Biography Research Guide: Overview

Huge collection of biographies on over 525,000 people worldwide. Includes full text articles from hundreds of periodicals, including the full text of standard reference titles such as: Webster's Biographical Dictionary, Encyclopedia of World Biography (28 vols.), Dictionary of American Biography (20 vols.), Newsmakers, and more. Note: Access to the Gale/Cengage databases is made possible by the Massachusetts Regional Library System.

Information from the encyclopedia, plus links to selected web sites.

Entire contents of the printed monthly issues, since 1940 a trusted source in libraries. Contains carefully researched profiles of people in the news including politicians, sports figures, businesspeople, writers, actors, scientists and celebrities. Substantial profiles between 2,000-5,000 words; short bibliography follows each entry. Print volumes from 1940 - 2006 are shelved in the Reference collection on the 2nd floor: Ref/CT100/C8

Best for recent personalities; full-text biographical articles culled from journals, magazines and newspapers. Under Subject Search, Select Biographical Information.

Full text biographies of literary figures

This database provides full-text access to over 84,000 biographies on people from all professions, countries, and time periods. Click on Advanced Search and enter the person's name in the search box - then scroll down and limit the Publication Type to Biography.

This database includes the full text of the Grove Dictionary of Art, which includes biographies of artists from antiquity through the present.

This collection includes biographies taken from several hundred reference sources. It is strongest in history and the humanities. After running a Quick Search on a person's name, click the Subject Reference: Longer Entries tab [upper left corner of the screen] to view more the more substantive entries.