Biography E-Reference Ratings

American National Biography Online. Oxford Univ. www.anb.org
Each essay-style article in this semiannually updated database of deceased individuals who have shaped the nation in one way or another is attributed to an author, includes a bibliography, and interfaces with the Oxford Companion to United States History and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The 17,400 entries include high-quality, Library of Congress–issued photographs and engravings; sidebar-hyperlinks suggest relevant contemporaries. Offered are a “Biography of the Day” and valuable research leads for the novice user. The search mechanisms are flexible and uncomplicated. 
More: 2000 Best Reference Pick

Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Gale Cengage. www.galenet.com/servlet/BGMI
This comprehensive, semiannually updated database draws from over 1800 biographical guides, allowing researchers to cross-reference more than 13.6 million international figures across multiple publications, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, who's who guides, and books of literary criticism providing oeuvre surveys. The writing is spare, as is the database's visual appeal, but the site does provide a significant springboard to outside information retrieval and is effortless to navigate. 

Biography Resource Center. Gale Cengage. www.gale.cengage.com/BiographyRC
This product draws from 135 Gale-published sources to offer 440,000 engaging biographies. Also available are full-text articles from more than 325 magazines and newspapers like the New York Times and USA Today. Via add-on modules, the database interfaces with Marquis Who's Who^® (below) and opens access to scholarly biographies by Macmillan and Scribner. Noteworthy amenities include timely biographical spotlights and detailed lesson plans for teachers. Well structured and attractively designed. 

Biography Resource Center: African Americans. Gale Cengage. www.gale-edit.com/african_americans/index.htm
More than 30,000 accessibly written, essay-style biographies have been culled from six multivolume Gale sources, including Contemporary Black Biography. Each entry is accompanied by small-scale photographic portraits. Exceedingly detailed narrative backstories, academic discussions of formative influences, and a lengthy list of further reading characterize each entry. Profiles contain links to biographically relevant magazine pieces—totaling 42,000 full-text articles from 300 magazines. With room to grow, it is a half-step behind Gale's amazing Biography Resource Center (above). 

Current Biography Illustrated. Wilson. www.hwwilson.com/Databases/cbillus.htm
Growing by 450 profiles each year, this databank includes more than 25,000 articles and obituaries dating back to 1940. If the subjects are deceased, their obituary appears first and is accompanied by hyperlinks to profiles that appeared during their lifetime. Included in the engagingly written, 2500-word biographies are interview quotations, favorite diversions, general appearance, and comments made by journalists or other notables. Multiple search criteria and uniform authority controls allow for fruitful data searches. 

Dictionary of National Biography Online. Oxford Univ. www.oxforddnb.com
Although primarily Anglocentric, this database of well over 56,000 noteworthy historical figures also profiles the influential foreign-born. Sidebar hyperlinks allow extension of subject searches to the National Register of Archives and Who's Who/Who Was Who (below). Attributed to specific authors, essay-style entries are engaging and valuable for both researchers and laypersons. Whenever possible, beautiful, high-quality engravings, paintings, and photographs accompany profiles. This file also features 200 fascinating short essays and includes profiles of figures who sat for Hogarth. 
More: Full review, News, Interview, 2004 Best Reference Pick

Marquis Who's Who. Marquis. www.marquiswhoswho.com
Online since 2005, this database, whose printed source celebrated its centenary in 1999, now boasts over 1.4 million contemporary and historical list-like biographies. It is updated and revised daily, and the front page tracks informational updates. Searches by multiple criteria allow for the fortuitous discovery of previously unrecognized associations. While it bears some significant pop culture omissions—perhaps awaiting evidence of lasting historical value—it is easy to use and broad in scope.
More: News 

Who's Who & Who Was Who. Oxford Univ. www.ukwhoswho.com
Based on a guide first published by A&C Black in 1849, this file offers 100,000 short and concisely written biographies dating back a century. The entries are autobiographical, updated annually, and detail the educational backgrounds, careers, publications, recreational pursuits, clubs, and correspondence addresses of noteworthy international figures. Sidebars offer hyperlinked cross-references, allowing researchers to find other figures with the same birth date and birth year or professional affiliations. Extremely easy to use and visually pleasing. 

World Biographical Information System Online (WBIS). K.G. Saur. db.saur.de/WBIS
With 6.6 million digitized facsimile articles, covering 5.24 million international figures from the 16th century onward, this annually updated resource serves as both biographical reference and digital archive. Political and historical in focus, it covers even seemingly obscure figures. No casual research tool, it requires precisely entered data to ensure relevant returns. Although amazing in breadth, it remains visually sterile, and maneuverability can prove perplexing. 

World Who's Who. Taylor & Francis. www.worldwhoswho.com
This newly expanded database pulls from Routledge's Europa Biographical Reference print series, comprising seven titles. The 60,000 entries of living and recently deceased musicians, writers, artists, and international politicians are list-like, terse, and fragmented but incorporate valuable contact information. A basic quick-reference tool, this product merely whets the appetite, providing neither subject photographs nor additional sources. However, concept, pattern, Boolean, and multicriteria searches make it a cinch to use.
More: Full Review