Reference books:
General
American National Biography Ref 920.073 Am5122
Entries are alphabetical, but there are also indexes arranged by profession and state.

Dictionary of National Biography Ref 920.042 D554
This set covers all time periods of Great Britain.

Current Biography Ref 920 C936
Consult the annual and ten-year indexes in the back of each volume.

Biography Index Index Shelves.
Indexes biographical information found in articles and books. People are also indexed by occupation and profession.

Who’s Who Ref 920.042 W621

Directory of American Scholars Ref 923.773 D597

Artists and Authors 
Contemporary Authors Ref 928.1 C761. This series includes authors of many types of works: fiction, science, politics, history, song lyrics, children’s books, journalism, etc.

Contemporary Artists Ref 709.2 C761 1996

The Dictionary of Art Ref 703 D554

Ethnic Figures
African American Lives Ref 920.009296 Af258

African American National Biography Ref 920 Af258

American Indian Biographies Ref 920 Am512

Notable Black American Men Ref 920.71 N899

Notable Black American Women Ref 920.72 N8992 

Notable Latino Americans Ref 920 M511

Musicians
The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music Ref 780.3 G964 1995
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Ref 780.3 N532
Scientists
New Dictionary of Scientific Biography Ref 509.22 N532

American Men and Women of Science Ref 925 Am512

Books on Specific People
Search our catalog or WorldCat using the subject term “biography,” combined with a person’s name or event. ex: biography and Benjamin Franklin. or “biography” and “civil rights movements”.

Articles on Specific People
LexisNexis People Search

On the library’s web page click “Search and Find Articles,” which will take you to a list of databases. Choose the database most appropriate to your topic. Search the database, using the person’s name as a subject. For example, in WilsonSelect database, type Benjamin Franklin and choose subject from the pull-down menu. The exception to this is the database Academic Search Premier, in which you must list the last name first and choose PE People from the pull-down menu