Biographical Information Subject Guide
How to Guide
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This guide provides only selected reference sources. Please ask at the various Reference Desks for further help or go to Ask a Librarian and email or phone us.
Biographical sources cover both living and dead people. Some sources include people in general, but most are limited by some criterion, such as nationality, occupation, fame, gender, religion, etc. In searching biographical sources it is helpful to know:
- The person's full name and correct spelling
- Dates of birth and death (if deceased)
- Occupation or profession
How much information do you want to find about the person?
- For book or chapter length biographies and autobiographies look for Books.
- For articles and essays about a person, see the Biographical Indexes.
- For brief identification and basic facts see directories or encyclopedias.
- For an address, phone number or email address see Finding an Address of Phone Number.
What do you know about the person?
- Are they living or dead? If they have died, see one of the Historical Sources.
- Are they likely to be covered in newspapers or other News Sources?
- Are they famous? Biographical articles are sometimes included in a General Article Index.
- Do you know their occupation or profession? There are separate sources for authors, lawyers, business leaders, etc.
- Are they a minority or a woman? There are many specialized sources devoted to biographies of ethnic, religious, and national groups as well as books restricted to gender or sexual orientation.