Unique Biographical Content

Biography Reference Ultimate features the award-winning Great Lives from History collection from Salem Press as well as thousands of biographies from Encyclopaedia Britannica, both of which are continuously supplemented with new biographies and updated versions of preexisting articles, giving users up-to-date information on featured subjects.

The database also provides superior coverage for several of the most popular and heavily researched biographies and genres, including those contained within Biography (both dating back to the first issue published) and thousands of other narrative profiles from the most reliable reference sources on the market — sources not available in other databases.

Sources Include

  • The complete collections of Current Biography, Biography and Biography Today magazines
  • Salem Press (including Great Lives from History series)
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica
  • H.W. Wilson Biographical series (Junior & World Authors, Nobel Prize Winners)
  • Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography
  • Harvard University Press
  • Columbia University Press
  • Select articles from Interview magazine

Biography Reference Ultimate eBook Collection

A unique e-book collection accompanies Biography Reference Ultimate, featuring reference books from leading educational publishers and presses. It includes a rich selection of biographies on notable figures in business, film, history, music, politics, sports and more.

Intuitive User Experience

Available through Explora, Biography Reference Ultimate offers comprehensive searching as well as a new visual browsing experience to help users find, narrow down, and focus their searches.

Researchers can explore topics by category, including artists, athletes, explorers and pioneers, historical figures, inventors, musicians, politicians and scientists. Each biography topic page features an overview, related subtopics and overview articles, the top three search results (with the option to view all results) and a carousel of relevant e-books, when available.

From the advanced search screen, results can be limited by Lexile reading level and source types that include biographies, interviews, obituaries, reference books, academic journals and other related articles and sources. Users can also limit search results by occupation, ethnicity and nationality.

Visit the Explora page to learn about additional interface features, functionality and integrations.

The Biography Reference Ultimate database is also compatible with EBSCOhost and EBSCO Discovery Service.