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NOTEBOOK - NOTE #A10: FINDING
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Biographical information on contemporary
or historical persons can be found in a wide variety of sources.
These include:
- biographies and autobiographies in
books
- biographical dictionaries and
reference book series including online reference books
- newspaper and periodical stories
(print and electronic).
- web pages
Three basic pieces of information often
assist in locating biographical information. Knowing one or more of
these answers may guide you to a source of information about the
person. They are:
- Is the person living or when did s/he
live
- What is the person’s nationality or
where is his/her home
- What is/was the person’s occupation or
has the person done something noteworthy?
Some sources specialize in particular
countries, occupations or time periods.
A collection of biographical information
sites on the WWW are found on our Webliography: Biographical
Resources.
BIOGRAPHIES
Many famous persons are the subject of
full length biographies and/or autobiographies in books. Check
HORIZON (the Busse Library Catalog) for books we may own on the
person. Do a SUBJECT SEARCH to find books about a person. Also
do an AUTHOR search to see if we own any books by the
person.
There are books about groups which may
include the person. Some are by occupation, race, historical period,
etc. Use KEYWORD searches to locate these books. The keyword
biographical is useful in locating these books on
HORIZON.
DICTIONARIES AND SERIES
Biographical dictionaries and series are
useful. Use several because they include varying amounts of
information. Check HORIZON for others as well as:
American men and women of science. Q 141
.A478 Ref.
American National Biography - over 20,000 biographies
online - see Periodical Indexes
& Other Databases page.
American nursing: a biographical
dictionary. RT 34 .A44 1988 Ref.
Biography almanac. CT 104 .B5
Ref.
Biography index. Index Tables
Chamber's biographical
dictionary. CT 103 .C4 1969 Ref.
Congressional directory. JK 1011
Ref.
Contemporary artists. N 6490 .C6567 Ref.
Contemporary
authors. Z 1224 .C6 Ref.
Current biography. CT 100 .C8
Ref.
Dictionary of American biography. E 176 .D56
Ref.
Dictionary of American nursing biography. RT 34 D53 1988
Ref.
Dictionary of international biography. CT 101 .D5
Ref.
Dictionary of national biography. DA 28 .D48
Ref.
Dictionary of scientific biography. Q 141 .D5
Ref.
Directory of American scholars. LA 2311 C32 Ref.
Groves
dictionary of music and musicians. ML 100 G8863
Ref.
International. dictionary of women's biography. C R 3202
.I57 Ref.
The International who's who. CT 120 .I5 Ref.
Iowa
official register. JK 6331 Ref.
The new Grove dictionary of
American music. ML 101 .U6 N48 1986 Ref.
Notable American women
dictionary. CT 3260 .N57 Ref.
Research guide to biography and
criticism. PN 1721 .R4x
Webster’s biographical dictionary. CT 103
.W4 1980 Ref.
Who's who in the Socialist countries. 1978. CT 120
.L44 Ref.
Who's who of American women. CT3260 .W5 Ref.
Who's
who. DA 28 .W6 Ref.
Who's who in America. E176 .W6422
Ref.
Who's who in American politics. E176 .W6424 Ref.
The
American Catholic who's who. E184.C3 A6
Who's who among Black
Americans. E185.96 .W52 Ref.
Who was who in America. E663 .W54
Ref.
Who's who in the Midwest. E747 .W63 Ref.
Who's who in
Congress. JK 1010 .W48
Who's who in the federal executive branch.
JK 501 .W8x
Who's who in American education. LA2311 .W47
Ref.
Who's who in American art. N6536 .W5 Ref.
Who's who in
children's books. c1975. PN1009.A1 F575 Ref.
Who's who in
twentieth-century literature. PN451 .S4 1976c Ref.
World authors.
PN 451 W3 Ref.
PERIODICALS
The various periodical indexes (both
paper and electronic) will have references to magazine, newspaper
and journal articles about many notable people. Subject
and keyword searches of the various databases will sometimes yield
factual information about a person.
See the Periodical Indexes and
Other Databases webpage and Note #A6 for a list
of print periodical indexes available in Busse Library
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