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Reference Sources: Biography Sources

Sources and Services

Finding Biographical Material

Biographical material can be found in many places. Start with a search in the Quicksearch box on the library's homepage. Use the name of the individual (Calvin Coolidge) or a subject relating to the class of person (United States Presidents) and biography.

Biography can be some of the primary content of certain databases. Those are listed in the center box.

Biography Online

Obituaries

Obituaries are most commonly found in newspapers (see News Guide) but can also be found in journals. The Economist, for instance, has published obituaries on a suprising array of people.  Also, subject journals may run obituaries for people in that field.  Find these by using Quicksearch on the library's homepage. Using Advanced search, with obituaries as a keyword, you can add a subject term as a keyword, or specify a particular journal title (for example, Economist) as "SO Journal Title/Source."