Biography/Memoir

Memoirs in HB’s library are found in the BIOGRAPHY section where the books are arranged in alphabetical order according to the biographee.  Therefore, if Hope Solo wrote a memoir and we bought it for HB’s library, you would find it using this call number:  B SOL.  The “B” stands for “Biography Section” while the “SOL” represents the first three letters of the last name of the person that biography or memoir is about.

Memoirs are occasionally housed elsewhere in non-fiction using a Dewey Decimal number that relates to the topic focused upon by the memoir (such as aviation or criminology) so using the library’s catalog might surface additional interesting books.

You will find lists and extensive summaries of HBW’s most popular memoirs using “collections” in our new library catalog; find them in the hamburger menu of the new catalog and ask for help if you don’t see them right away. Maggie can show you.

Other locations for popular memoirs:

• sometimes memoirs are housed next to other books about related topics within the non-fiction section. They will surface in a catalog search about the topic (such as “Eating Disorders.)
• print books from other Arlington Public School libraries if you change the setting on the advanced search screen to ” Arlington Public Schools” or better, “Search High Schools.”
• Full length chapter books are available in Proquest E-Book Central database.  Try an “author” search in that database to see if it brings forth the memoir you are seeking.
• PUBLIC library’s often have HUGE holdings of memoirs.  Use the public library’s catalog to search for a topic about which a memoir was written, or a memoir written by a person of interest.  Use “memoir” as a subject term when you use “advanced search” in any database.

Databases: 

While biographical information is fast found in Biography in Context from Gale, other databases also help:  Science in Context and Books and Authors, for example. See the subject research guide in the menu at left.