Autobiographies and Biographies

Welcome to the Library's page on finding Autobiographies and Biographies. Special notes:

NOTE 1: When reading an autobiography/memoir or other piece of work written by a person about themselves, keep in mind that memory bias can occur. Memory bias is a cognitive bias that either impairs or enhances the recall of a memory by altering the content of what we remember. These memory distortions show that memories are not stored as exact replicas of reality. (Anne-Laure Le Cunff, PhD, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London)

NOTE 2: A biographer’s take on the life they spotlight is necessarily biased by their own opinions. While this can add colour to the biography, it can sometimes be a really a fine line between fact and fiction. (Deepika Asthana)

How to find someone's autobiography or biography

1. If you need basic facts about a person, e.g., "When was Napoleon born?", check general encyclopedias, such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Canadian Encyclopedia.

2. If you are unable to find simple biographical information in general encyclopedias, or you need more information than provided, check one of the specialized biographical reference books listed on this page.

3. For highly detailed information, search OMNI on the library's homepage for books on the person. Here are some suggested searches:

Biography AND canada
Albert Einstein AND autobiography
Economists AND biography
Artists AND biography
Women AND biography

Other words to use to look for autobioraphies/biographies

Apologia (antiquity)
Coming of age
Confessions (religious works)
Correspondence
Diaries
Interviews
Letters
Memoir

4. Perform an author search in OMNI by typing in the last name followed by the first name.

5. It is important to remember that biographical information may not be available for all individuals. In these cases, information about an author can sometimes be found by checking the preface or introduction of an author's work for scholarly background and academic achievements.

6. Search using SUBJECT HEADINGS. Subject Headings are the vocabulary librarians use to describe and organize items in the collection

Do an advanced search in OMNI. Choose Subject Heading under "Any Field".
Here are some samples:
- Africa--Kings and rulers--biography
- Germany (East)--biography
- Iraq War, 2003-2011--biography

NOTE/WARNING: Sometimes the language in LC subject headings is offensive! Library of Congress subject headings can sometimes demonstrate cultural or gender bias. This is a growing field of research in library & information sciences and changes will be coming.

Who in the world?

International Biographical Resources

Nexis Uni (includes the Who's Who books)
Encyclopedia of world biography (with supplements)
Who's Who in the twentieth century
Complete Marquis who's who (R) biographies

National Biographical Resources

Canada

Canadian Encyclopedia
Dictionary of Canadian biography online
Routledge introduction to auto/biography in Canada
Obituaries often have biographical information. Check obituaries in Newspaper sources

United States

North American Indian Thought and Culture

Brings together more than 100,000 pages of autobiographies, biographies, publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files by and relating to First Nations Peoples in North America from the late eighteenth through the early twenty-first centuries.

POTUS

Provides information on all presidents of the United States, including a biographical sketch, links to historical documents (such as speeches), election results, and biographies of some members of cabinet.