WCSU Libraries    Research Assistance    Finding Biographical Information

Information and facts pertaining to a person's life or background are often very helpful in understanding that person's motivation and impact. The more you know about an individual and his/her history, the better you can analyze events, accomplishments and legacy.

Here are some useful sources of biographical information.

1. Reference Books
2. Circulating Books
3. Magazine, Journal, Newspaper Articles
4. WebSites

1. Reference Books

   Reference books can be very useful when seeking basic, factual information about a person's life. There are two kinds of reference books that may contain the information you need: general biographical reference books and subject-specific reference books.

   General biographical reference books attempt to cover important people in any and all fields and disciplines. They tend to be tremendous in size and contain only the most basic information on any one individual.

   Examples of general biographical reference books include:

   • Encyclopedia of World Biography
   • Current Biography Yearbook

   Others can be found by searching CONSULS or asking a reference librarian for assistance.

   Subject-specific reference books attempt to cover only one area of interest, such as literature, government, business, etc. and tend to provide more detail about each individual.

   Examples of subject-specific biographical resources are:

   • Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists
   • An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers

   Always ask a Reference Librarian if you need help!

2. Circulating Books

   Depending on an individual's impact and/or historical significance, you may be able to find a full-length book entirely devoted to a person's life and work.

   Look for these books in CONSULS by conducting a subject search for the individual's last name, firstname. If there are many items, you may need to find the subdivision called "Biography".

   Examples include:

   • Maya Angelou (search for angelou)
   • Stephen Hawking (search for hawking)
   • Eleanor Roosevelt (search for roosevelt, eleanor)

3. Magazine, Journal, Newspaper Articles

   If the individual you are looking for is contemporary (still alive), there may not be very much available in terms of reference material or circulating books. In those cases, you may be able to find information in current magazines, journals and newspapers by searching databases.

   As with reference books, you will have a choice of general databases or subject-specific. You will need to search for the person's name as a search string, i.e. Bill Clinton, Donald Rumsfeld, Sally Ride.

4. WebSites

   If all else fails, there are some very reputable biographical web sites available for you to search. You can use any search engine and type in the person's name as a search string, i.e. "John Lennon", "Emily Dickinson", "Jerry Seinfeld".

   You may have better success, however, using one of the recommended biographical web sites listed here:

   • Biography.com
   • InfoPlease Almanac: People