Biographical Information : Places
United States
- American National BiographyOnline version of the print edition (Memorial Reference Stacks, CT213 A68 1999) contains approximately 19,000 biographies of well-known deceased Americans. Search full text or by birthplace, gender, birth/death dates, and collections.
- Dictionary of American Biography (Physical Copy)18,600+ biographical essays. First published in 1928 and supplemented. Useful source for researching Americans of historical importance.
Wisconsin
- Wisconsin Local History and Biography ArticlesLate 19th - Early 20th centuries (updates vary). Image files of historical and biographical articles preserved in scrapbooks at the Wisconsin Historical Society, most from 1860-1940. Searchable by headline, subject, newspaper, location, date, and name.
Canada
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (DCB)/Dictionnaire Biographique du Canada en Ligne (DBC)Online version of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Individuals who died (or whose last activity was) between the year 1000 through the early 20th century. Updated as volumes published. National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada.
Great Britain
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography4th Century BCE - 2000 (update 3 times per year). 50,000+ illustrated biographies of people who were noteworthy or influential in shaping Britain's past. Updates include those who have died since 2000. Sources for biography, person's archives, photographs, and wealth at death included.
World
- Biographical Archives (microfiche) by K.G. SaurMicrofiche housed in the cabinets in the back of the Reference Room. Fiche contains full text of historical biographical monographs arranged by country. Library has African; Arabian-Islamic; Baltic; British I & II; Chinese; Czech & Slovenian; European (Southeast); French I & II; German; German; Neue Folge; Indian (East); Italian I & II; Jewish; Russian; Scandinavian A & B; Spanish, Portugueuse, & Ibero-American I & II; Spanish, Portuguese, & Ibero-American 1960-95; Southeast Asian; and Southeast European (Balkan). Print indexes to microfiche in Memorial Library Reference Stacks, also World Biographical Index (Internationaler Biographischer Index) CD-ROM (See below.).
- World Biographical Index (Internationaler Biographischer Index) by K.G. SaurCombined CD-ROM version of print indexes to national biographical archives: American biographical index, British biographical index, Deutscher biographischer Index, Index biographique francais, Indice biografico italiano, Indice biografico de Espana, Portugal e Iberoamerica, Scandinavian biographical index, Australiasian biographical index, Biograpfische index van de Benelux, and Polski indeks biograficzny. Print indexes in Memorial Library Reference Stacks, CT (call number varies), and CD-ROM provide access to Biographical Archives (microfiche), housed in the cabinets in the back of the Reference Room. Fiche contains full text of hundreds of historical biographical monographs, arranged by country.
Library Catalog Search Tips
1. Click Advanced Search.
2. Click UW-Madison Locations, click Memorial, and choose reference locations.
3. Type Biography in Subject box.
4. Add another word (e.g., dramatists, poets, authors, women, Asian Americans (name of ethnic group), etc.) in Keywords box to make your search more specific.