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Guide to Locating Biographical Information

Table of Contents:

Before You Begin

A biography is a history of a person's life. An autobiography is written by the person himself or herself either alone or in collaboration with another writer. Biographies are available in a variety of lengths from books to short paragraphs. Before beginning a search for a biography it is helpful to have some basic information such as: correct spelling of the name, time period during which the person was active, whether the person is living or deceased and identifying features such as profession, discoveries or minority group status. Although writers are included in some of the sources mentioned below if your subject is primarily an author you should use the Syllabus for Literary Research 2: Biography of Authors guide.

Library Catalog

The HALcat, the Andersen Library Catalog, can be used to find book length biographies in this library. Using the Basic Search (default), in the menu choose Subject Keyword. Enter the person's name, in any order, in the textbox. This will bring up a list of subjects containing your words. Examples:

type bronte charlotte to find Charlotte Brontë

type gabriel marquez to find Gabriel García Márquez

type shakespeare to find William Shakespeare

If you are interested in a particular field but don't have a specific name in mind you can remain in the subject search, type the title given to those who practice that profession, and add the subject subdivision biography. For example:

mathematicians biography

If you chose to search by Keywords (use and, or not), you will find more items, for example:

mathematicians and biography

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Directories

Listings in directories are brief and factual. There is no interpretation or explanation of the subject's life or work. Information usually includes birth date, education, marriage(s), number and sex of children, positions held, publications, honors conferred and current address. The online database listed below is accessible by selecting from the Articles from the Find menu on any library webpage. Select from the alphabetical listing according to the database name. Examples of biographical directories are the following:

  • American Men and Women of Science (Reference Collection Q141 .A47) - includes living scientists working in the United States and Canada. If an entrant has died since the previous edition, a reference is given to the earlier edition. An index volume contains a list of the subjects according to discipline.
  • Official Congressional Directory (current edition at the Library's Reference Desk) - gives brief biographical information about members of Congress including Committee assignments. There is a new directory for each Congress. Older editions are in the U.S. Documents collection at Y4.P 93/1:1/
  • Who's Who (Marquis) UW-W users only- an online version of the Who's Who editions listed below as well as many specialized editions not singled out. Coverage begins with 1985 so if you are interested in a person who was active in a earlier time period you will need to use the print copies.
  • Who's Who (latest edition in Reference Collection, older editions in Main DA28 .W6) - began in 1849 and is primarily British with some entries for others who have notable British connections. Includes only living subjects. Each volume contains a list of subjects who have died since the last edition.
  • Who's Who in America (Main Oversize Collection E663 .W56) - began in 1899 and is issued in biennial editions with supplements. It covers living Americans including Canadian and Mexican officials. The main volumes include a list of retirees and those who are no longer active and have been dropped from the current edition. A necrology lists those who have died since the last edition. Other indexes break down the directory by region and profession.
  • Who's Who among African Americans (Reference Collection E185.96 W52) - covers over 17,000 living Black men and women. Prominent blacks who are not American citizens are included if they live and work in the United States. There is an obituaries listing of those who have died since the last edition. Also included are indexes according to geographical location and occupation. The WWAA is an example of several Who's Who titles which concentrate on specific groups. To find other groups, do an exact title search for WHOS WHO AMONG
  • Regional Who's Who which contain biographies of people who are notable within particular geographic areas may be found in the catalog by searching by exact title for WHOS WHO IN THE. The regionals generally don't overlap the national editions.

Indexes & Databases

Indexes help you find biographies contained in books or periodicals. They do not have the actual biographies.

  • Biography and Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) UW-W users only - indexes over 250 biographical sources. It includes people from all over the world.
  • Biography Index is a source for biographical articles in journals and books. Material indexed includes obituaries, diaries and collective biographies among other sources. The subjects are mostly Americans. The print volumes (1943/1949-1997/1998) are located on the reference index stacks. At the back of each volume is a listing of names by professions and occupations. Note that the library stopped subscribing to the print index in 1999.  Biography Index will be particularly useful for biographies written earlier than 1990.
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Biographical Essays

Listings in these resources are of varying lengths. Generally they contain more information about the subject's life than can be found in the directories.  The online databases listed below are accessible by selecting Articles from the Find menu on any library webpage. Select from the alphabetical listing according to the database name.  The following are examples of resources containing biographical essays:

  • American National Biography (Reference Collection CT213 A68 1999) - complete revision of the Dictionary of American Biography. Includes people not born in the United States but who were active or influential in the US. Covers people who died before 1996.  This is not a duplicate of the DAB although some subjects are covered in both titles.
  • Biography Reference Bank Select (WilsonWeb) UW-W users only -biographies from a variety of sources including Current Biography A good source for sports and entertainment figures.  Full text with references to other print and online sources.
  • Contemporary Authors UW-W users only - covers writers in many fields.
  • Dictionary of American Biography (Reference Collection E176 .D56) - is similar to the Dictionary of National Biography. The DAB covers prominent Americans who died before January 1, 1981.
  • Dictionary of National Biography (Reference Collection DA28 .D4) - covers British subjects who are no longer living. The volumes encompass those who died before January 1, 1986. DNB has added a supplementary volume of "Missing persons". This volume includes people now seen as unjustly neglected in previous volumes.
  • Encyclopedia Britannica UW-W users only.
  • MasterFile Premier UW-W users only
    Search for person's name and the word BIOGRAPHY. Ex.: charlie and chaplin and biography.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Reference Collection DA28 .O95 2004) - updated edition of the Dictionary of National Biography . Includes only subjects who died before Dec. 31, 2000.  This is not an exact duplicate of the DNB although some subjects are covered in both titles.

Subject Encyclopedias

Some subject encyclopedias contain biographies. Typically they will emphasize and explain the contribution of the entrant to the subject area. Care should be taken to note the date of publication, since those who came into prominence after that time will not be included. Examples of subject encyclopedias having biographies are:

  • Encyclopedia of Psychology (Main Oversize Collection BF31 .E52 1984)
  • International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Main Oversize Collection H41 .I5)

In addition to the databases listed above Ready Reference Sources offers links to web resources for which no special access is required.

Help

There are many sources of biographical information not listed here. If you cannot find the information you need, ask at the Reference Desk.

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For assistance, contact a reference librarian at (262) 472-1032, by email or chat or in person at the Library's Reference Desk.

Last Revised: MS - 11/4/2009