Biographical Research: Home/WLDC

1. Print Sources (a must in academia!)

• Dictionary of American Biography (REF 920.073)
• Dictionary of National Biography (REF 920.073)
• Current Biography (REF 920.073)
• Encyclopedia of World Biography (REF 920.073)
• Scribner's Encyclopedia of American Lives (REF 920.073)
• American National Biography (REF 920.073)

If your person is of cultural heritage or specific to a "group", use the Specialized Biography Tab or one of the sources below:

• The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States (REF 970.04 OXF)
• The Young Oxford History of African Americans (REF 973 YOU)
• Reference Library of Black America (REF 973 REF)
• Dictionary of Asian American History (REF 305.895)
• Encyclopedia of North American Indians (REF 970.004 ENC)
• Young Oxford History of Women in the United States (REF 305.4 YOU)
• American Military Leaders (REF 920 FRE)

2. Use the Catalog and Databases (see links to the right OR the database webpage) to expand your search to specific resources such as Biographies and Autobiographies (920/921 call #s)

3. Then expand your search even more to sources that encompass the year/decade which your person lived to see the impact of their life in history AND primary sources (things your person may have written or said):

1. Use sources that encompass the year(s) which your person did important things to see the impact
   • American Eras (1600 - 1877)
   • American History by Era (Exploration - 1962)
   • A History of US (First Americans - 1965)
   • There are many other sources specific to wars, geographic locations and events such as the Holocaust, World War II, Civil War etc. that are excellent starting places.
2. Primary Sources
   • A Treasury of the Worlds Great Letters (Located on Primary Documents Shelf)
   • Annals of America (Located on Primary Documents Shelf)
   • Slavery through out History (REF 306.3 SLA)
   • WWI Primary Sources (REF 940.3 PEN)
   • WWII Primary Sources (REF 940.54 WOR)
   • Korean War Primary Sources (REF 951.904 BEN)
   • The Boisterous Sea of Liberty:  a documentary history of America from discovery through the Civil War (REF 973 BOI)

4.  Finally, use the Internet.  Use specific sources to find your person and their impact.  Going to Google and typing in your person's name will elicit results including other students web pages, other non-academic and scholarly sites, and bounds of useless information.  Use advanced searching techniques (see the Guide: If You Must Google ) if you are "Googling", but make sure to use the list of sites available on the right of the page under WEBSITES for a list of reviewed Biographical websites.

IS NOT a REPORT.

IS the use of the life of important people to make sense of the time, social and cultural shaping of our society.

IS a chance to capture the life of the person within political and cultural history.

SHOULD contain a PRIMARY SOURCE.