Biographical Information

Starting Points

SIMPLE SEARCH TIP:Type subject's name and biographies or biography. For example: george washington and biographies OR george washington and biography

Current biography yearbook

MLA International Bibliography

Use MLA International Bibliography for citations to the monthly periodical Biography, which is a good source for contemporary biographies. Issues are shelved in the Current and Bound Periodical collection. Bound volumes contain an index.

Biography Reference Center

Articles & eResources

Subject indexes such as MLA, Historical Abstracts, PsycINFO can be used to find citations to biographical information found in newspapers, journals and books. For biographical information on authors, Literary Reference Center and Literature Resource Center are good starting points.

Historical Abstracts

LexisNexis Academic

At the main LexisNexis page choose "People" for short full text bio's on politicians, business executives & etc.

Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia

Literary Reference Center Plus

Literature Resource Center

Using the Library Catalog

Click here to search the Library Catalog

Suggested KEYWORD searches

To do the broadest possible search to find items by and about the person, do a KEYWORD search with the word near between the first and last names.
"biography and dictionaries and artists" - will give you sources with biographical information for the broad group of "artists".
"biography and authors and american" - source with information on american authors
"biography and france and 19th century" - biographies about the 19th century French.
"encyclopedias and your chosen subject area" - For example: encyclopedias and art

Books & Library Materials

Specialized Reference Resources
Subject and specialized sources are located among related topical works. The resources listed below is a small example of the resources available. For a complete listing KEYWORD search the Library Catalog using the following search terms:

biography and dictionaries and artists- will give you sources with biographical information for the broad group of "artists".
biography and authors and american - source with information on american authors
biography and france and 19th century - biographies about the 19th century French.

SUBJECT ENCYCLOPEDIAS:
Subject encyclopedias are good resources to locate biographical information for a person with in area the encyclopedia covers. KEYWORD search the Library Catalog using the following search terms: encyclopedias and your chosen subject area.

For example: encyclopedias and art