Research Guides: ENTR 3P98: Family Business: Family Information & Biographies

Canadian Sources

The follow is a list of databases and websites that can be used to verify basic biographical information about your selected business family.

The Canadian Encyclopedia
Today, the number of articles in the Encyclopedia — more than 25,000 — is nearly three times the original total and growing (about 80 articles are revised or created every month). The list of more than 5,000 contributors includes David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood, Piers Handling, Daniel Latouche, the late Pierre Berton and Marc Laurendeau.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Biographies of persons who died between the years 1000 and 1930 or whose last known date of activity falls within these years. New biographies for those who died between 1931-1940 are added each week.
Contemporary Canadian Biographies (via CPI.Q)
Contains biographies of important Canadians from a variety of fields. Published from 1997 to 2012. Use the Search Within Publication option (under Tools) to find a biography by name.

US & International Sources

Consult these sources to verify basic biographical details on key members of your selected business family.

Biography.com
Launched in 1996, Biography.com covers the people you know through stories you don’t. In addition to the fascinating, highly credible profiles we are known for, our daily news operation reports on all facets of pop culture, true crime, and power dynamics. Our scope includes current and historical figures, as well as athletes, actors, musicians, scientists, and innovators from every discipline.
America's 200 Richest Families (Forbes.com)
Forbes' up to date list of the wealthiest families in the US. Includes key facts about the family and wealth history.

American National Biography This link opens in a new window
- Biographies, histories, chronologies and critical essays of American current and historical men and women including pictures, illustrations, links and citations.
- Maximum Simultaneous Users: 5
- Permitted Uses
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window
- Biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the near present
- Coverage expands each year
- Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
- Permitted Uses

Published Biographies and Histories

If you are lucky, someone has already published a biography or history of your famous business family. Search Omni by keyword for your famous family business name (or company name, if different) and limit the results by Resource Type to Books & eBooks.

Omni This link opens in a new window
Search Tip: Use Advanced Search by Subject using the Family Name (e.g. Hilton Family) or the name of the founder (e.g. Conrad Hilton).

Google Books
Google Books is a searchable index of books that lets you "search within" the full text of these books to identify additional relevant material that may not have been discovered using an ordinary Library Catalogue search.

Hathi Trust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
- Repository for archiving and sharing digitized collections, ranging from 19th century periodicals to historical bicycling to war to hard-to-find government documents and congressional materials.
- To access titles freely available online in full-text, select the Advanced Catalog Search and limit search to full view only.
- Terms of Use from Publisher Site