daily.
Publisher's selection policy
Content is developed and selected for online database products using any, or a combination of, these means:
- Gale product managers and editors select proprietary eBook reference content sets correlating to subjects and topics
- Gale's in-house staff of editors is experienced at shaping reference products for use by students; they hire professional researchers and writers who specialize in certain subject areas to write the sets and copyeditors and subject specialists to review the content
- Gale editors also hire subject matter experts to write original reference articles specifically for online products
- Customers and focus groups suggest and review content
- Advisory Boards, made up of subject experts, market experts, department heads and key customers, select, suggest and review content. Advisory Boards typically include members of the international community to help ensure global focus and coverage
- Usage analysis helps determine content areas within subjects needing additional information
- Gale editors and advisory boards monitor current events to identify key new topics
Cost
Notes
Year 1 runs from 1 October 2009 - 30 September 2010
Year 2 runs from 1 October 2010 - 30 September 2011
Year 3 runs from 1 October 2011 - 30 September 2012
How does JISC Banding and Charging work?
Subscription
To access the licence, and for instructions on how to subscribe, please see the
subscription page.
The agreement complies with the terms of the JISC Model Licence.
For further details of the JISC Model Licence please refer to the
Guide to the JISC Model Licence.
Functionality and standards compliance
Full text linking
Compliant with the OpenURL standard.
Federated searching
Biography Resource Center is Z39.50 compliant.
Federated Access Management: use of SAML compliant technologies and membership of the UK Access Management Federation. For further
information see: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/federation.
MARC records
MARC records are provided for Biography Resource Center free of charge.
Metadata standards
Available upon request.
Search options
http://support.gale.com/gale/product.html
Post-search options
Email option offered, Saved Searches offered by Infomark/Bookmark and export into Endnote offered for this resource.
Usage statistics
Usage statistics are available for Biography Resource Center and are COUNTER compliant.
Authentication
Authentication is via the UK Access Management Federation, Athens, and IP range.
Personalisation of the online resource
This is not supported at this time.
Accessibility
Gale is committed to addressing the following Access Board standards under Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, along with
the functional and informational standards set out by the Access Board (36 C.F.R. §§ 1194.31 - 1194.32):
- A text equivalent for every non-text element is provided (e.g., via an "alt" tag or in element content). 36 CFR §
1194.22(a).Note: Because of the processes we use to aggregate such large volumes of data, we have been unable to hand code highly
specific alt text for each image. Meaningful alt text has been added to all elements of the interface. Descriptive titles and/or
captions are already available for the images in some products, and more generic alt text is used in the cases where data must be
updated via batch processing. As products come up for release and renewal, issues regarding the addition of more meaningful TITLE
and ALT tags to content will be addressed.
- Web pages are designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or
markup. 36 § 1194.22(c). Users can understand/navigate products without the ability to identify a color or differentiate
between certain colors.
- Documents are organized so they are readable without requiring a style sheet. 36 C.F.R. § 1194.22(d).
- Gale rarely uses image maps. WAI guidelines will be followed if the need arises. 36 C.F.R. § 1194(e) and (f).
- Gale products do not use frames. 36 C.F.R. § 1194(i). If frames are required in the future, they will be titled with text
to facilitate frame identification and navigation.
- Pages are designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz. 36 C.F.R.
§ 1194(j).
- Electronic forms are designed to be completed online, allowing people using assistive technology to access the information,
field elements and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including directions and cues. 36 C.F.R.
§ 1194(n).
- When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required. 36
C.F.R. § 1194.22(p).
Library support information