Find Additional Biographical Information

Where to start

Biographies
From BUBL Link Catalogue of Internet Resources. Links to biographies in subject areas such as science, art, and literature.
Biography.com
Very brief biographical articles from the Cambridge Encyclopedia Database, the Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, and the A and E Biography and History Channels.
Biography Index
Location: REF Index Shelves Coverage: Annual Compilation 1946- Access: Restricted to Steely Reference Area. See a librarian. Coverage: 1984-present; Indexes biographical information appearing in periodicals and books, including interviews, obituaries, and autobiographies as well as other types of sources.
Lives, the Biography Resource
Links to Web resources including biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, diaries, letters, and oral histories. Limited to people who are no longer living or whose "public life and career are well behind them."
Pseudonyms and Nicknames Dictionary (1980)
Location: REF CT 120 .P8 Links over 17,000 original names to nearly 22,000 assumed names.

Standard Resources

International Who's Who
Location: REF CT 120 .I5 Nearly 20,000 entries on noted contemporary individuals.
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography (1973)
Location: REF CT 103 .M27 Serves as a "solid introduction to significant personalities and as a point of departure for further serious reading."
Webster's Biographical Dictionary (1966)
Location: REF CT 103 .W4 1966 40,000 very brief entries on people without limit to nationality.

Current Events

Current Biography
Location: REF CT 100 .C8 Coverage: Annual 1940- Provides "objective, accurate, and well documented biographical articles about living leaders in all fields of human accomplishment the world over."
LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Search
eLocation: LexisNexis Academic Access: Available off campus with NKU login Coverage: most recent 20 years Full-text articles from the New York Times and other newspapers are available here; they can be a rich resource for biographical information and obituaries. Select News and then General News. If you select "More Options" you can limit your search to a particular newspaper.
Newsmakers
Location: REF CT 120.C66x Coverage: (Annual 1985-) Provides profiles of people who are currently in the news and a list of sources for further reading.
New York Times Biographical Service
Location: REF CT 120 .N45 Coverage: Annual 1970-1997 Compiles biographical articles from the New York Times.

American Biographies: General

Dictionary of American Biography
Location: REF E 176 .D563 The standard dictionary of American biography. Contains a list of sources.
Who's Who in America
Location: REF E 663 .W56 Biographies of the leaders of American society.

African American

African American Biographies: Profiles of 558 Current Men and Women
Location: REF E 185.96 .H38 1992 Biographies of notable African American role models alive after 1968.
African American Biographies, 2: Profiles of 332 Current Men and Woman
Location: REF E 185.96 .H38 Biographies not found in the earlier volume.
Notable Black American Women
Location: REF E 185.96 .N682 1996x Covers individuals from early America to the present . Includes References.
Who's Who Among African Americans
Location: REF E 185.96 .W52 Biographies of over 20,000 African Americans from all walks of life.

Art

The Dictionary of Art
Location: REF N 31 .D5 1996 Among other information, provides biographies of artists without concern for period or nationality.
eLocation: Art Research Guide
How to find information on artists and examples of their works.

British Biographies: General

Dictionary of National Biography: From the Earliest Times to 1900
Location: REF DA 28 .D47 Over 29,000 articles covering British or Irish men and women.
Who's Who
Location: REF DA 28 .W6 (Annual) "Over thirty thousand biographies--of all kinds of people from all parts of the world and from all walks of life." There is an emphasis on British biographies.

Business

Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders
Location: REF HC 102.5 .A2 I53 1983 Biographies of businessmen from the late eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth.
Who's Who in Finance and Industry
Location: REF HF 3023 .A2 W5 Over 24,000 biographies of North American and international "professionals who are of current business Reference interest."

Kentucky

Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky (1896)
Location: REF F 450 .B65 1980x Biographies of prominent nineteenth century Kentuckians.
Kentucky Encyclopedia
Location: REF F 451 .K413 1992 Among other things, provides biographies of notable Kentuckians.

Literature

Contemporary Authors
Location: REF PS 128 .C6 Brief biographical entries on living and recently deceased authors.
Cyclopedia of World Authors
Location: REF PN 451 .M36 1997 Information on the lives of over 2000 authors "from around the world and from antiquity to the present."
European Authors 1000-1900: A Biographical Dictionary
Location: REF PN 451 .K8 Nearly 1000 biographical entries.

Music

Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music
Location: REF ML 105 .H35 1996 Biographies of major figures in Western music including jazz and popular musicians.
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980)
Location: REF ML 100 .N48 Biographies of musicians are only one aspect of this multi-volume set.

Political Science: International

Historic World Leaders
Location: REF CT 103 .H57 1994x Over 620 biographies of ancient to modern leaders from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific.

Political Science: United States

Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980
Brief biographies of the mayors of America's 15 largest cities: Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and St. Louis.
Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States; 1789-1978
Provides brief biographies and bibliographies.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-1989
Location: Gov Docs Y 1.1/3 100-34 Biographies of members of congress through the 100th congress.
Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1989
Location: REF E 176 .B575 1990x Provides biographies of presidents, vice-presidents, and cabinet heads.
Directory of House Members by Name
Directory of the Current Senate by Name
Justices of the Supreme Court 1789-1969: Their Lives and Major Opinions
Location: REF KF 8744 .F75 Biographical essays on the 79 justices through 1969.
Justices of the Supreme Court
Biographies of the Current Justices
Biographies of all justices who have served on the Supreme Court.
Who's Who in American Politics (1991-1992)
Location: REF E 176 .W6424 Biographical information on people in all branches of federal and state government as well as party officials.

Science

Dictionary of Scientific Biography
Location: REF Q 141 .D5 Provides articles on scientists from antiquity to the present without regard to nationality.

Women

Who's Who of American Women
Location: REF CT 3260 .W5 Supplies 29,000 brief biographical sketches.
Notable American Women 1607-1950
Location: REF CT 3260 .N57 Provides over 1300 biographies with sources in 3 volumes.
Notable American Women: The Modern Period
Location: REF CT 3260 .N573 Biographies of 442 women born between 1857 and 1943. Sources are recommended at the end of each article.