Biographical Information
How to Find Biographical Information | Electronic Resources
How to Find Biographical Information
Scope: Explores resources for finding biographical information.
The following steps should make the search easier:
1. Look in the Pepperdine University Library catalog by subject. If a full-length biography is in the Pepperdine University collection, an entry will appear under the name of the person.
2. Check the index volume of one or more encyclopedias. Good encyclopedias contain biographical material about well-known people of all nationalities. Examples: World Book Encyclopedia (Ref AE 5 .W55 1993), Encyclopedia Americana (Ref AE 5 .E333 1996), The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (Ref AE 5 .E363 1993).
3. If no biographical data is found in the online catalog or the encyclopedias, look in Biographies Plus Illustrated (Pepperdine Libraries databases at http://library.pepperdine.edu). This database provides full-text information with illustrations.
4. Check the LEXIS/NEXIS ACADEMIC UNIVerse Biographical Information in the Reference section.
5. Other general sources which specialize in biographical information about a variety of people include:
General Sources:
| Cambridge Biographical Dictionary. | Ref CT 103 .C4 1990 |
| Current Biography and Current Biography Yearbook. | Ref CT 100 .C8 |
| Dictionary of International Biography. | Ref CT 101 .D5 |
| Dictionary of Universal Biography... . | Ref CT 103 .H9 |
| Great Lives from History. Twentieth Century Series. | Ref CT 120 .G69 1990 |
| Who's Who in the World. | Ref CT 120 .W5 |
6. If you have found no information in any of these sources, or not enough information for your purpose, make a survey of what you do know about the person you are investigating. Are you sure he is (or was) a real person? If he was fictitious, use the list of sources for FICTIONAL CHARACTERS. If real, is the person alive or dead? If dead, do you know when he lived? Do you know his nationality, or country with which he is usually associated? What is the occupation or field of interest with which he is primarily associated? With whatever information you have, you can then use those items from the following lists which are applicable:
For Living Persons for Whom the Country is Know or Can Be Guessed:
| National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Current Volume. | Ref E 176 .N283 |
| Notable American Women: the modern period: a biographical dictionary. | Ref CT 3260 .N573 |
| Who's Who. | Ref DA 28 .W6 |
| Who's Who Among Black Americans. | Ref E 185.96 .W52 |
| Who's Who Among Hispanic Americans. | Ref E 184 .S75 W53 |
| Who's Who in America. | Ref E 176 .W6422 |
| Who's Who of American Women. | Ref E 176 .W647 |
For Deceased Persons for Whom the Country is Know or Can Be Guessed:
| Dictionary of American Biography. | Ref E 176 .D563 |
| The Dictionary of American Biography: Supplement Three-Eight. | Ref E 176 .D563 |
| Dictionary of National Biography (British). | Ref DA 28 .D47 1967 |
| National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. | Ref E 176 .N283 1967 |
| Notable American Women, 1607-1950: a biographical dictionary. | Ref CT 3260 .N57 |
| Who Was Who. | Ref D A28 .W621 |
| Who Was Who in America. | Ref E 176 .W643 |
By Occupation or Field of Interest
Literature and Authors:
| American Authors, 1600-1900. | Ref PS 21 .K8 1966 |
| British Authors before 1800. | Ref PR 105 .K9 |
| British Authors of the Nineteenth Century. | Ref PR 451 .K8 1936 |
| Contemporary Authors. | Ref PN 451 .C6x |
| Contemporary Novelists. | Ref PR 883 .V55 1986x |
| Contemporary Poets. | Ref PR 603 .C6 1985 |
| Contemporary Poets of the English Language. | Ref PR 603 .C6 1971 |
| Cyclopedia of World Authors. | Ref PN 451 .M36 |
| Dictionary of Literary Biography. | Ref PN 501 .D52 |
| European Authors, 1000-1900. | Ref PN 451 .K8 |
