Often in the course of your studies you will need information on people. A biography is a book written about a person; an autobiography is a book written by a person about his or her own life. A full profile of the person you are studying can be found in either a book or a periodical.  

If the Johnnie Mae Berry Library contains a full book on the person you are studying, you can find it through BLINK: the Cincinnati State Online Catalog. Individual books of biography and autobiography are shelved together in the Library.  The call numbers will start with “B”, and they are filed alphabetically, according to the name of the person they are about.  Often, the library will not have a book devoted exclusively to the person you selected, but will have good information on that person in a periodical or magazine, or in a collective biography. To find information on individuals in these sources, it is necessary to first consult an index.  

Popular magazines are a great place to find information about people in the news. Academic Search Completeand MasterFILE Premier are both good places to start.  They search thousands of different journals and magazines, and often include links to the full-text of the articles they find.   Ask at the Library’s Help Desk if you need assistance with these databases.  You must have a valid SURGE card to use the database off-campus. 

American National Biography is an online database providing information about 19,000 people who have influences American history and culture.  It is searchable by name, or you could choose to search for all people of a certain nationality, occupation, etc.

Literary Reference Center is another online database, giving biographical and critical information about authros. 

Several reference books are devoted exclusively to biographical information. Some good sources in our library include:  

Encyclopedia of World Biography (Ref 920.003 E56 1997)     The second edition of this classic work was published in 1997 in seventeen volumes, providing information on nearly 7000 men and women from world history. The biographies average two to three pages, and most include a portrait of the individual discussed. The study guide and indexes are also quite valuable.  

Current Biography (Ref 920.03 C976)     A new volume in this series is published each year, giving three to five page accounts of people in the news. A monthly paperback supplement profiles 20 people of current prominence.  Entertainers, politicians, sports figures, religious leaders, and others in the public eye are featured in these informative and entertaining articles. A bibliography of magazine articles about each person is given at the end of the articles.  

Concise Dictionary of American Biography (Ref 920.073 C744)     The Dictionary of American Biography is a very distinguished reference set found in major libraries. At Cincinnati State, we have the concise edition, derived from the larger set, which includes biographies of more than 18,000 Americans. Some are just thumb-nail sketches, but many are more detailed.  

The sources listed above cover people from all different fields, past and present.  Other books will specialize in people from a particular era, or of a particular professional or ethnicity.  Some of the more specialized resources in the Johnnie Mae Berry Library are:  

American Business Leaders (Ref 338.092 H219 1999)
Dictionary of Scientific Biography (Ref 509.22 D554)
Encyclopedia of Artists  (Ref 709.22 E56 2000)
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Ref 780.3 N532g 1980)
American Writers Before 1800  (Ref 810.9001 A512 1983)
McGraw-Hill Modern Scientists and Engineers (Ref 920 M147)
Encyclopedia of Biography  (Ref 920.003 E56b 1997)
Thinkers of the Twentieth Century (Ref 920.003 T443 1987)
African American Lives  (Ref 920.0092 A258 2004)
Almanac of Famous People (Ref 920.02 A445 1998)
International Biographical Dictionary of Computer Pioneers  (Ref 920.04 L478i)
Ohio Biographical Dictionary (Ref 920.0771 O37 1999-2000)
The International Dictionary of Women's Biography (Ref 920.72 I61 1982)     
Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (Ref 925 A832)

Updated June 2007