Subject Guide : Biography

Contact:

Reference Librarian

refdesk@roberts.edu
Phone: 594-6499

An honest, true biography is worth searching for. Avoid panegyrics.

Tips to locate information and present information about people, real and imagined.

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AccessScience Biographies (McGraw-Hill)

Contains biographies of notable people in Science. Searchable by name and subject.

American National Biography Online (Oxford University Press)

Offers portraits of more than 17,400 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped America.

Biography Reference Bank (EBSCO)

Biography Reference Bank offers a breadth and depth of information you’ll find in no other biography database. It covers over 500,000 people and includes over 36,000 images!

Contemporary Authors (Gale)

Provides complete biographical and bibliographical information and references on more than 120,000 U.S. and international authors.

Scribner's Writers (Gale)

Bio-critical essays on the lives and works of more than 1,400 important authors from around the world. Entries include concise essays, citations, and biographical information that places the author's work in personal and historical context.

Twayne Authors Online (Gale)

Comprises 600 full-text titles from the Twayne Literary Masters series, 200 each from Twayne World, US, and English Authors.

Who's Who (Marquis)

Our powerful online database provides up-to-the-minute biographies of leaders and achievers from around the world in the areas of business, law, science, medicine, the arts, government, entertainment and more – in one convenient source! It provides access to all biographies that have appeared in 24 Marquis Who's Who print titles since 1985. Including Who Was Who in American History from 1607-present

More Resources

Academic OneFile (Gale)

A source for peer-reviewed full-text articles from world's leading journals and reference sources. Over 13,000 indexed journals, more than 6,500 full text. Full Text Coverage of the New York Times from 1995 – current. Total coverage 1980 – current

Academic Search Complete (EBSCO)

This multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than 8,500 journals, including full text for more than 7,300 peer-reviewed titles. Coverage: 1887-

Britannica Academic Edition (Britannica)

An Encyclopedia covering over 75,000 articles including 23,000 biographies. An introduction to significant works of history, literature, philosophy, and science. Access 166,000 Web sites. Search thousands of maps, flags, articles, and statistics. Compare economic, demographic, and health measures for over 200 countries.

Encyclopedia Americana (Grolier)

An Encyclopedia covering articles, biographies, history, literature, philosophy, and science. Search thousands of maps, flags, articles, dictionaries and statistics.

Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (EBSCO)

This database provides over 25,000 encyclopedic entries covering a variety of subject areas.

Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (Grolier)

Includes encyclopedia articles, news, timelines, quizzes and games, and research starters. It also includes an atlas and dictionary.

JSTOR (JSTOR)

The JSTOR Archive Collections provide complete digitized runs for hundreds of journals in more than 50 academic disciplines. For most journals in the JSTOR archive there is a “moving wall” embargo (typically five years, but sometimes longer or shorter) on current access.

New Book of Knowledge (Grolier)

Reference and current events for elementary school and higher.

Oxford Art Online (Oxford)

Grove Art Online includes Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture and the Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Includes links to image partners including ARTstor; Bridgeman Education; the British Museum; the Museum of Modern Art (New York); the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Art Images for College Teaching; Art Resource; Artists Rights Society; and numerous international art galleries and artists. 45,000 articles; 23,000 subject entries; 21,000 biographies; 6,000 searchable images; 40,000 editorially selected image links to museums and galleries; thematic guides, timelines, and resources for educators designed by the Museum of Modern Art (New York).

Oxford Music Online (Oxford)

Includes Grove Music Online [includes The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition (2001), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (1992), The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd edition (2002), The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd edition, and The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, 2nd edition plus updates], and the Oxford Reference works The Oxford Dictionary of Music and The Oxford Companion to Music.

ProQuest Research Library (ProQuest)

Over 5000 titles and 3,500 Full Text titles. Search for coverage of a broad range of subjects including arts, business, children, education, general interest, health, humanities, international, law, military, multicultural, psychology, sciences, social sciences, and women's interests. Coverage: 1971 - present

Salem History (Salem Press)

Salem History is a robust online database that includes the complete content of printed reference sets. Milestone Documents in American Leaders and American History Great Lives from History - The definitive, worldwide biographical resource Great Events from History - The complete resource for worldwide events

WorldCat (FirstSearch)

Catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide. Funding for WorldCat is provided by the Rochester Regional Library Council through a grant from the New York State Education Department. Dissertations and theses available.

How can I search best for biographical information?

In an academic library biography is found one of three ways.

By Occupation -(Inventors -- Biography) , Gender (Women--Biography), or Ethnic Group (African Americans --Biography)

This choice is used when an individual biography is not present. However, the person's book will be filed with the call number for the subject.

By Name - Edison, Thomas A.(Thomas Alva), 1847-1931

Note: if you invert the name (last name first, you will find the works about the person)

in CT = Biography which is used for works with multiple areas of biographies.

Where are some good resources to find quick biographical information?

Current Biography Ref. CT100.C58

Encyclopedia of World Biography CT103.E56 1988

Dictionary of American Biography Ref. E176.D566

Dictionary of National Biography Ref. DA28.C52

African American Biographies Ref E195.96H38 1992

Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Ref.CT3260.N57

Websites to consider:

20th Century Great American Business Leaders http://www.hbs.edu/leadership/database/ The list of business leaders is sorted by name, birthplace, gender, industry, and more.
Distinguished Women of Past and Present http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/
Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/ Good site to locate birth and death dates of famous people.

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