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Where to Begin | Basic Print Resources | Electronic Resources | Hard-to-find
Trustworthy biographical data is a cornerstone of research, whether one needs to place a person in historical and cultural context, verify dates and birthplace, or introduce a speaker to an audience. This research guide hunts an individual three ways:
(1) Basic Print Resources, such as "Who's Who."
(2) Electronic Resources, including the library database Biography collection and keyword searches in the online library catalog.
(3) Hints for tracking down hard-to-find people (or, what to do before calling a private detective).
The starting point is to determine standard spelling of the person's name, and the birthdate or general time period in which the person has lived. Spelling and dates can be verified at the Reference Desk:
Merriam-Websters Biographical Dictionary, 1995. (LC RH) Ref CT103.M47
This single volume gives biographical information on "important, celebrated, or notorious figures from the last 5000 years". Living persons are excluded.Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia, 1998. (LC RH) Ref CT103.C26
Emphasizes 20th century personalities and includes classified lists by geography, occupation, honors received.
Note: Consider the power of a keyword search. A popular subject for research is former NYC Mayor Rudolph W. (Rudy) Giuliani, but people often forget the exact spelling of his last name. In the Fordham library online catalog, enter word/phrase "Mayor Rudy" for success with a single keystroke.
Dictionaries/Encyclopedias/ChronologiesARBA Guide to Biographical Resources. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998. (RH) Ref CT103.A82
Annotated bibliography of over 1100 representative reference sources divided into national and international biographies and professional fields.American National Biography. NY: Oxford University Press, 1999. (LC RH ) Ref CT213.A68 (available online)
Britannica Book of the Year. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica. (LC RH MM) Ref AE5.B754
Biographies and photos of notables and newsworthy figures of each year.Current Biography. NY: Wilson, 1940- (LC RH MM) Ref. CT100.C8 Published monthy and cumulated annually. See also Current Biography International.
Dictionary of American Biography. NY: Scribner, 1928- (LC RH MM) Ref E176.D563 AND Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives. NY: Scribner 1998- (LC RH) Ref CT213.S37 A series whhich expands Scribner's Dictionary of American Biography to place selected individuals in their historical context. Includes persons who made major contributions to U.S. culture whether or not they were born in the USA or became citizens. Photographs of each person.
Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1970- (LC RH MM) Ref HF5353.E52
The Biography section contains suggested sources for persons currently active in business.Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. (LC RH) Ref. CT103.E56.
New York Times Obituraries Index, 1858-1978. (RH LC) Ref CT213.N47. The index guides searches of New York Times microfilm and the Historical New York Times database.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. NY: Oxford UP, 2004. (RH) Ref DA28.O95. Revised edition of the Dictionary of National Biography 1885-1901.
Riverside Dictionary of Biography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. (RH) Ref CT103.R49. Identifies 20,000 international persons from ancient to present day. Some short quotations and portraits. Entry is by the name most frequently used, e.g. William Sydney Porter is listed as Henry, O.
Timechart History of the Civil War. Ann Arbor, MI: Hould, 2001. (RH) Ref E468.7.T564. Illustrated biographies of commanders, leaders and two presidents. Lavish illustrations are documented for image source.
Ethnicity and Geographic Sources
African American Lives. NY: Oxford, 2004. ( RH) Ref E185.96A48
American Decades. Detroit: Gale, 1994- (LC RH) Ref. E169.12.A42
Each volume covers a 10 year period. The section "Headline Makers" is useful for people in business.Dictionary of Hispanic Biography. NY: Gale, 1996. (RH) Ref CT1343.D53
Distinguished Asian Americans. Westport CT: Greenwood, 1999. (LC RH) Ref E184.O6 D57
Encyclopedia of Ireland. New Haven CT: Yale, 2003 (LC RH) Ref DA906.E52. Comprehensive with good illustrations.
Encyclopedia of Louisville. Lexington KY: University Press, 2001 (RH) Ref F459.L89 E54
Here is an example of the regional encyclopedia collections in the library. This one lists Col. Sanders and other prominent Kentuckians.Notable Native Americans. NY: Gale, 1995. (LC RH) Ref E89.N67 Indexes by tribal group, occupation and tribal role.
100 Faces From Finland. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2000. (RH) Ref CT1220.A18
Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. NY: Oxford University Press, 2001. (LC RH) Ref DT58.O94
Use this regional encyclopedia for a biography of Cleopatra.Women Building Chicago 1790-1990. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. (RH LC) Ref HQ1439.C47 W66. A volume organized around the lives of a selected group which illuminates the history of a city as well.
