Research Guides: English: Biography and Bio-Critical Databases

Biographical Sources

American National Biography
The landmark American National Biography offers portraits of more than 17¸400 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the nation. More than a decade in preparation¸ the American National Biography is the first biographical resource of this scope to be published in more than sixty years. (from the Web site).
Contemporary Authors
Information about contemporary authors including works¸ biographies¸ birth dates¸ etc.
Gale Literature - LitFinder
This database integrates various literature resources from Gale into a single research environment: Something about the author online -- Twayne's authors online: U.S. authors series classics -- Twayne's authors online: world authors series classics -- Twayne's authors online: English authors series classics -- Twayne's authors online: masterworks series -- Twayne's authors online: short fiction series -- Twayne's authors online: U.S. authors¸ world authors and British authors -- Scribner writers online: British writers collection -- Scribner writers online: world and writers collection -- Scribner writers online: American writers collection -- Scribner writers online: European writers collection -- Literature criticism online -- LitFinder -- LitFinder for schools -- Literature resource center -- Dictionary of literary biography
Literary Reference Center
Literary Reference Center is a comprehensive database that provides a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. LRC combines information from major respected reference works¸ books¸ literary journals as well as original content from EBSCO Publishing.
Literature Resource Center - LRC
Includes Gales Contemporary Authors Online (biographical coverage of more than 109¸000 writer); Contemporary Literary Criticism Select¸ (entries on all authors appearing in CLC since vol. 95 of the print series and complete profiles of 266 most studied authors from editions prior to vol. 95); and Dictionary of Literary Biography Online (more than 10¸000 biocritical essays on authors and their works written by academic scholars). The database also includes selected full-text¸ excerpted¸ and commissioned critical material from Gale's respected Literature Criticism and For Students Series.