The Write Stuff:

Resources for Journalism & Communications Students

Time Saving Tips : Finding Information About People

Before you begin.

Be sure you have the proper spelling.

Check for nicknames.

Decide how much information you need and how current it should be.

Where to begin.

For famous people, start with the biography indexes.

For people in the news, try Internet biography sources and newspaper indexes.

Obituaries are good sources for information about deceased individuals. Use national newspapers for well-known individuals, local newspapers for others.

For local people, use the web version of the local newspaper. If there isn't a web version check the media directories to identify the paper and obtain their phone number and address.

During your search.

Be prepared to check more than one source to find all the information you need.

Verify your information in more than one source.

Keep very good records for later verification.