| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press for the American Council of Learned Societies |
| Published |
|
| Media type | Print, Digital |
| No. of books | 26 |
| Preceded by | Dictionary of American Biography |
| Website | www |
The American National Biography (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries[1] and 20 million words,[2] first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies.
A 400-entry supplement appeared in 2002.[3] Additional funding came from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.[4]
The ANB bills itself as the successor of the Dictionary of American Biography, which was first published between 1926 and 1937. It is not, however, a strict superset of this older publication; the selection of topics was made anew.[5]
It is commonly available in the reference sections of United States libraries,[6][7] and is available online by subscription (see external links).
In 1999, the American Library Association awarded the American National Biography its Dartmouth Medal[8] as a reference work of outstanding quality and significance. The American Historical Association's Waldo G. Leland Prize was awarded for 2001.[9]
It has been criticized for missing cross references and occasional errors,[10] and for its cost, which is said to limit availability in poor countries.[11]
((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help) OCLC 39182280.