Biography Databases
(see also History and
General)
[Indexes]
[Online Books]
[Also of Interest]
- Indexes to Journals and Books:
- Biography
and Genealogy Master Index (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Indexes biographical dictionaries, who's whos, subject encyclopedias, and
other readily available reference
sources that cover individuals, both living and
deceased, from every field of activity
and from all areas of the world.
Enables you to quickly determine which
publication to consult for biographical information.
- LexisNexis
Biographical Information (LexisNexis)
- Biographical articles from newspapers, magazines,
reference books, and other publications.
- LIUCat
on the Web:
- The online public access catalog of Long Island University's
six campuses. This can be searched from any computer. No password is needed.
- Online Encyclopedias and Books:
- General -
Arts & Entertainment -
Business & Government -
Individual Groups & Regions -
Literature -
Science & Social Science -
Women
- General:
- Chambers
Biographical Dictionary (Credo/xrefer)
- International and historical coverage of all areas of human achievement -
including the arts, science, technology, sport, politics, philosophy, and business - with
detailed panel entries on particularly important or influential people.
- Dictionary
of Literary Influences: The Twentieth Century, 1914-2000 (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Traces the reading habits and intellectual development of the cultural giants of
the 20th century with entries on people from a broad range of fields, including science,
politics, business, literature, religion, performing arts, and popular culture.
- Encyclopedia
of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Encyclopedia of World Biography (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- vol.
1 - 23,
vol.
24,
vol.
25.
Over 7,000 biographies of those people from every part of the
world and from all time periods who, for their contributions to human culture and
society, have reputations that stand the test of time. Each biography is approximately
2,000 words in length and includes a bibliography. Many include portraits.
- Marquis
Who Was Who in America: 1607-1984 (Credo/xrefer)
- Provides biographical information and lifetime accomplishments of many
American history-makers who died between 1607 and 1984.
- Marquis
Who Was Who in America: 1985-Present (Credo/xrefer)
- Biographical entries on Americans who have died since 1985 provide
personal data such as family relationships, political affiliations, key
positions held, awards, published writings, vital statistics, and other basic facts.
- Marquis
Who's Who in America (Credo/xrefer)
- Brief biographical information on America's most notable men and women
from every field of endeavor, including business, politics, healthcare, science,
entertainment, the arts, and more.
- Marquis
Who's Who in the World (Credo/xrefer)
- Brief biographical entries on over 50,000 leading citizens
from 215 countries and territories around the world.
- Scribner
Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: The 1960s (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Biographical sketches of 647 figures from all fields who flourished during the
tumultuous 1960s. Each entry includes a chronology, important accomplishments, and a
narrative of the subject's life, focusing specifically on their activities during the 1960s,
although other key points are also mentioned.
- Arts and Entertainment:
(see also:
Music -
Sports -
Literature -
Visual Arts & Design -
Film, Theater & Performing Arts)
- Baker's
Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990 (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Includes more than 550 entries focusing on artists active from 1990-2003.
Individual artists and groups in all popular styles are covered, including rock, rhythm & blues,
rap, country, electronica, jazz, vocal, and crossover classical. Includes select discographies,
bibliographies, a glossary of music terms, a table of best-selling music since 1990, and more.
- Biographical
Dictionary of Artists, Andromeda (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Biographical
Dictionary of 20th Century Philosophers (Credo/xrefer)
- Provides detailed accounts of the lives, works, influence, and reception of
thinkers from all areas of twentieth-century philosophy worldwide, including
general entries on important philosophical schools and currents of thought.
Each entry provides: dates, career, education, influences, nationality, publications,
areas of interest ,critical reception, philosophical school, intellectual development,
and more.
- Dictionary
of Modern American Philosophers (Credo/xrefer)
- Provides an account of philosophical thought in the United States and Canada between
1860 and the present. Each entry begins with biographical and career information and then
discusses the subject's writings, teaching, and thought.
- Encyclopedic
Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930 (Credo/xrefer)
- Profiles many of the women who were crucial to the development of film as an
industry - and as an art form - during early days of cinema. Includes those working
behind the scenes as producers or publicists, behind the cameras as writers,
directors, or editors, and in front of the lens as flappers, vamps, or serial queens.
- Harvard
Biographical Dictionary of Music (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- International
Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Detailed essays and commentary provide biographies, filmographies,
comprehensive credits, production information, major awards, and bibliographies for
legendary films, actors, actresses, directors, writers, and other production artists.
