| By: | Linda
Hildebrand Assistant Professor & Archives Coordinator |
Phone: (248)
370-2483 E-mail: hildebra@oakland.edu |
The purpose of this guide is to acquaint the student with
the principal biographical reference sources in Kresge Library.
It is not an exclusive listing but it should serve to provide
basic information about significant individuals. Its scope
includes both American and international persons, living and
dead. For information about a person from a specific country
or discipline, consult the online Library Catalog using
a subject search such as france biography, mathematicians
biography, etc., or consult with the Reference Librarian.
AMERICAN
Who's Who in America. 1916-present. Ref. E 663 .W56
Provides basic biographical information on notable, living
Americans. Published biennially. Kresge Library also owns
Who's Who in the Midwest, Ref. E 747 .W63 and Who's
Who in the East, Ref. E 747 .W59 (1959-1992).
Who Was Who in America. Ref. E 663 .W54
Includes biographies formerly in Who's Who in America.
Death date and interment location are frequently noted.
Dictionary of American Biography. (DAB). 11 vols. + suppls. Ref. E 176 .D56
Essay length scholarly articles of one-half page to 20 pages
on famous Americans. Includes bibliographies. Colonial Period
to 1965. Does not include living persons.
American Men and Women of Science. Ref. Q 141 .A47
Provides biographical sketches of prominent scientists in
the biological and the social and behavioral sciences. K.L.
has 10th (1960) through current editions.
Directory of American Scholars. Ref. LA 2311 .C32 (3rd-8th eds., 1957-82); .D52 (9th ed. 1999)
Covers prominent faculty scholars in the disciplines of history,
philosophy, religion, law, foreign languages, linguistics,
philology, English, speech and drama.
Who's Who in American Politics. 1967- Ref. E 176 .W6424
Chronicles the laws of 23,566 politically active men and
women," including the President and cabinet members,
state delegations to Congress, governors, state and local
officials.
National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ref. E 176 .N27
Most comprehensive American work. The Cyclopaedia is arranged
in two parts: A "current" series (latest 1984) which
cites living Americans and a permanent series which cites
dead Americans. The index covers both series.
Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ref. E 176 .A655
Contains articles, many portraits and signatures. Useful
for names not included in the DAB., but some entries are not
accurate. Alphabetically arranged in 7 vols. including index.
INTERNATIONAL
The International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who. 1961- Ref. JA 51 .I57
Gives biographies of world leaders in government, church,
commerce, industry and education. Published annually.
Current Biography. 1940- Ref. CT 100 .C8
Published monthly with annual cumulations. Coverage includes
300-350 biographies annually of persons of different occupations
and professions who are prominent in the news. One to two
pages with portraits.
Dictionary of International Biography. 1967-1990/91. Ref. CT 101 .D5
150,000 biographies. Includes names not found in the two
following entries. Published annually.
The International Who's Who. 1960- Ref. CT 120 .I5
Brief biographical information on people throughout the world.
Published annually.
Who's Who in the World. 1971- Ref. CT 120 .W5
Contains over 25,000 entries from 150 countries. Similar
to the International Who's Who but includes entries not found
there. Published annually.
Dictionary of National Biography. (DNB). Ref. DA 28 .D47
Coverage includes important dead people of the United Kingdom and colonies including Americans of the colonial period. Contains signed articles by specialists. Includes biblio-graphies. Kept current with supplements. Excludes living persons.
Who's Who. 1889- Ref. DA 28 .W6
Biographical information on prominent persons. Primarily
British, but includes prominent names from other nationalities.
Published annually.
Webster's Biographical Dictionary. Ref. CT 103 .W4
A single volume work containing brief, biographical information
on over 40,000 famous persons. Includes pronunciation guide
for names.
Who Was Who. 1897- Ref. DA 28 .W65
Original entries from Who's Who are reprinted with
death date added. Infrequently, additional information has
been added.
Contemporary Authors. 1962- Ref. CT 104 .A1 C58 & C59
". . . a bio-bibliographical guide to authors and their
works". International in scope. Provides up to date information
on authors in many fields. Sketches cite personal facts, writings
and works in progress.
Dictionary of Twentieth-Century World Biography.
Ref. CT 120 .D53 1992
New York Times Biographical Service. 1978-98 Ref. CT 120 .N45
Contains "general interest" biographies from NYT.
INDEXES
Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Ref. CT 213 .B56; also available online (see Online Sources below).
Indexes 3,200,000 biographies from 350 current and retrospective
biographical dictionaries. Kept up to date with supplements.
Biography Index. 1946-99 Index Ref. CT 100 .A1 B56; July 1984 through current available online through FirstSearch (see Online Sources below).
Index to biographical information appearing in books, periodicals
and newspapers.
Personal Name Index to the New York Times Index. 1851-1989. Ref. CT 104 .F28
Cites around 3,000,000 names from the Times index.
Refers patron to the year and page number in the New York
Times Index. (For more current New York Times articles,
see Online Sources link below.)
The New York Times Obituaries Index. 1858-1968. Ref. CT 213 .N47
Includes all names that appeared under the heading Death
in the New York Times Index.
ONLINE SOURCES
Listed below are some online sources containing biographical information that may be helpful. Follow the links below. They also may be accessed from the Kresge Library home page (http://library.oakland.edu). Once on the home page, select All Databases from the Express Links drop box for an alphabetical listing.
Biography & Genealogy Master Index
Lexis-Nexis, select Reference, then Biographical Information
LH/3/11/85rev.6/26/03.mj/biography/br3
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