CSU Libraries > How Do I > Research > Biographical Resources

Biographical Resources

Always begin your research from the Libraries' web site.

Biographical sources are divided in several ways. The main divisions are between general and specialized, and between those that cover living or deceased individuals. When looking for biographical information, you can save time if you know more than just the name of the person. Other information that might be helpful includes birth/death dates, occupation, gender, ethnic background, nationality, and aliases or pseudonyms.

Biographical Resources located in the Reference Collection

(1st floor of the Schwob Memorial Library)

• Chambers Biographical Dictionary: Ref CT100 .C8
• Current Biography Yearbook: Ref CT100 .C8
• Dictionary of American Biography: Ref E176 .D56
• Dictionary of National Biography: Ref DA28 .D59
• Encyclopedia Americana: Ref AE5 .E333
• International Who's Who: Ref CT120 .I5
• Newsmakers: Ref CT120 .C663
• Who's Who: Ref DA28 .W6
• World Book Encyclopedia: Ref AE5 .W55

There are also many specialized biographical reference sources, either single-volume or multi-volume works. These works group people together based on their profession or occupation, gender, or ethnic group. Ask a librarian to help you locate the sources that best meet your needs.

GIL

Use GIL, the Libraries' catalog to locate other books that might be of interest to you.

Set GIL to "Exact Search" and then select "Subject Heading" from the list in the big light blue box. Type in the name of the person you are researching (last name, first name). The results list will have general books about your person listed first, followed by books that treat various aspects of the person's life.

Journals, Magazines and Newspapers - Suggested Databases

There are two types of electronic databases that provide access to periodical information, those that contain the full text of the actual articles and those that contain citations and abstracts of articles. When you use a citation database, you will also need to search GIL for the title of the periodical. (See Do a Title Search in GIL.) If you find the title listed, you will need to look at the bottom of the screen for the holdings and location information. If CSU does not own the periodical you need, you may want to consider requesting the item via Interlibrary Loan.

• Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost) - A GALILEO database that indexes journals in a wide variety of fields and includes a great deal of full text.
• Research Library (PROQUEST) - A GALILEO database that index indexes journals in a wide variety of fields and includes a great deal of full-text.
• Lexis Nexis Academic - A GALILEO database geared to newspaper and legal research, providing full text articles from close to 5000 newspapers and other publications.
• New York Times (via LexisNexis) - one of the full-text publications available through LexisNexis Academic. You may also search the New York Times through the paper index. The articles will be available on microfilm.

Web Sites

Beware that not all information on the Internet is accurate or reliable. Look for the following information to help evaluate Internet resources:

• Accuracy - Is the information reliable and error free? Are sources cited?
• Authority - Who is the author and what are his/her qualifications? Does the URL suffix tell you anything?
• Objectivity - Is the author's intent to persuade or make a sale? Is the information presented free of bias?
• Currency - Is the information up-to-date? Is the date given? Is currency important to your topic?
• Coverage - What is included? Are the topics explored in depth?

For more detailed information on evaluating web sites see the Evaluating Web Sites page.

Suggested general sites:

• Biography.Com
• Information Please
• Desk Reference 500
  
• Google - Please remember to put your person's name in "quotes."

Please ask a librarian for help in locating for other online sources that may be more specific scope and coverage.

Author JAL -- 2003
HTML Conversion EHK -- January 2005