Types of Biographical Sources
The boxes below divide biographies into two major categories - American and International - but within each you'll find several types or examples of sources:
National Biographies: collections of brief but authoritative biographies of people from a country or national/ethnic grouping. In addition to the biography, these sources will contain selected bibliographies and may indicate where the person's personal papers and archives are held. National biographies do not cover living people. Look for individual biographies or article-length biographies pr obituaries for people who have died within the last 12 months.
Individual Biographies: book/monograph-length studies of a person or persons. These can be popular or scholarly; distinguish by how much the biography discusses gossip and scandal versus how much they discuss influences on the person and the person's influence on society or a field. The number of photographs (more photos and it's likely popular) and the length of the bibliography (longer is more likely to indicate scholarly; absence indicates popular) will also serve as clues.
Obituaries: Influential people will have a biography in their national newspaper and likely in international newspapers. An obituary in a newspaper such as The New York Times or the Times of London or similar major newspapers will provide an overview of a person's life and major achievements. Use these for people who have died in the last 12 months or to see what someone's major influence was thought to be at the time of death.
Article-Length Biographies: with the exception of Current Biography Online, I have not included this type of source on this page since you'll use the various databases on the XXXXX tab to locate these, but would be a very acceptable source to see how your individual may have acted in a specific situation or, in popular magazines, how your individual was seen by the public at a particular point in time.
American Women's Biographical Sources
- American national biography online This link opens in a new window
Discover biographies of more than 19,000 men and women — from all eras and walks of life — whose lives have shaped American history and culture.
African American National Biography, 8 vols. by Call Number: Jones Reference E185.96 .A4466 2008ISBN: 9780195160192Publication Date: 2008-02-18The African American National Biography presents history through a mosaic of the lives of thousands of individuals, illuminating the abiding influence of persons of African descent on the life of this nation from the arrival of Esteban in Spanish Florida in 1529 through to notable black citizens of the present day. Available initially as a handsome eight-volume set containing over 4,000 entries written and signed by distinguished scholars, the AANB continues to grow along with the field of African American biographical research, and continuous updates to the online edition will bring the total number of lives profiled to more than 5,000. This is a remarkable achievement, an eightfold increase over the number of biographies contained in 2004's award-winning and substantial African American Lives. In addition to Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King Jr., the AANB includes a wide range of African Americans from all time periods and all walks of life, both famous and nearly-forgotten. In the words of AANB editor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., "These stories, long buried in the dusty archives of history, will never be lost again. And that is what scholarship in the field of African American Studies should be all about."
American Women of Science since 1900 by Call Number: Jones Reference Q141 .W42 2011ISBN: 9781598841589Publication Date: 2010-10-11
American Women Speak: an encyclopedia and document collection of women's oratory. 2 vols. by Call Number: e-bookISBN: 9781440837852Publication Date: 2017Contains speeches and rhetoric authored by women; includes index by profession, a chronology (through mid-2015); and biographical context for each woman's rhetorical selection.
Shapers of the Great Debate on Women's Rights by Call Number: Moody General Collection HQ1412 .D86 2008ISBN: 9780313338694Publication Date: 2008-10-30
Copy the text in bold below and paste it into the search bar to see some of the 200+ dictionaries and encyclopedias we own on American women's biographies. Be sure to include all the parentheses and double parentheses as well.
((SubjectTerms:(women)) AND (SubjectTerms:(biograph*)) AND (SubjectTerms:(dictionaries)) AND (American))
See the box to the right for other cut and paste search phrases you might want to use.
International Women's Biographical Sources
- Oxford dictionary of national biography This link opens in a new windowProvides authoritative biographies of deceased individuals who influenced British history, including colonial British-Americans. Biographies include a listing of major works written by the individual (if any) and a reference list of full-length biographies and critical articles. Each biography also includes a "Reputation" section which describes the individual's standing in his or her time period and how that has changed since then. Very helpfully will indicate where the individual's archives are, if they exist. Also provides links to major themed articles (on the American Founding Fathers, for instance), entries to related individuals, and to other online resources produced by Oxford University Press (which we may or may not have access to). Oxford University Press.
- Australian dictionary of biography This link opens in a new window
Presents concise biographical articles on significant and representative persons in Australian history.
- Dictionary of Irish biography This link opens in a new window
Covers Irish men and women from the earliest times until 2001, providing biographies and a sense of their influence on Irish history, culture, and life.
Cut and Paste Search Phrases
You can use this search phrase:
((SubjectTerms:(women)) AND (SubjectTerms:(biograph*)) AND (SubjectTerms:(dictionaries))
and add other terms after it in this pattern: AND ________________________) - that closing parentheses must be included!
where you fill in the blank with your keyword or keywords here are some examples:
AND Politic* (the * allows for spelling variations: politics, politicians, political, etc. and is used in most resources you'll search)
AND Music
AND Histor*
AND Business
AND (Music AND Histor*)) - you can combine two terms so long as they are in ( ) and you add a closing ) as in the example
If your search comes up with no results, try a synonym - especial for the names of countries or nations; (American or United States); (United Kingdom OR British OR England OR English)
