Research Guides: Biography: Home

Selected Databases and Print Resources

Publications containing large numbers of biographies, with a focus on people from the U.S. and Great Britain. Since many of these publications tend to include primarily White males, please ask us for assistance finding other biographies.

American National Biography
Offers portraits of more than 18,700 men and women - from all eras and walks of life - whose lives have shaped the nation.

Biography and genealogy master index: a consolidated index to more than 3,200,000 biographical sketches in over 350 current and retrospective biographical dictionaries
Call Number: Main Ref Z5305.U5 B57
Biography Index
Call Number: Bowdoin Main Per Index
Dates of Coverage: 1946-1997
Dictionary of American biography
Call Number: Main Ref E176 .D56
Includes more than 13,600 biographies of deceased people. Published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies.
Dictionary of national biography
Call Number: Main Libr DA28 .D4 1885
Major source for British biography, includes scholarly entries, bibliographies. Individuals covered are deceased and are from the British Isles, the Colonies, and colonial America.
The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography
Call Number: Main Ref E176 .N28 AH65
The numbered volumes include biographies of deceased people; the lettered volumes include those of people living at the time of publication.

New York Times, 1851-2018
The New York Times provides obituaries of prominent individuals.
New York Times, 1980-Present
The New York Times provides obituaries of prominent individuals.
New York Times Digital Edition - Academic Site License
A NYTimes Academic Pass provides you with full access to NYTimes.com and the NYTimes.com smartphone apps. The New York Times provides obituaries of prominent individuals.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
"An illustrated collection of 50,000 specially written biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC to the year 2001". Dates of Coverage: varies-2004.

How to search Compass for biographies

The terms Biography and Biographies can be searched in Compass (a) as keywords, and/or (b) as subjects. The keyword search in (a) is a broader search retrieving more results. Try the subject search in (b) for more precise results.

[YOUR TOPIC OR PERSON'S NAME] AND biograph*
[YOUR TOPIC OR PERSON'S NAME] AND d:(biograph*)

What call numbers do biographies have?

General biographies are found in call numbers beginning with CT. Biographies of people associated with specific subjects are found in the call numbers related to those subjects. (Examples are below the table.)

What call numbers do biographies have?
Call number beginning with	Description
CT	General biography.
[various]	Biography associated with specific subjects

The call number for The International who's who is: CT120 .I5, where CT120 is the call number for general 20th century American and English collective biography.

The call number for Shirley Chisholm: champion of Black feminist power politics is: E840.8.C48 C87 2022, where E840 is the call number for later twentieth century U.S. history, 1961-2000.

The call number for Harvesting history: McCormick's reaper, heritage branding, and historical forgery is: HD9486.U44 M33 2023, where HD9486 is the call number for agricultural implements, including threshing machines.