Encyclopedias attempt to summarize the state of knowledge in a field of inquiry. A good encyclopedia can be a valuable starting point for your research.

Two online reference collections that students often find useful are: Oxford Reference Online, and Gale Virtual Reference Library.

English Language Sources

Biography and Geneaology Master Index.

An index to biographical information in hundreds of reference sources, many available only in print.

Biography in Context.

Full text collection of over 300,000 biographies, from throughout history, and across the globe.

French Language Sources

Archives Biographiques Françaises.

A large microfiche set that compiles over 180 biographical reference works, published between 1647 and 1986. (Includes a Second Series, which primarily covers 19th and 20th Centuries, and a Supplement to the Second Series.) Use with the 4-volume guide, Index Bographique Français, or with the online index World Biographical Information System.

Dictionnaire de Biographie Française.

The French national biography--still being published. Most recent volume is for "M".

Dictionnaire des Constituants : 1789-1791.

Biographical dictionary of members of the National Assembly.

Dictionnaire des Conventionnels.

Biographical dictionary of members of the National Convention, 1792-1795.

Dictionnaire des Parlementaires Français.

Biographical dictionary. Covers 1789-1889.