Database Highlight: Biographical Research: Part 1 - American National Biography

Biographical Research-Part 1- American National Biography

Need to find out information on an historical person for a paper or presentation?  If you are in need of detailed information about a person, then finding a book in our library catalog is your best option.  But if you only need general information or are just curious and want to find out more information about someone, then try one of Hewes’ biography databases.  American National Biography contains information and photos on a wide variety of people who contributed to the fabric of America.  Some were born here, others were not, but all either lived most of their lives here or made their most significant contributions here. 

If using this database, it is best to use the “search by name” feature if you know the name of the person for whom you are seeking information.  Using the “search full text” box will not always bring up the correct person first.   Use the “Last name, First name” way of typing in the name to quickly get to the entry for that person. 

There are other ways to search the database without knowing the name of a person.  For instance if you are looking for a scientist, military person or government officer to write about, you can use the “occupations” list to narrow the search by category such as Military and Intelligence Operations, Government and Politics, and Science and Technology.  Clicking on this will give you a listing of all the people in the database who fall into that category.

You can also search Special Collections on American Indian Heritage, Asian Pacific American Heritage, Black History, Hispanic Heritage and Women’s History.  Just clicking on one of the boxes will bring up a listing of people who fall under that category or you can use it to limit your search.  The database lists people by their popular name, for instance search for “Babe Ruth” not “George Herman Ruth”.

When should I use this database?  Use this database to find information for papers on historical individuals who have contributed to America in some way.  It also is a useful place to go if you are looking for ideas for a paper topic.  The “research ideas” button found at the top of the page links to a “jump-start your research” with articles and lists of important individuals on topics like the Civil War, Gilded Age, Women’s History and other topics.

NOTE:  This database does not have information on current individuals like Barack Obama or Taylor Swift.  If you need information on current people, use the database Current Biography Illustrated which has pictures and short biographies of people currently in the news.  This database will be described in Part 2 of this article.