A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field.[1][2][3] The oldest and best-known is the annual publication Who's Who, a reference work on contemporary prominent people in Britain published annually since 1849.
Notable examples by country
Who's Who, the oldest listing of prominent British people since 1849; people who have died since 1897 are listed in Who Was Who
Marquis Who's Who, a series of books published since 1899 by Marquis, primarily listing prominent American people, but including Who's Who in the World
Who's Who in New Zealand, twelve editions published at irregular intervals between 1908 and 1991
Who's Who in Switzerland, published from 1953 to 1996 and then Swiss Who's Who, a listing of prominent Swiss or leading figures living in Switzerland since 2015[4]
Who's Who Among American High School Students listing what it deems to be American high school and college students who particularly excel in the realm of academic achievement. The publishing company closed in 2007.
Who's Who in the CIA, a book published in East Berlin in 1968 with the assistance of the KGB and the HVA purporting to reveal the identities of thousands of CIA officers.
The title "Who's Who" is in the public domain, and thousands of Who's Who compilations of varying scope and quality (and similar publications without the words "Who's Who") have been published by various authors and publishers. Some publications have been described as scams; they list any people likely to buy the book, or to pay for inclusion, with no criterion of genuine notability.[8] They may offer vanity awards[9] or expensive trophies.[10]
One example is the defunct Who's Who Among American High School Students, which was criticized for questionable nomination practices, as well as whether the listing's entries are fact-checked and accurate.[11][12] According to Steve Bjork, an admissions vice president of Hamline University: "It's honestly something that an admissions officer typically wouldn't consider or wouldn't play into an admissions decision." He suggested that Who's Who was "just trying to sell books".[12]
Who's Who publications are not all of questionable value, but publishers that select truly notable people and provide trustworthy information on them are hard to identify. A & C Black's Who's Who is the canonical example of a legitimate Who's Who reference work, being the first to use the name and establish the approach in print, publishing annually since 1849. However, the longevity of a publication is not in itself a guarantee. In 1999, Tucker Carlson said in Forbes magazine that Marquis Who's Who, founded in 1898 but no longer an independent company, had adopted practices of address harvesting as a revenue stream, undermining its claim to legitimacy as a reference work listing people of merit.[13][obsolete source] A 2005 New York Times article observed that the entries in Marquis Who's Who were "not uniformly fact-checked".[14]
^Carlson, Tucker (8 March 1999). "The Hall of Lame". Forbes. ISSN0015-6914. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2019. Who's Who in America ... appears to contain a lot of relatively unaccomplished people who simply nominated themselves. To make the process of self-promotion easier, Reed Elsevier, the publication's parent company and the owner of Lexis-Nexis, now has a site on the Internet where would-be biographees can complete a 'biographical data form.'