| Hispanic Writers. | Ref PQ 6051 .H5 1991 |
| Spanish American Authors: the twentieth century. | Ref PQ 7081.3 .F57 1992 |
| Twentieth Century Authors. | Ref PN 771 .K86 |
| Twentieth Century Authors; first supplement. | Ref PN 771 .K86 1955 Suppl. |
| Literature Resource Center (Gale) | Electronic Database |
Fictional Characters:
| General encyclopedias | (For examples and call numbers, see step 2) |
| Cyclopedia of Literary Characters. | Ref PN 44 .M3 1963 |
| Cyclopedia of Literary Characters II. | Ref PN 44 .M28 1990 |
| Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols. | Ref GR 35 .J6 |
| The New Century Cyclopedia of Names. | Ref AG 5 .N28 1954 |
| Who's Who in Shakespeare. | Ref PR 2989 .Q4 1973b |
Education:
| The National Faculty Directory. | Ref L 901 .N34 |
Sciences:
| American Men and Women of Science. | Ref Q 141 .A74 |
| Dictionary of Scientific Biography. | Ref Q 141 .D5 |
| World Who's Who in Science. | Ref Q 141 .W7 |
Social Sciences:
| American Men and Women of Science. | Ref Q 141 .A74 |
| Dictionary of American Social Reform. | Ref H 41 .F5 1963 |
| International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. | Ref H 40 .A2 I5 1972 |
| Who's Who in Economics. | Ref HB 76 .W46 1983 |
Business:
| Reference Book of Corporate Managements. | Ref HD 2745 .D897 |
| Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives. | Ref HG 4057 .A4 |
| Who's Who in Economics. | Ref HB 76 .W46 1983 |
| Who's Who in Finance and Industry. | Ref HF 3023 .A2 W5 |
Music:
| ASCAP Biographical Dictionary. | Ref ML 106 .U3 A5 1980 |
| Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. | Ref ML 105 .B16 1991 |
| Composers since 1900: First Supplement | Ref ML 390 .E833 Suppl. |
| The Music Index. | Ref Index |
| The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. | Ref ML 101 .U6 N48 1986 |
| The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. | Ref ML 100 .N48 2001 |
| The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. | Electronic Database |
| "You Must Remember This": popular songwriters 1900-1980 | Ref ML 390 .W378 1985 |
Art and Architecture:
| Art Index. | Ref Index |
| The Dictionary of Art. | Ref N 31 .D5 1996 |
| Encyclopedia of World Art. | Ref N 31 .E4833 |
| Who's Who in American Art. | Ref N 6536 .W5 |
| Who's Who in Architecture: from 1400 to the present. | Ref NA 40 .W48 |
Entertainment:
| Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television. | Ref PN 2285 .C58 |
| The Dance Encyclopedia. | Ref GV 1585 .C5 1967 |
| International Motion Picture Almanac. | Ref PN 1993.3 .I55 |
| International Television & Video Almanac. | Ref PN 1992.15 .I61 |
| Notable Names in the American Theatre. | Ref PN 2285 .N6 1976 |
| Who's Who in Entertainment. | Ref PN 1583 .W48 |
| Who's Who in the Theatre. | Ref PN 2208 .W5 1981 |
Political and Social:
| The African-American Almanac. | Ref E 185 .N386 |
| LexisNexis Academic News | Electronic Database |
| Official Congressional Directory. | Ref JK 1011 .U5 |
| Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. | Ref Index |
| Who's Who in American Politics. | Ref E 176 .W6424 |
Electronic Resources
Biographical Dictionary
Searchable biographical dictionary of over 25,000 notable men and women who have shaped our world from ancient times to the present day. The dictionary can be searched by birth years, death years, positions held, professions, literary and artistic works, achievements, and other keywords
Biography.com
25,000 personalities and 2,500 videos
Yahoo: People
Extensive listing of biographical sites
Biography Resource Center
Provides biographical information on more than 220,000 people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas. Besides biographical narratives, the database provides full-text articles from more than 250 periodicals.
Last Updated: June 2009