- Notable
Sports Figures (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Features biographies on more than 600 people from around the world
and throughout history who have broken records, captured attention, or generated
controversy that not only dominated and changed their sport but also had an impact on
the society and culture of their times.
- Scribner
Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Biographies of 500 athletes, team owners, sports promoters, and
coaches, covering both living and deceased individuals from the 19th century to the
present day. Appendices list subjects by sport and by era, it enabling users to do
research on a particular sport or decade.
- Thames
& Hudson Dictionary of Art and Artists (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Wisden
Archive of Cricketers' Lives 2009 (Credo/xrefer)
- Biographies and obituaries of the cricketers of yesteryear selected from the annual
Wisden Cricketer's Almanack that has been published every year since 1864.
- Business and Government:
(see also:
Business -
Government & Politics)
- Business
Leader Profiles for Students (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Covers 350 prominent individuals who have made significant contributions to
business and industry. Profiles range from 1,250 to 2,500 words in length.
- Canadian
Parliamentary Guide (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Biographical sketches of current parliamentarians, including those serving in
the Privy Council, Senate, and House of Commons. Includes results of all federal general and
by-elections since 1867, current and historical data on provincial and territorial governments
(with statistical information), listings for provincial and territorial legislative assemblies
(with general by-election results), and more.
- Encyclopedia
of the History of American Management (Credo/xrefer)
- Examines the lives and works of the prime movers, giants of enterprise, inventors,
innovators, writers, and other major contributors in the fields of economic development,
business ventures, academia, and consulting whose ideas have influenced the theory and
practice of management. Each entry provides a new insight into the subject's life, family,
education, career, and some measure of his or her importance and place in history.
- International
Directory of Business Biographies (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Features in-depth biographical narratives on more than 600 notable
businesspeople. Covers the career paths, business achievements, leadership styles,
business strategies, and impact of Fortune 500 and Global 500 corporate leaders
and entrepreneurs.
- Presidents:
A Reference History (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Discusses the biography, activities, and policies of each president, as well
as the historical perspective that reviews each individual presidency as part of the larger stream
of American history, with all of its drama and pageantry. Includes the history of the presidency,
the White House, and the role of the first ladies.
- Individual Groups and Regions:
(see also:
Women -
Culture & Area Studies -
Ethnic Studies & Multiculturalism)
- African-American
Writers: A Dictionary (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the role and influence of African American cultural leaders from
all walks of life from the 18th century to the present. Biographical information
includes important events in the writer's life, such as education, major works,
honors, awards, family, important associates, and other interesting lore.
- Canadian
Parliamentary Guide (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Biographical sketches of current parliamentarians, including those serving in
the Privy Council, Senate, and House of Commons. Includes results of all federal general and
by-elections since 1867, current and historical data on provincial and territorial governments
(with statistical information), listings for provincial and territorial legislative assemblies
(with general by-election results), and more.
- Contemporary Hispanic Biography (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- vol.
01,
vol.
02,
vol.
03,
vol.
04.
Biographical profiles of the important and influential persons of
Latino heritage around the world in a wide variety of fields, including art, business,
education, law, literature, medicine, politics, religion, science, and more.
- Debrett's
Peerage and Baronetage (Credo/xrefer)
- Reference guide to the British aristocracy with the genealogical details of every
British duke, marquess, viscount, earl, baron and baronet, as well as all the living
members of their families in the male line.
- Debrett's
People of Today (Credo/xrefer)
- Biographical details about contemporary Britain's
most notable and successful people from
the entire spectrum of British society. Entries include details of career, education,
family, recreations, and membership of
clubs as well as contact addresses. An additional feature is the correct style of address
to be used when addressing correspondence to an entrant.
- Who
Was Who at Waterloo: A Biography of the Battle (Credo/xrefer)
- Presents biographies of soldiers, politicians, peasants, surgeons, artists, novelists, poets,
scientists, entrepreneurs, and more. Provides insights into nineteenth century culture, politics,
medicine, and science, as well as myths, irregularities, and cover-ups.
