Biography - About a person
Bibliography - List of sources of information, such as articles and books
Autobiography - A biography written by the person it's about
Contemporary - About living people (at the time of publication)
Historical - About people no longer living
Works - Compositions, performances, recordings, etc.
Signed - Articles with a named author
Name - Including variant spellings, nicknames, and "Americanized" names
e.g., Rachmaninoff OR Rachmaninov
Time Period - During which the person lived & worked
e.g., Renaissance, 17th Century
Country or Region - Where the person lived
e.g., Japan, Southeast Asia, Pacific Rim
Occupation - Including various ways to describe their occupation
e.g., lawyer, attorney, painter
Characteristics - Such as ethnicity, gender, genre, etc.
e.g., black, women, post-modern, expressionist
When doing biographical research you might look for entries in:
Current Biography Yearbook (1940-Present) by 
Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. (1998)
Windward Community College Library