Leadership Directories
The library receives a number of Leadership Directories, the "Yellow books", updated quarterly, covering persons in politics, business, law, diplomatic service, etc. For the complete list, use phrase search, "leadership directories". These directories include current addresses, career data, and some photographs. Examples:
News Media Yellow Book. NY: Monitor Leadership Directories, 1993- (RH LC) Ref PN4899.W3N4
Financial Yellow Book. NY: Monitor Leadership Directories, 1993- (RH) Ref HG65.F52
Biography Resources by Career, Affiliation
Each profession/occupation/membership group organizes biographical information in standard reference sources. From the Library Home Page, select Research Guides in the appropriate subject area to find biographies of persons in that area. Here are some examples of collected biographies in selected professional fields:
Artists of the World; Bio-bibliographical dictionary from A-Z. Munich: Saur, 1992- (LC RH) Ref N40.A63
Over 500 thousand artists and artisans from all historical periods and regions of the world are covered. In English, in 10 volumes.Dictionary of Art. NY: Grove, 1996- (LC RH MM) Ref N31.D5
A multi-volume set covering artists from all periods and all countries.
Great Athletes. Pasadena: Salem, 2002 (RH) Ref GV697.A1G68. Indexed by name, sport, country; with photos, glossary, awards, Halls of Fame, and a timeline.
Contemporary Authors. Detroit: Gale. (LC RH MM) Ref PS2.C62
International Directory of Business Biographies. . St. James Press, 2005. (RH) Ref +HC29.I57
Party People: Communist Lives. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2001 (RH) HX244.5.P37. The expanding genre of biography includes life histories of persons previously considered marginal. This book, for example, focuses on the period 1920-1940 with a Who's Who of Communists in Great Britain.
International Dictionary of Modern Dance. Detroit: St. James Press, 1998. (LC RH) Ref. GV1585.I58
Inventions and Inventors. Pasadena: Salem, 2002. (RH MM) Ref T20.I59. Four men are associated with the invention of the Vending Machine Slug Rejector. This and other inventions are organized by category, name and timeline from 1900 to 2000.
West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Minneapolis: West, 1998- (RH) Ref K13.A15
Contains biographies of contributors to American law, with timeline for the subject of the biography, including general historical events and life events; quotations from the subject of the biography; full case citations.New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Washington DC: Grove's, 1980- (LC RH) Ref. ML100.N48
Baker's Dictionary of Music. NY: Schirmer, 1997. (LC RH) Ref ML100.S635.
New York State Society of the Cincinnati: Biographies of Original Members and Other Continental Officers. Fishkill NY: NYS Society of the Cincinnati, 2004. (RH) Ref F118.S96. The lives of those associated with the American Revolution. Source notes for each entry, bibliography, index includes family members of the biographee.
Directory of American Philosophers. Bowling Green OH: Philosophy Documentation Center, 1963- (LC RH) Ref B848.D5
History of Science in the United States. NY: Garland, 2000. (LC RH) Ref Q127.U6 H57. Biographies of lesser known United States scientists.
Catholic Almanac. Huntington IN: Our Sunday Visitor. (LC RH MM) Ref AY81.R6F8. Biographies of the Pope, Cardinals, American Bishops, and other Theological figures.
American Coverlets and their Weavers. Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2002. (RH) +NK8912.A53
Battles, Matthew. Widener: Biography of a Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard College Library, 2004. (RH) Ref Z733.H34B38. Some color illustrations.
Harper, Judith. Women During the Civil War: An Encyclopedia. NY: Routledge, 2004. (RH) Ref E628.H37
Fields, Armond. Women Vaudeville Stars: eighty biographical profiles. McFarland, 2006. (RH) PN1968.U5 F54
Who's WhoThe keyword phrase, Who's Who, can be combined endlessly. For example: Who's Who and jazz; ancient world; in the east; Ireland; Asia's new wealth club; in hell; in space; Nobel Prize winners; Polish America; in Jane Austen. These print resources are used frequently:
Who's Who in America. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. (LC RH MM) Ref E663.W56 (Discover the volume in which Donald Trump identifies himself as "Student, Fordham U" with no date given)
Who Was Who in America. Chicago: Marquis. (LC RH) Ref E663.W54
International Who's Who. London: Europa, 1935- (LC RH) Ref CT120.I5Debrett's People of Today. London: Debrett's, 2003. (RH) Ref CT770.D43
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES Library Research Databases (See also "Biography" on Databases and Indexes page)
- For current newsmakers, enter the person's name in these databases:
ABI/Inform (Proquest Direct) Covers a wide spectrum of general and business publications, many in full text.