- Who's
Who Among African Americans (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- (See database page for description)
- Who's
Who in Ancient Egypt, Routledge (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Who's
Who in Christianity, Routledge (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Who's
Who in Gay and Lesbian History, Routledge (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Who's
Who in the Roman World, Routledge (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Literature:
(see also: Literature)
- African-American
Writers: A Dictionary (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the role and influence of African American cultural leaders from
all walks of life from the 18th century to the present. Biographical information
includes important events in the writer's life, such as education, major works,
honors, awards, family, important associates, and other interesting lore.
- American
Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical and critical essays on 1,328 American women
writers covering all genres and all periods of American history.
- Bloomsbury
Biographical Dictionary of Quotations (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Contemporary
Novelists (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical/critical essays on the most important living
novelists writing in English worldwide.
- Contemporary
Poets (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides biographical and bibliographical information on 789 of the
world's most important contemporary English-language poets. Entries include
personal and career information, addresses, a detailed bibliography, a list of further
reading sources, and more. Each entry also includes a signed critical essay covering
each poet's career and works, written by an expert in the field.
- Dictionary
of Literary Influences: The Twentieth Century, 1914-2000 (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Traces the reading habits and intellectual development of the cultural giants of
the 20th century with entries on people from a broad range of fields, including science,
politics, business, literature, religion, performing arts, and popular culture.
- Holocaust
Literature: An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Magill
on Literature Plus (Ebsco)
- Combining MagillOnLiterature and
MagillOnAuthors, this database contains over 6,500 biographical
essays on more than 3,500 different authors. Also contains
editorially reviewed critical analyses, brief plot summaries, and
extended character profiles, covering works by more than 8,500 long and
short fiction writers, poets, dramatists, essayists, and philosophers, as well as more than 1,000 images,
a glossary of 1,310 literary terms, and 376 genre-driven
overview essays providing details about important literary genres,
time periods, and national literatures.
- Major
21st-Century Writers (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- (See database page for description)
- Reference
Guide to Holocaust Literature (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides biographical and critical essays on 223 writers connected to or
concerned with the Holocaust, as well as separate essays on 307 of their works.
- Reference
Guide to Short Fiction (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical and critical essays on 376 of the most important
writers of short fiction writing in English worldwide, and 403 separate essays on selected
works. Also includes some authors of note who did not write in English, but whose works
have been widely translated and are often studied, such as Anton Chekhov and Jean-Paul
Sartre. Most authors covered were born after 1750, but a few important figures from earlier
periods are included as well.
- Reference
Guide to World Literature (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical and critical essays on authors from throughout
the world, as well as essays covering specific work or works of an author, with criticism
and analysis of those works.
- Twayne
Authors Series (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Includes biographies and literary criticism from the Twayne World, US,
and English Authors series that each contain the full text of 200 frequently used
Twayne Literary Masters books on individual World, US, or English authors, for a total of 600
individual full-text titles.
- Writers Directory (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- 2005
edition,
2006
edition.
This comprehensive resource features up-to-date bibliographical,
biographical, and contact information for thousands of living authors worldwide who
have at least one English publication. Entries typically include name, pseudonyms,
addresses, citizenship, birth date, specialization, career information, and a
bibliography. Contact information includes e-mail addresses where available.
- Science and Social Science:
(see also:
Science -
Social Sciences)
- Biographical
Dictionary of Dissenting Economists (Credo/xrefer)
- Provides biographical, bibliographical, and critical information on economists working
in the non-neoclassical traditions broadly defined - both past and present - including
entries on radical economists, Marxists, post-Keynesians, behaviorists, Kaleckians,
institutionalists, and more, demonstrating the extent and richness of the radical
heterodox tradition in economics.
- Biographical
Dictionary of Psychology (Credo/xrefer)
- Provides biographical and bibliographical information on psychologists from
all over the world from 1850 to the present day. All branches of psychology and its
related disciplines are featured.
- Biographical
Dictionary of Social and Cultural Anthropology (Credo/xrefer)
- Offers an overview of the historical and contemporary reach of anthropological
research, spanning the period from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first centuries.
- Biographical
Dictionary of Women Economists (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the lives and writings of women who made significant contributions to economics
to shed new light on the rich, but too often neglected, heritage of women's analysis of
economic issues and participation in the discipline of economics. Emphasizes those
who wrote in English but includes notable world figures too.
- Cambridge
Dictionary of Scientists (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Covers over 1,500 key scientists from 40 countries. Fields
represented include physics, chemistry, biology, geology, astronomy,
mathematics, medicine, meteorology, and technology. Special attention
paid to pioneering women, recent Nobel Prizewinners, and winners of the
Fields Medal for mathematics.
