Offers biographical information on writers of all genres—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, etc. Each entry includes lists of the author's writings, awards and honors, and biographical/critical sources.  Each entry also contains a section entitled "Sidelights," in which the author comments directly upon his/her career.  Authors whose careers have advanced significantly since their initial inclusion in Contemporary Authors are often updated in subsequent volumes of the Contemporary Authors - New Revision Series.  To find the number of a volume in which an author is discussed, use the Contemporary Authors Cumulative Index (a blue paperback index located at the end of the Contemporary Authors series).  This index covers all volumes of the original Contemporary Authors and the New Revision Series.  Note that this index also serves as an index for a number of series other than Contemporary Authors.  Thus the abbreviations you are looking for are CA, CAP, and CANR.  Other abbreviations may indicate series that we do not have at HCC (e.g. AAYA--Authors and Artists for Young Adults—is a series we do not carry here).  These abbreviations are explained on the first page of the index. 

Once the index has provided the volume number, retrieve that volume from the shelf.  Within each volume, all authors are listed alphabetically.  Look up the author you need and you will find a biographical sketch of that author.  This will include birth and death dates, education and degrees earned, membership in professional organizations, a list of books that the author has written, and usually some indication of projects that the author is working on.  If the author is better known, short interview excerpts are also often included.