Find Biographical Information
Quick Start
- Biography Reference Bank
- Find biographies from magazines, journals, books and more. Includes photgraphs. Covers figures from antiquity to the present, across fields and nationalities.
Brief Biographies
- Britannica Online
- Search encyclopedia entries, magazine and newspaper articles and selected web sites. Includes video and audio content.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Search subject encyclopedias. Search by Document Title first.
- Biography.com
- Search over 25,000 biographies online.
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Books
- Library Catalog
- Long and in-depth analyses of a person's life are usually found in books. Do a Subject Heading search for the person’s name (last name first) and look for the entries for Biography.
Example:
Articles
Articles often include specific and timely information about an individual and their work.
Search one of the following article databases:
- Academic OneFile
- Find articles from many disciplines, including both scholarly and popular sources. Choose Subject Guide and search for the full name.
- LexisNexis Academic
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Choose People from the tabs at the top of the screen. Under “Select Sources,” try starting with one of the following:
- Biographies Plus News: Searches people-related news, biographical stories, obituaries and business stories covering company executives.
- Biographies References and Directories: Searches reference books, professional directories, and selections from Who’s Who.
- Obituary Information: Searches obituaries from major papers, including the New York Times.
FAQs
- How do I find biographical information about authors?
- Literature Resource Center includes biographies of novelists, poets, essayists, journalists and other writers from every age and literary discipline.
- How do I find biographical information about people from specific fields?
- Biography Reference Bank allows you to search by profession. There are many other biographical sources that cover people belonging to specific social, ethnic, professional and other groups. For assistance in locating a source that covers a specific group of people, please ask a librarian.
