Library Research Guides: Find Sources: Biographies

Biographies are works short and long that cover an individual's life.

We can help you find biographies of specific people or browse collected works about people grouped by location, topic, and more.

Full Text Biographies

Biography (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new window
Over 650,000 biographical entries covering international figures from all time periods and areas of study; search by name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
An interdisciplinary research tool that allows you to search over 300 reference works simultaneously, including limiting to audio or visual materials.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) provides access to thousands of news, legal and business sources, including access to print and online journals, television and radio broadcasts, newswires and blogs, as well as local, regional, national and international newspapers, legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, business information on U.S. and international companies and executives.
American National Biography This link opens in a new window
Over 19,000 biographies of significant, influential or notorious figures from American history written by prominent scholars

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Deceased people associated with Britain and the British Empire

Citations to Biographies

Biography Index
Clapp Ref Z5301 .B5

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) This link opens in a new window
Search the contents of archives and manuscript repositories throughout the U.S.

Biography & Genealogy Master Index
NOTE: Access is provided through the Boston Public Library with a Boston Public Library card. Get a BPL eCard.

Databases

Browse one of these databases for biographical content:

What about Wikipedia?

Before you use Wikipedia as a source of biographical information about people living or dead, learn how the community is expected to create and edit biographies of living people.

In a nutshell: Material about living persons added to any Wikipedia page must be written with the greatest care and attention to verifiability, neutrailty, and avoiding original research.

Always verify any claims you find about people in Wikipedia with other sources, such as the ones listed on this guide.