Biography Databases
Subscription Databases Available Only to the WSC Community:
Biography Resource Center. Huge collection of biographies on over 380,000 people worldwide. Includes full text articles from hundreds of periodicals, including the full text of standard reference titles such as: Webster's Biographical Dictionary, Encyclopedia of World Biography (28 vols.), Dictionary of American Biography (20 vols.), Newsmakers and 22 titles in the Who's Who series. Note: Access to the Gale Group of databases is made possible by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, and the six Massachusetts Regional Library Systems.
Current Biography – Entire contents of the printed monthly issues, since 1940 a trusted source in libraries. Contains carefully researched profiles of people in the news including politicians, sports figures, businesspeople, writers, actors, scientists and celebrities. Substantial profiles between 2,000-5,000 words; short bibliography follows each entry.
Encyclopedia Britannica - information from the encyclopedia, plus links to selected web sites.
Oxford Art Online - [Formerly Grove Art] Contains over 45,000 signed articles on the visual arts, and links to over 130,000 images. On the main page, under the title, click the link for the biography search engine.
Lexis-Nexis - Full-text biographical articles culled from journals, magazines and newspapers.
Other Web Resources - selective list of free sites
- Awesome Library - great site for kids; categories such as heroes, composers, ethnic groups, politicians, scientists etc.
- The Biographical Dictionary - covers more than 28,000 notable men and women who have shaped our world from ancient times to the present day
- Biographical Guide to Congress - standard in most library reference collections in print form; online edition covers 1774 - present. Search by name, state, party, year or Congressional session. Also guide to research collections where presidential papers are housed.
- Biography Center - multi-lingual biographical dictionary; 11,011 biographies - also links to other sites
- Biography.com - 25,000 of the greatest lives past and present. Presented by A & E Television Networks
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography - Flash version or HTML; searchable
- Distinguished Women of the Past and Present - search by name or subject (chronological before the 20th century). Profiles of women who contributed to our culture in many different ways
- From Revolution to Reconstruction - historical persons related to American history from the colonial period until modern times.
- History of Mathematics -Biographies - University of St. Andrews, Scotland, School of Mathematics and Statistics. Alphabetical and chronological indexes; also search just female mathematicians
- In the First Person - Index to Letters, Diaries, Oral Histories, and Other Personal Narratives. Access scholarly material freely available on the Web. Ordinary people from all walks of life alongside those of the well-published and famous.
- Info Please - 30,000 biographical profiles and special features about newsworthy people around the world; searchable by name or subject category
- Noble Prize Winners - Nobel Prize winners, by date or category; full biographies
- Presidents of the U. S. - from the White House history site
- POTUS: Presidents of the United States - background information, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and some points of interest on each of the presidents. Links to biographies, historical documents, audio and video files, and other presidential sites are also included to enrich this site from the Internet Public Library
- Well Known People Who Happen to Be Canadian - actors, artists, journalists, etc.
- Women's International Center - brief biographies, most with color picture
- World of Scientific Biography - search by branch of science, gender, nationality, historical periods.
Links to Other Biography Sites on the Web
- BUBL Link - annotated catalogue of Internet Resources
- Biography Search Engines - links to a multitude of sites; useful for specific categories such as Americans only, presidents, celebrities, deceased, women, British monarchs etc.
- Internet Public Library - annotated links to biography sites around the Web
- Library Spot - general biographies, by type (artists, authors, etc.) or ethnicity
- Ref Desk - links to 34 of the best biographical sites, including many sites specifically by subject categories
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