Biographical Information Sources

Biographical sources either have, or direct you to, information about a person's birth and death dates, family and educational backgrounds, and achievements. Biographical information can be found more easily if you know the following about your subject:  Is the person dead or alive? Reason for notability? Gender? Date of birth? Date of death? Profession(s)? Nationality? Homeland?

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Biographical Indexes

These provide reference to more complete information in periodicals or books. Biographical indexes include the following:

Biography & Genealogy Master Index		This is a comprehensive index to nearly 12 million biographical sketches in more than 2700 volumes and editions of current and retrospective reference books, covering both contemporary and historical figures throughout the world.
Biography Resource Center		This resource contains more than 215,000 biographies covering more than 160,000 individuals from the beginning of recorded history. Search by name, nationality, place, date, occupation, gender, or ethnicity. Links to websites are included.
LexisNexis Academic		From the Main screen, choose "Reference," then "Biographical Information." This index contains biographical sources, people-related news sources and selected biographical stories, obituaries and business related stories covering company executives.
Biography Index Reference Z 5301 .B5 (1946 - present)		An index to biographies appearing in books and magazines. Includes references to obituaries, collections of letters, diaries, memoirs, and bibliographies.
New York Times Obituaries Index Reference CT 213 .N47 (1858-1968; 1969-1978)		Compiles all obituaries from the New York Times newspapers for the years indicated. Refers user to the desired issue, page, and column number. The newspaper issues, which are on microfilm, are located in the ASRS. Since Academic Universe also indexes The New York Times, current obituary information will be found there also.
New York Times Index Reference AI 21 .N45 or ASRS		Since The New York Times contains information about so many people, it is useful to check for a subject who is still living. Christopher Center's copies of the Index and The New York Times (on microfilm) dates back to 1852.

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Biographical Collections and Directories

These may be general or cover a specific group of people (for example, women or those of a specific profession). The length and amount of information given in the source can vary from a short paragraph to a long narrative. Collections and directories include the following:

General or Universal Biographies

Current Biography. Ref. CT 100 .C8 1940 - current
Dictionary of International Biography. Ref. CT 101 .D5 --current
St. James' Guide to Biography. Ref. CT 101 .S356 1991
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1973-1992. Ref. CT 103 .M27
Webster's Biographical Dictionary. Stacks CT 103 .W4 1962
Newsmakers. Ref. CT 120 .C663 1995
Women in World History : A Biographical Encyclopedia, vol. 1-10. Ref. HQ 1115 .W6 1999

National or Regional Biographies

American National Biography. Ref. CT 213 .A68 1999
Research Guide to American Historical Biography. Ref. CT 214 .R47 1988
Who Was Who in America. Ref. CT 220 .W65 1607-2002 Index
Who's Who in America. Ref. CT 220 .W6 1999
Who's Who of American Women. Ref. E 176 .W647 --1999/2000
Who's Who Among Black Americans. Ref. E 185.96 .W52 1998
Who's Who in the Midwest. Ref. E 747 .W63 --1999

Professional or Occupational Biographies

American Reformers. Ref. CT 215 .A67 1985
Leaders From the 1960s. Ref. HN 59 .L434 1994
Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Ref. Q 141 .D5 --1990
Dictionary of American Nursing Biography. Ref. RT 34 .D53 1988
Contemporary Authors. Ref. Z 1224 .C58 --1999

Retrospective Biographies

Who Was Who (British). Ref. CT 782 .W65 --1990
Who Was Who in America. Ref. CT 220 .W65 --1998
Dictionary of American Biography. Ref. E 176 .D56 --1990

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Biographical Information Sources on the Internet

There are many sources on the Internet that provide accurate, worthwhile biographical information. Use recommended sites and always critically evaluate the information you find there. The Christopher Center user guide, Evaluating the Quality of World Wide Web Resources, lists criteria that will assist you in your evaluation. Some sites to try are:

Biography http://www.biography.com
Best Information on the Internet: Biographical Resources
http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Online/biograph.htm
Internet Public Library: Biography Reference http://www.ipl.org/ref/RR/static/ref1000.html

Archives of primary resources can also provide biographical information. Some good sites to begin your search from are:

Repositories of Primary Sources http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html
Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web -- Smithsonian Institution Libraries http://www.sil.si.edu/SILPublications/Online-Exhibitions/
Library of Congress: American Memory--Historical Collections from the National Digital Library http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html

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Other Sources for Biographical Information

General encyclopedias and yearbooks are good sources for biographical sketches, particulary for historical figures or widely-known persons. Try:

Academic American Encyclopedia Ref. AE 5 .A23 1991
World Book Encycolpedia Ref. AE 5 .W55 1996
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica Ref. AE 5 .E363 1998 or online

Special subject-encyclopedias often contain brief biographical sketches, along with bibliographies to lead you to more resources. Some examples are:

New Catholic Encyclopedia Ref. BX 841 .N44 1967
Encyclopedia of the Environment Ref. GE 10 .E53 1994
American Songwriters: A Biographical Dictionary Ref. ML 390 .E825 1987
American Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary Ref. Q 141 .B25 1994
American Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary, 1950-Present Ref. Q 141 .B254 1998
Oxford Companion to English Literature Ref. PR 19 .D73 1985