Library Databases
The library subscribes to several biographical databases and other databases that may be useful in finding biographical information. Databases devoted to biography should be your first choice, but subject databases, especially those in history, often contain biographical information as well.
Biography Databases
These databases are either dedicated to biography or contain a signicant amount of biographical information.
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African American Studies CenterExcellent source for African American biographies with over 7000 biographies. Browse biographies or search all content.
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American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals: 1691-1820Historical periodicals database. Many obituaries.
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Biography Reference CenterComprehensive biography collection. Over 450000 biographies.
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British PeriodicalsAnother good source of obituaries. Searchable full text of hundreds of periodicals from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century.
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Credo ReferenceOnline reference collections with many biographical reference works.
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Gale Virtual Reference LibraryLarge biography collection.
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Music Index OnlineBiographies and obituaries for musicians from 1979-present.
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Oxford Reference OnlineCollection of reference works from Oxford Press. Many biographical entries available.
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Periodicals Archive OnlineGood for obituaries.
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Popular Culture UniverseDecent collection of more notable figures in recent American history.
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Research People @ Lexis NexisNavigate to the bottom, middle box labeled "Research People" to search biographies and recent news stories.
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WorldCatWorldCat contains books and other materials from libraries worldwide. Excellent source for locating full length biographies we may not own at the ASU library.
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Biography And Genealogy Master Index This link opens in a new windowEnables users to locate biographical entries contained in more than 1,000 volumes and editions of important current and retrospective biographical reference sources. This index contains citations that point to over 15 million biographies on nearly 5 million people, living and deceased, from all time periods, geographical locations, and fields of endeavor.
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Current Biography Illustrated This link opens in a new window
The content of the printed monthly magazine Current Biography, produced by the H.W. Wilson Company, in searchable, electronic format. Readers will be able to find accurate, up-to-date biographies drawing information from newspaper articles, magazine articles, and books.
Alternate access URL: https://research.ebsco.com/c/hawx2m/search?defaultdb=cbi
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Gale Biography In Context This link opens in a new windowContextual information on the world's most influential people. It merges Gale's authoritative reference content (including Lives & Perspectives) with periodicals and multimedia organized into a user-friendly portal experience while also allowing users to search for people based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender as well as keyword and full text.
Newspaper Databases
Newspapers are often good sources for biographical information. Newspaper databases such as those listed below allow you to search many newspapers at once.
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Historical NewspapersNewspaper collections including the New York Times 1851-2003, Wall Street Journal 1889-1989, Atlanta Constitution 1868-1929, Atlanta Daily World, NY Amsterdam News.
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LexisNexis AcademicHuge news database. Many current subscriptions available.
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Newspaper SourceFull text for over 180 regional U.S. newspapers, international newspapers, newswires, as well as indexing and abstracting for national newspapers.
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NewspaperARCHIVE.comIndexing and full text articles from over 2,949 titles spanning 240 years.
Subject Guide
