If you want to know about someone's life and work, libraries provide a rich array of sources. Directories that list basic information — degrees, work history, honors, address — for prominent people include Who's Who in the United States, Who's Who in Politics, and American Men and Women of Science. For more detailed biographical sketches, try Contemporary Biography, Contemporary Authors, or Politics in America for elected officials. Several biographical sources contain substantial entries of people who have died: prominent Americans are covered in The Dictionary of American Biography, British figures in The Dictionary of National Biography, and scientists from all countries and periods in The Dictionary of Scientific Biography. To help you locate biographical sources, you can use tools such as Biography Index and the Biographical and Genealogical Master Index.
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