Gale Biography in Context

Virtually every course of study — from history to science to literature — is ultimately tied to the study of people. Biography in Context delivers outstanding research support with nearly a million biographical entries spanning history and geography. Just like all the new revolutionary In Context products, it’s a curriculum-aligned resource that offers media-rich content in context that's updated daily to meet the needs of today’s user. In it you’ll find:

• 600,000+ biographies covering more than 525,000 individuals
• 170+ award-winning Gale reference titles
• 50,000 new or updated bios added annually in addition to daily updates to account for awards and events
• Integrated reference material, periodical information and multimedia content
• Hundreds of hand-crafted topic pages covering the highest-interest features

The included Lives & Perspectives Collection supports high-school curricula and university coursework by providing multidisciplinary content on notable figures and the societal forces that have shaped their lives.

Source reference works include

• African American Firsts in Science and Technology (Gale, 1999)
• African Biography (UXL, 1999)
• Almanac of Famous People (Gale, 2007)
• American Decades 1990-1999* (Gale, 2001)
• American Decades Primary Sources (Gale, 2003)
• American Eras (Gale, 1998)
• American Men & Women of Science, 25th ed. (Gale, 2008)
• Animal Sciences\ (Macmillan Reference , 2002)
• Astronomy and Space: From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch (UXL, 2008)
• Authors and Artists for Young Adults (Gale, 1992-2011)
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (Schirmer Reference, 2001)
• Biographical Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa (Gale, 2008)
• Biology (Macmillan Reference , 2002)
• Business Leader Profiles for Students (Gale, 1999-2002)
• Carroll's County Directory (Carroll Publishing, 2009)
• Carroll's Federal Directory (Carroll Publishing, 2009)
• Carroll's Municipal Directory (Carroll Publishing, 2009)
• Carroll's State Directory (Carroll Publishing, 2009)
• Cold War 1945-1991 (Gale, 1993)
• Computer Sciences (Macmillan Reference , 2002)
• Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography (Gale, 1987-89,1998)
• Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography (Gale, 1991-1992)
• Constitutional Amendments: 1789 to the Present (Gale, 2001)
• Contemporary American Religion (Macmillan Reference USA, 2000)
• Contemporary Artists (St. James Press, 1996)
• Contemporary Authors (Gale, 1962-2011)
• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series (Gale, 1980-2011)
• Contemporary Black Biography (Gale, 1992-2011)
• Contemporary Composers (St. James Press, 1992)
• Contemporary Designers (St. James Press, 1999)
• Contemporary Dramatists (St. James Press, 1999)
• Contemporary Fashion* (St. James Press, 2002)
• Contemporary Heroes and Heroines (Gale, 1990, 1992, 1998, 2000)
• Contemporary Hispanic Biography (Gale, 2002-2003)
• Contemporary Musicians (Gale, 1989-2010)
• Contemporary Newsmakers (Gale, 1985-1987)
• Contemporary Novelists (St. James Press, 2001)
• Contemporary Photographers (St. James Press, 1996)
• Contemporary Poets (St. James Press, 2001)
• Contemporary Popular Writers (St. James Press, 1999)
• Contemporary Southern Writers (St. James Press, 1997)
• Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television (Gale, 1984-2011)
• Contemporary Women Artists (St. James Press, 1999)
• Contemporary Women Poets (St. James Press, 1999)
• Current Leaders of Nations (Gale, 1990-1999)
• Debrett's People of Today (Debrett's Peerage Limited, 2009)
• Dictionary of American Biography (Scribner's, 1927-1988, 1994, 1995)
• Dictionary of Hispanic Biography (Gale, 1996)
• Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Macmillan Reference USA, 2005)
• Directory of American Scholars (Gale, 2001)
• Earth Sciences (Macmillan Reference , 1999)
• Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed. (Macmillan Reference USA, 2007)
• Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, 2nd ed. (Macmillan Reference USA, 2006)
• Encyclopedia of Buddhism * (Macmillan Reference USA, 2004)
• Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005)
• Encyclopedia of Communication and Information (Macmillan Reference USA, 2002)
• Encyclopedia of Education, 2nd ed (Macmillan Reference USA, 2003)
• Encyclopedia of Food and Culture (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003)
• Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity (Macmillan Reference USA, 2005)
• Encyclopedia of India (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006)
• Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture (Macmillan Reference USA, 2004)
• Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (Macmillan Reference USA, 2004)
• Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004)
• Encyclopedia of Modern Asia (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003)
• Encyclopedia of Modern China (Scribner's, 2009)
• Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology (Gale, 2001)
• Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed. (Macmillan Reference USA, 2006)
• Encyclopedia of Public Health (Macmillan Reference USA, 2002)
• Encyclopedia of Russian History (Macmillan Reference USA, 2004)
• Encyclopedia of Science and Religion (Macmillan Reference USA, 2003)
• Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics (Macmillan Reference USA, 2005)
• Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, 2nd ed. (Macmillan Reference USA, 2000)
• Encyclopedia of the American Revolution: Library of Military History (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006)
• Encyclopedia of the Great Depression (Macmillan Reference USA, 2004)
• Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, 2nd ed. (Macmillan Reference USA, 2004)
• Encyclopedia of the New American Nation (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006)
• Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450 (Macmillan Reference USA, 2007)
• Encyclopedia of World Biography (Gale, 1998-2010)
• Environmental Encyclopedia, 3rd ed. (Gale, 2003)
• Essential Primary Sources (Gale, 2005)
• Europe 1789-1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006)
• Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction\ (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2007)
• Europe, 1450 to 1789: An Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004)
• Explorers and Discoverers of the World (Gale, 1993)
• Feminist Writers (St. James Press, 1996)
• Gale Encyclopedia of E-Commerce (Gale, 2002)
• Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine (Gale Group, 2006)
• Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History (Gale, 1999)
• Gay & Lesbian Biography (St. James Press, 1997)
• Genetics (Macmillan Reference , 2003)
• Governments of the World: A Global Guide to Citizens' Rights and Responsibilities (Macmillan Reference USA, 2006)
• Great Women in Sports (UXL, 1996)
• Historic World Leaders (Gale, 1994)
• History Behind the Headlines (Gale , 2002)
• History of World Trade Since 1450 (Macmillan Reference USA, 2006)
• International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture (St. James Press, 1993)
• International Dictionary of Art and Artists (St. James Press, 1990)
• International Dictionary of Ballet (St. James Press, 1993)
• International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers (St. James Press, 2000)
• International Dictionary of Modern Dance (St. James Press, 1998)
• International Dictionary of Opera (St. James Press, 1993)
• International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (Macmillan Reference USA, 2005)
• International Dictionary of Theatre (St. James Press, 1992-1996)
• International Directory of Business Biographies (St. James Press, 2005)
• Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults (Gale, 2002)
• Math and Mathematicians (UXL, 2008)
• Mathematics (Macmillan Reference, 2002)
• Merriam-Webster's Biographical Dictionary (Merriam-Webster Inc., 1995)
• New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (Gale, 2003)
• Newsmakers (Gale, 1988-2011)
• Notable Asian Americans (Gale, 1995)
• Notable Black American Men (Gale, 1998, 2006)
• Notable Black American Scientists (Gale, 1998)
• Notable Black American Women (Gale, 1992, 1996, 2002)
• Notable Hispanic American Women (Gale, 1993, 1998)
• Notable Mathematicians (Gale, 2008)
• Notable Native Americans (Gale, 1995)
• Notable Scientists: From 1900 to the Present (Gale, 2008)
• Notable Sports Figures (Gale, 2004)
• Notable Women Scientists (Gale, 2000)
• Nutrition and Well-Being A to Z (Macmillan Reference USA, 2004)
• Outlaws, Mobsters & Crooks (UXL, 1998, 2002)
• People of the Holocaust (UXL, 1998)
• Plant Sciences* (Macmillan Reference, 2001)
• Pollution A to Z * (Macmillan Reference USA, 2004)
• Presidents: A Reference History, 3rd ed. (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002)
• Profiles of American Labor Unions (Gale, 1998)
• Religious Leaders of America (Gale, 1999)
• Science and Its Times, Vols. 1-7 (Gale Group, 2000-2001)
• Scientists: Their Lives and Works, Vols. 1-7. Online Edition (UXL, 2004)
• Scribner's Encyclopedia of American Lives (Scribner's, 1998-2007)
• Scribner's Encyclopedia of American Lives Thematic Series: Sport Figures (Scribner's, 2002)
• Scribner's Encyclopedia of American Lives Thematic Series: The 1960s (Scribner's, 2003)
• Space Sciences (Macmillan Reference , 2002)
• Sports Stars (UXL, 1994-1999)
• St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture (St. James Press, 2000)
• St. James Guide to Black Artists (St. James Press, 1997)
• St. James Guide to Children's Writers (St. James Press, 1999)
• St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers (St. James Press, 1996)
• St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers (St. James Press, 1996)
• St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers (St. James Press, 1998)
• St. James Guide to Native North American Artists (St. James Press, 1998)
• St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers (St. James Press, 1996)
• St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers (St. James Press, 1999)
• Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers (St. James Press, 1994)
• Water: Science and Issues (Macmillan Reference USA, 2003)
• Who's Who Among African Americans (Gale, 2010)
• Who's Who in the Theatre (Gale, 1981)
• Women Filmmakers & Their Films (St. James Press, 1998)
• World Eras, Vol. 1: European Renaissance (1350-1600) (Gale, 2001)
• World Eras, Vol. 10: West African Kingdoms (500-1590) (Gale, 2003)
• World Eras, Vol. 2: Rise and Spread of Islam (622-1500) (Gale, 2002)
• World Eras, Vol. 3: Roman Republic and Empire (264 B.C.E.-476 C.E.) (Gale, 2001)
• World Eras, Vol. 4: Medieval Europe (814-1350) (Gale, 2002)
• World Eras, Vol. 5: Ancient Egypt (2615-332 B.C.) (Gale, 2002)
• World Eras, Vol. 6: Classical Greek Civilization (800-323 B.C.) (Gale, 2001)
• World Eras, Vol. 7: Imperial China (617-1644) (Gale, 2002)
• World Eras, Vol. 8: Ancient Mesopotamia (Gale, 2005)
• World Eras, Vol. 9: Industrial Revolution in Europe (1750-1914) (Gale, 2002)
• World of Anatomy and Physiology (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Biology (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Chemistry (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Computer Science (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Criminal Justice (Gale, 2002)
• World of Earth Science (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Genetics (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Health (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Invention (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Mathematics (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Microbiology and Immunology (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Physics (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Scientific Discovery (Online) (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• World of Sociology (Gale, 2001)
• Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations: World Leaders (Gale, 2002)
• Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations: World Leaders. 10th edition (Gale, 2001)
• Writers Directory, 27th Ed. (St. James Press, 2011)

Other databases for:

• Countries and cultures
• Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and almanacs
• Restricted to Virginia Tech users
• Screencast tutorials available

Other databases covering:

• General interest
• Research starter