The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography by Print Resources
For many groups of people (writers, politicians, scientists, etc.), there are specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias containing biographical information. Depending upon the particular work, the information can range from a short paragraph to a long article equivalent to a short book.
There are too many of these specialized collections to list them all, but here are a few popular ones. To find a biographical dictionary or encyclopedia in a particular field, search in UMBrella (for example to find a book about scientists, search for "Scientists Biography Dictionaries" in the Subject field).
American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies by 
Biographical Books, 1950-1980: Vocation Index : Name/subject Index : Author Index : Title Index : Biographical Books in Print Index by 
Biographical Dictionaries and Related Works: An International Bibliography of More Than 16,000 Collective Biographies by 
Biographical Sources: A Guide to Dictionaries and Reference Works by 
Eponyms in Psychology: A Dictionary and Biographical Sourcebook by 
From Aristotelian to Reaganomics: A Dictionary of Eponyms with Biographies in the Social Sciences by 
Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays: A Biographical Directory and Dramatic Index by 
Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Literature in the United States by 
