Did you catch Bob Dylan’s concert last week? According to a list just published on Buzzfeed, he is the most critically acclaimed rock star ever to come from Minnesota. I think his album cover definitely makes Minnesota stand out on this map, don’t you?
image source: buzzfeed.com
Buzzfeed cited a study from Acclaimed Music, “a website that crunches and compiles best-of lists to determine critics’ general consensus.” I liked reading through their list, but I have to admit I felt a little clueless about some of the bands. And as I sat there scratching my head thinking about where to find more information about them, I realized: the library has entire Biography subject guide filled with great resources for finding information about your favorite musician/film star/historical figure/you-name-it. Awesome!
The guide has information about how to articles, books, and more. Although I know you may be thinking that Wikipedia is better, humor me for a moment and think of this: EVERYTHING on the subject guide is from a reliable source your professor would be more than happy to let you use for your next research paper. Even more awesome!
We have quite a few options for biography research, but my favorite library resources for finding info about musicians are the following:
- Oxford Music Online, a compilation of music dictionaries/encyclopedias
- Biography in Context, a database containing over 600,000 in-depth biographies
- American National Biography Online, a compilation of information relating to significant men and women from all periods of United States history
Have fun searching! I’m off to listen to some music…