Row 1 Biography Index. Indexes biographies in periodicals, journals, books, etc. Also available on OCLC FirstSearch. Dictionary of American Biography. They are not always easy to identify and locate, but helps are available.
Bibliographies often list primary sources, as do monographs and articles.
Primary sources are often preserved in microform, and more recently, electronically, both on CD and on the Web. Davis Library has a strong collection of microforms and a growing one of electronic tools. Patricia P. Havlice. Scarecrow Press, 1987. A Reference Guide and Annotated Bibliography.