American National Biography

Abstract

Purpose

- The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the American National Biography including a brief history of the book and details on its electronic format.

Design/methodology/approach

- An historical account of the forerunner publications is provided, followed by consideration of the printed and the electronic versions. Illustrative examples are used throughout. It is briefly compared with a similar work from the UK. The advantages of the electronic format are assessed.

Findings

- The American National Biography provides a comprehensive coverage of notable Americans and offers detailed portraits focusing mainly on the public and professional lives of its subjects. It is easy to navigate and use in its electronic version. This is a useful biographical resource for libraries, especially in the USA.

Originality/value

- There have been many reviews of the American National Biography, but this one provides an overview of the electronic version and a comparative assessment of it against similar books in the field. For information professionals it offers a useful summary of the main features of this resource and a reminder of its value as a biographical information tool.

Citation

Kendall, J. (2014), "American National Biography", Reference Reviews, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1108/RR-11-2013-0296