Resources by format

Here are listed guides for finding materials based on their formats.

A biography is an account of a person's life. Some may be brief and only include birth and death dates and major accomplishments for which that person is known. Other may be very detailed, book-length sources. To ensure you find the correct person, it's important to start with a full name with correct spelling, birth date, death date when applicable, and details about the person like where he was born or what she is best known for.

Biographical databases

American National Biography Online
American National Biography provides HTML full-text biographical entries and over 2,700 illustrations on 18,700 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the nation. It includes access to The Oxford Companion to United States History encyclopedia with entries on all aspects of American history.
The American National Biography offers portraits of more than 18,700 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the nation. The ANB features over 2,700 illustrations and more than 80,000 hyperlinked cross-references. Use limited to one concurrent user; if you get a message that access is not currently available; wait a while and try again.

ANB includes access to The Oxford Companion to United States History. This resource explores not only America's political, diplomatic, and military history, but also social, cultural, and intellectual trends; science, technology, and medicine; the arts; and religion. The 900 articles selected for inclusion in ANB Online expand the learning experience, providing context to the biographies and further illuminating the nation's history through defining events (Wounded Knee, the Vietnam War), social movements (Suffrage, Civil Rights), ideologies (conservatism, Social Darwinism),and even natural disasters and iconic sites (the Chicago Fire, Niagara Falls). Where available, links can be found in the left-hand pane, next to the article text.
Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry Library Edition is an academic version of ancestry.com. Contains coverage of the U.S. and the U.K., including census, vital, church, court, and immigration records, as well as record collections from Canada and other areas. A collection of more than 4,000 databases and 1.5 billion names including U.S. federal census images and indexes from 1790 to 1940; the Map Center containing more than 1,000 historical maps; American Genealogical Biographical Index (over 200 volumes), Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage (over 150 volumes), The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1630, Social Security Death Index, WWI Draft Registration Cards, Federal Slave Narratives, and a Civil War collection.
Answers await everyone—whether professional or hobbyist, expert or novice, genealogist or historian—inside the more than 7,000 available databases. Here, you can unlock the story of you with sources like censuses, vital records, immigration records, family histories, military records, court and legal documents, directories, photos, maps, and more.
Biography Index Retrospective: 1946-1983 from EBSCOhost
Biography Index Retrospective indexes citations of biographical articles and book chapters, interviews and profiles, and obituaries covering over 300,000 people: public figures, writers, artists, sports figures, politicians, religious leaders, scientists, educators, military leaders, teachers, actors, and business people. 1946-1983.
For educators, students, media professionals, book clubs, researchers, and anyone looking for trustworthy information on notable individuals from antiquity through 1983, Biography Index Retrospective: 1946-1983 is an invaluable resource. Included are entries on individuals that reflect the perspective of the time when they were written. Includes over 627,000 article and book citations, indexing of interviews and profiles of history makers, as well as obituaries, collections of letters, diaries, memoirs, juvenilia, book reviews, bibliographies, and exhibition reviews. Subject-specific thesaurus developed specifically for this database, ensuring the most precise searching.
Biography In Context from Gale
Biography in Context provides access to over 650,000 biographical entries covering international figures from all time periods and areas of study. It includes videos, audio selections, images, primary sources, and magazine and journal articles alongside reference content. Search for people based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates, places, or gender as well as by keyword and full text.
MasterFILE Premier from EBSCOhost
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MasterFILE Premier contains full text for nearly 1,700 periodicals covering general reference, business, health, education, general science, multicultural issues and much more. This database also contains full text for nearly 500 reference books and over 164,400 primary source documents, as well as an Image Collection of over 502,000 photos, maps & flags. MasterFILE Premier offers PDF backfiles (as far back as 1975) for key publications including American Libraries, Foreign Affairs, History Today, Judaism, Library Journal, National Review, Saturday Evening Post, etc.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is an illustrated collection of more than 57,000 specially written biographies of the men and women from around the world who shaped all aspects of Britain's past. Includes deceased persons only.

Most subject-specific databases include biographical entries for well known figures in the field covered. Use the database's advanced search and check for options to limit to biographies.

Searching for biographies in Discovery Search

Discovery Search contains records for encyclopedic articles and full-book biographical sources. Use the Advanced Search screen to search a person's full name (last name first) as a Subject Term or a topic with the term biography or autobiography as a subject.