- Cambridge
Dictionary of Scientists (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Complete
Dictionary of Scientific Biography (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Provides information on the history of science through articles on the
professional lives of scientists. All periods of science from classical antiquity to
modern times are represented.
- Encyclopedia
of Women Social Reformers (Credo/xrefer)
- Documents the visions, struggles, and lives of women around the world
who have lead movements for social change from the 18th century to the present,
covering such topics as abolition, prison reform, peace, property rights, environmental
protection, animal rights, and more. Includes a timeline and biographical entries that
cover the childhood, education, achievements, and challenges of each woman.
- Hutchinson
Dictionary of Scientific Biography (Credo/xrefer)
- In-depth guide to the lives, labors, and achievements of the men and women who
have shaped the world of science, including early life, career, major discoveries, and
significant publications.
- Nobel
Memorial Laureates in Economics (Credo/xrefer)
- Introduction to the careers, main published works, and path-breaking insights (in context) of the
Nobel Memorial Laureates in Economics. Provides photographs; year and country of birth;
university and year of their first and higher degrees; their affiliation at the time of the award;
broad field of study; and Prize citation. Includes a glossary of selected associations, awards,
institutions, and societies, as well as a biographical guide to potential future winners.
- Psychologists
and Their Theories for Students (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- (See database page for description)
- Who's
Who In Economics (Credo/xrefer)
- Extensive and authoritative guide to the most frequently cited, living academic economists
throughout the world. Includes biographical data, principal fields of interest, chief publications,
and a statement of their principal contributions to economics as they perceive them.
- Women:
(see also: Women & Gender)
- American
Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present (GVRL) (InfoTrac/Gale Group)
- Contains biographical and critical essays on 1,328 American women
writers covering all genres and all periods of American history.
- Biographical
Dictionary of Women Economists (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the lives and writings of women who made significant contributions to economics
to shed new light on the rich, but too often neglected, heritage of women's analysis of
economic issues and participation in the discipline of economics. Emphasizes those
who wrote in English but includes notable world figures too.
- Encyclopedia
of Women Social Reformers (Credo/xrefer)
- Documents the visions, struggles, and lives of women around the world
who have lead movements for social change from the 18th century to the present,
covering such topics as abolition, prison reform, peace, property rights, environmental
protection, animal rights, and more. Includes a timeline and biographical entries that
cover the childhood, education, achievements, and challenges of each woman.
- Encyclopedic
Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930 (Credo/xrefer)
- Profiles many of the women who were crucial to the development of film as an
industry - and as an art form - during early days of cinema. Includes those working
behind the scenes as producers or publicists, behind the cameras as writers,
directors, or editors, and in front of the lens as flappers, vamps, or serial queens.
- Notable
American Women: 1607-1950 (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the lives of exceptional women throughout three and a half centuries of
American history including artists, lawyers, reformers, educators, entrepreneurs,
physicists, writers, pioneers, presidents' ladies, film stars, and more in all areas
of endeavor, both famous and obscure.
- Notable
American Women: The Modern Period (Credo/xrefer)
- Life stories of American women who have in some way affected contemporary
American life. Includes crucial dates, ancestry, parents, education, marital status,
children, and a brief essay that focuses on each woman's life and personality, and
evaluates her career from a historical framework.
- Notable
American Women: Completing the Twentieth Century (Credo/xrefer)
- Covers the personal lives and professional achievements, set in the context
of larger historical developments, of American women from a broad spectrum of
ethnic, class, political, religious, and sexual identities whose death dates fall
between January 1, 1976 and December 31, 1999.
- Palgrave
Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography (Credo/xrefer)
- Includes broad historical coverage of women worldwide, as well as those
who have hit the headlines in recent years, such as activists from Afghanistan, Africa,
Australia, India, Mexico, the UK, and the US.
- Penguin
Biographical Dictionary of Women (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
- Also of Interest:
- Chambers
Dictionary of Eponyms (Credo/xrefer)
- (See database page for description)
Database descriptions are adapted from each database's website.
NOVEL (New York Online Virtual
Electronic Library) is a statewide virtual library provided free to
the public by the New York State Library.
It is currently a pilot project funded through a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA)
grant to the NY State Library by the Federal Institute of
Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
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robert.delaney@liu.edu
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