LibGuides: Reference Materials: Biography Resources

Getting Started

Are you searching for information about a person, well-known or not?

Start with these resources:

Fox Hunt

Fox Hunt locates information about a person in books, movies, articles and more. It is a good starting point.

Searching the person's name and "biography" will help focus your results.

Reference and books/eBooks are good content type limits to use.

Subject Guides

Library subject guides have discipline specific databases and reference sources to search for information on important individuals in a field.

Biography Databases

Biography Reference Bank This link opens in a new window
Provides biographies of Americans as well as international figures.
Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new window
Provides information about authors as well as their works of literature.
Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Provides brief profiles of important figures.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Contains subject encyclopedias that focus on important people within a field.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy This link opens in a new window
Search for major figures in philosophy