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The purpose of this guide is to provide information on finding biographical information on people! Below you will find sections on webpages as well as research databases (via library subscription and available off campus to CSULB students, faculty and staff only) that provide biographical information.
Reseach Databases:
Biography & Geneology Master Index
This database allows you to search through all kinds of biographical sources to find places where the person you are researching has a biography or some sort of biographical information. Keep in mind, this just lists the sources where the biographies are, not the actual biography. After you find a list of sources, you will want to check COAST, the library's catalog to see where the sources are and then find them in the library.
Encyclopedia Britannica
An online version of the famous encyclopedia. Simply search for the person's name to find their information. This site includes the complete encyclopedia, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus, as well as Britannica's Year in Review and Timeline Browse. You can also use Britannica Online to search an internet directory that includes links to The Web's Best Sites selected by Britannica editors.
Gale Literary Databases
This database allows for some full text searching of biographical information. It contains the very popular "Contemporary Authors" series, which provides a lot of biographical information.
Websites and Web Resources:
A & E's Biography
Has biographical information on more than 20,000 people in all fields. The data on the site is primarily from the Cambridge Encyclopedia Database and the Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography.
Biographical Dictionary
Contains brief information on 24,000 people in all fields, from ancient times to the present. The data on this site was compiled from many published news and biographical sources.
Distinguished Women of Past and Present
Links to numerous biographies of "women who contributed to our culture in many different ways . . . [including] . . . educators, scientists, heads of state, politicians, civil rights crusaders, artists, entertainers, and others."
Freeality
A search engine for finding online biographies.
Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
Search for information on anyone in filmmaking. Best to start with the alphabetical biographies index at http://us.imdb.com/Sections/Biographies/Index/A.
Legacy.com's Obit Finder
Search recent obituaries from over one thousand newspapers by name or keyword.
Obitpage.com
This site is dedicated to "the lure of the obituary both as history and as literary art form."
Who's Who in the Federal Government
Links to biographical information on government officials.
Yahoo Biographies
Yahoo's section on bios. It has great categories by time periods (i.e., 16th century) and by type (i.e., artists).
Need more ideas & help?
This aticle from College and Research Libraries entitled "Biography Resources: Finding Information on the Famous, Infamous, and Obscure," has an exhaustive list of places to look on the web for biographies.
This page maintained by
Tracey Mayfield
Librarian for:
Family & Consumer Sciences
Social Work
Kinesiology
Gerontology
Recreation & Leisure Studies
Human Development
California State University, Long Beach University Library
Last Updated 8/15/06