Lexis-Nexis An excellent site for articles on general news, business and legal subjects.
Associated Press Photo Archives. Tens of thousands of pictures, updated daily.
Online Newspapers. World wide coverage of newspaper home pages.
Internet Searches
Enter a person's name, using a search vehicle such as "google.com", to find personal web sites and biographical information from a variety of sources. A useful print guide to individual web sites recommends a Net search of author name and birth year, such as, "Gertrude Stein 1874". See The Undergraduate's Companion to American Writers and their Web Sites, 2001 (RH) Ref PS88.A1 B73.
Keyword Searches in the Fordham Online Catalog- Search strategies using keywords include:
(1) Enter the name of a person as Subject or as a Phrase (example: Winston Churchill)
(2) Enter a Phrase designating a category of persons (example: nineteenth century women)
(3) Combine the name of a person, or a category or occupation with words such as biopic; memoir; biobibliography; bio-bibliography; who's who; biography (example: who's who and labor; biography and businesswomen; teachers and biography)
When the person sought appears buried in anonymity there are two useful questions to ask:1. What has the elusive person written?
Biographical information on authors and persons who contributed to a publication can be found in that publication.
Example: Biographies of editors and contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary are found in the Guide to the Oxford English Dictionary (LC RH) Ref PE161,7 O49 B47. Journals have "Notes on Contributors" sections which profile the authors included in that issue.2. With whom or what is the person associated?
When a person is known primarily through his/her association with a notable person (examples: Mrs. Charles Dickens; Agatha Christie's daughter) it is helpful to search for information in the biographies of that notable person. Personal biographies which contain name indexes are especially helpful to identify ancilary relationships.
Another dimension to biography is offered by parallel biographies, which contrast two or more lives, such as Lindy Woodhead's War Paint: Madame Helena Rubenstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden. (RH) HD9970.5.C672 R859
For appreciation of just how hard one can work to track down an elusive subject, and how much research a biographer must perform to discover the smallest truth, we recommend Marian Mainwaring's fascinating biography, Mysteries of Paris, 2001, (RH) PN4874.F774 M35. What happens when a mystery writer composes her own life story as detective story is demonstrated in P.D. James Time To Be In Earnest (RH LC) PR6060.A42 Z46.
Autobiography is the story of one's own life written or dictated by oneself. Biiography is an account of a person's life described by another. A single book may combine both. (Example: Seavey, Ormond. Becoming Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and the Life.) In another case the comparison between autobiography and biography offers insight and speculation. (Compare: Shocking Life by Elsa Schiaparelli and Shocking!, the 2004 Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition of Schiaparelli's life).
How does a biographer gather new information about a person on whom much has already been written? Adam Clymer of the New York Times shares some non-traditional techniques in his biography, Edward M. Kennedy, 1999 (LC RH) E840.8 K35 C59.Biographers writing on the craft of biography suggest that the active techniques of critical thinking are as applicable to their research as to research in other historical fields. Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms, 2001 (RH LC) Ref PR756.B56 E53 is a handsome two-volume set with a massive index, which demonstrates the expanse of this field.
Virginia Woolf, the daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen, editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, wrote biography, autobiography, diaries, memoirs, journals, letters, biography as fiction, imaginary biographies, and essays on life-writing. Her biographer, Hermione Lee (LC MM RH) PR6045.O72 Z775 quotes Virginia Woolf herself to remind us that lives are changed in retrospect, that life-stories need to be retold, re-formulated by each generation; that lives are subject to changes of opinion.
In Virginia Woolf’s Nose; essays on biography (RH) PR106.L44. Biographer Lee discusses evaluating, interpreting, and writing biography for the serious researcher.If you are thinking of writing the life story of an author, would you like an author’s suggestion for a model biography? John LeCarre reports an exemplary literary biography is Wodehouse: a life by Robert McCrum (RH) PR6045.O54 M3.
Scholars doing biographical research will find archives information in the ReferenceRoom classified under "CD". Examples:
Vatican Archives: An Inventory and Guide to Historical Documents of the Holy See. NY: Oxford UP, 1998. (LC RH) Ref CD1586
Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States. Phoenix: Oryx, 1988. (RH) Ref CD3020.U5
By Gail D. Hitt, Fordham Univeristy Libraries
8/16/06
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