Paperless Research

The Right Stuff: Finding the Best Biography Database for Your Research

Biographies can serve many purposes: they can be the product of extensive research, the means to understanding a time period or event more thoroughly, the inspiration for new creative work (hello, Hamilton), or an end in themselves as a source of reading pleasure and intellectual curiosity. As part of its wider collection of online reference material, the New York Public Library has several biography databases. But which one is most appropriate for your particular query? Each covers a different universe of people, and each varies in the characteristics that can be searched for a given person. Someone researching Alan Turing would want to start in a different database than someone researching Beyoncé, so how to navigate these biographical waters?

To get started, this interactive chart summarizes the coverage of each of our biography databases, letting you adjust the list based on where you are and whom you are researching. Clicking on the name of any particular database will bring you to it, via the Library's website, in a new tab.

If you are having trouble finding information on a certain person, don't forget that biographical details can be gathered from places other than traditional biographies. Encyclopedias and historical newspapers are also great sources of such information. Our online historical newspapers are fully text-searchable, making them useful for lesser-known individuals. And there are many more biographies available in print, either for specific people or groups. Some, like the Dictionary of Literary Biography, have equivalent online editions. Others live in print alone.

Searching by subject is a good way to uncover print biographies. A search for "Twain, Mark" suggests the subject Twain, Mark, 1835-1910 -- Biography., which includes 18 books like Inventing Mark Twain: The Lives of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. By using the Library's Advanced Search option, you can combine the terms of your choice (a name or category of people) with the word "biography" in the subject.

Advanced search for biographies in the NYPL online catalog
Advanced search for biographies in the online catalog

You can also search by genre for "Biography" or "Biography -- Dictionaries." The first search will point you toward female Nobel Peace Prize winners and accomplished military leaders. The latter will give you dictionaries of Latin American classical composers and baseball players of the 1950s.

There are thousands upon thousands of books with "biography" listed in their subjects or genres—these examples are just a drop in the bucket. So whether it's online or print, you can find the best biography for your particular research focus. And if you would like help with these resources or any other research question, speak to a librarian! Visit a reference desk at any NYPL location, or make an appointment in advance.