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The International Biographical Centre was a publisher owned by Melrose Press Ltd that specializes in producing
When it was still in business, the International Biographical Centre created "awards" and offered them widely. In 2004, an award was said to cost the recipient US$495 or £295, but in 2010 the cost could be as high as $395 for a Commemorative Medal or US$440 for a laminated certificate.
The Department of Commerce of the
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...
publications, such as the ''Dictionary of International Biography'', ''Great Men and Women of Science'' and other vanity awards
Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness compared to others. Prior to the 14th century, it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as a ...
. It is situated in Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely ( ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in the East Cambridgeshire district, in Cambridgeshire, England, northeast of Cambridge, southeast of Peterborough and from London. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the built-up a ...
in the United Kingdom.
Government consumer advocates have described it as a "scam" or as "pretty tacky". Its use to support the granting of a US O-1 visa
An O visa is a classification of non-immigrant temporary worker visa granted by the United States to an alien "who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of ...
(for '' individuals with an extraordinary ability'') has been described by US employer Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...
as purchasing "vanity accolades" to use as "phony credentials", with a warning that "visa fraud is a serious crime" with severe penalties.
In 2007, referring to the International Biographical Centre, the American Biographical Institute
The American Biographical Institute (ABI) was a paid-inclusion vanity award publisher based in Raleigh, North Carolina which had been publishing biographical reference directories since 1967. It generated revenue from sales of valueless certificat ...
and Marquis Who's Who
Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...
, Jan Margosian, consumer information coordinator for the Oregon Department of Justice, warned consumers to be wary and called the companies "pretty tacky", adding "I don't know why they would put you in there if they weren't hoping to get you to buy the book.. "You truly have to look at how they are marketing and what the spin is. It's something you might want to watch out for."
Activity
When it was still in business, the International Biographical Centre created "awards" and offered them widely. In 2004, an award was said to cost the recipient US$495 or £295, but in 2010 the cost could be as high as $395 for a Commemorative Medal or US$440 for a laminated certificate.
The Department of Commerce of the Government of Western Australia
The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...
classified the Centre's offers as a scam
A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their Trust (emotion), trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence ...
and said:
:"The material promoting the International Biographical Centre creates a false impression about the credentials of the organisation. It also wrongly implies that the receiver of the letter has been picked through a special research process considering their work and qualifications."
It quoted blog users who describe the publications as a "Who’s Who of gullible people".
Biographical reference books
*''2000 Outstanding Europeans of the 21st Century'' *''2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 20th Century'' *''2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century'' *''2000 Outstanding Scientists - 2010'' *''The Cambridge Blue Book'' *''Dictionary of International Biography'' *''Great Men and Women of Science'' *''International Who's Who in Music'' *''Men of achievement'' *''Outstanding People of the 20th Century'' *''Outstanding People of the 21st Century'' *''Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century'' *''Who’s Who in the 21st Century'' *''World Who's Who of Women''See also
*Who's Who scam
The pronoun ''who'', in English, is an interrogative pronoun and a relative pronoun, used primarily to refer to persons.
Unmarked, ''who'' is the pronoun's subjective form; its inflected forms are the objective ''whom'' and the possessive '' ...
* American Biographical Institute
The American Biographical Institute (ABI) was a paid-inclusion vanity award publisher based in Raleigh, North Carolina which had been publishing biographical reference directories since 1967. It generated revenue from sales of valueless certificat ...
References
External links
* * {{Authority control Companies based in Cambridgeshire International biographical dictionaries Vanity awards