Who's Who

This list includes examples of both respectable publications and notable scams: • ''Who's Who, the oldest listing of prominent British people since 1849; people who have died since 1897 are listed in Who Was Who'' • ''Cambridge Who's Who (also known as Worldwide Who's Who''), a vanity publisher based in Uniondale, New York • ''Marquis Who's Who'', a series of books published since 1899 that formerly listed prominent Americans, but has become a vanity publisher that lists "relatively unaccomplished people who simply nominated themselves." • ''Who's Who in Australia'', a listing of prominent Australians since 1923 • ''Who's Who in France'', a listing of prominent French or people living in France since 1953 • ''Who's Who in Scotland'', a listing of prominent Scots since 1986 • ''Who's Who'', by Metron Publications, a listing of prominent Greeks since 1992 • ''Who's Who of Southern Africa'', published in paper form until 2007 when it was replaced by a website Non-English publications Some ''Who's Who'' books have a title in the language of the country concerned: • Croatian: Tko je tko u Hrvatskoj, bilingual edition (1993) • Czech: Who is...? (v České republice), 2003, and 2010 Huebners blaues Who is Who. • Danish: Kraks Blå Bog (since 1910) annually • Finnish: Kuka kukin on (since 1909) at first irregularly, every fourth year since 1970 • German:'' Wer ist's? (1905–1935) and '' (since 1951) almost annually • German: for East Germany: '''' • Japanese: Nihon Tarento Meikan (Talent Who's Who in Japan), a listing of Japanese celebrities, or tarentos, since 1970 • Lithuanian: '''' (Who's Who in Lithuania), a listing of prominent Lithuanians and business companies since 1995. • Norwegian: Hvem er Hvem? (since 1912) 14 editions in the 20th century • Serbian: Koje ko u Serbiji, (1991), previously Koje ko u Jugoslaviji • Slovak: Who is who v Slovenskej republike, 1991, Hubners Who is Who. • Swedish: Vem är det (since 1912) every second year Specialized publications • ''International Who's Who'' by Europa Publications, a Taylor and Francis imprint • ''Who's Who Among American High School Students'' listing American high school and college students who it claimed "excelled in academics, extracurricular activities and community service." The publishing company closed in 2007. • ''Who's Who in American Art'', a listing of prominent American artists • ''Who's Who in British History'' • ''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. • ''Who's Who in the DC Universe'' a listing of DC Comics characters • ''Who's Who in the Theatre'', published in Britain and the US from 1912 to 1982 ==Scams==

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. They may offer vanity awards or expensive trophies. 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. 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". A 2005 New York Times'' article observed that the entries in Marquis Who's Who were "not uniformly fact-checked". The International Biographical Centre's "Who is Who" publications have also been cited as scams, being described as "Who’s Who of gullible people". ==See also==