In some subject areas, there are scholarly, well-known library reference sources you could use for research, such as Oxford Art Online or the Oxford English Dictionary.
To explore other scholarly library reference sources, check out the suggestions in the library's subject guide(s) related to your speech topics.
Two other options in Primo would be to limit to "Reference Entries" as a source type, or search for your topic by keyword and one of these limiting terms: encyclopedia, dictionary, reference, handbook.
Tips for finding background info on the web:
In addition to using our Primo search tool on the library's homepage, you may want to focus your search in a subject-specific database (choose a relevant subject area in the drop-down menu) or one of these interdisciplinary databases. Each has its own advantages:
Opposing Viewpoints in Context covers contemporary social issues, from offshore drilling to climate change, health care to immigration. Includes pro/con viewpoint essays, as well as journal and news articles, primary source materials, legal sources, images, charts/tables, and more.
JSTOR is a database consisting of full-text articles from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals from nearly every discipline taught at Calvin. Coverage for each journal begins with the first volume, with coverage ending for most titles three and five years ago. A growing number of journals now have coverage up to the present.
Newspaper Source Plus provides a full-text digital collection of the world's major news content. It includes millions of articles from newspapers, newswires and news magazines. In addition, it offers television and radio transcripts and ongoing daily updates from popular news sources. Primary full coverage newspapers are The Washington Post and USA Today.
Access The New York Times online via nytimes.com. Select Calvin University and Seminary when prompted to choose your school. First-time users must create an account.
This database allows users to search the New York Times issues dating 1851 - recent (3-month embargo). Results include the complete paper, cover-to-cover, with full-page and article images in PDF format.
Biography Reference Center provides thousands of reliable full-text biographies, including the complete full text of Biography Today and Biography, plus narrative biographies not available in other databases. In addition to keyword search, users can locate biographies by subject occupation, nationality, activity, gender, lifespan and more.
Additionally, we have many encyclopedias and biographical resources in the library's print Reference Collection (4th floor), and there may be biographical sources in our regular collection too. Try searching Hekman's catalog for your person's name, look at the suggested background sources in the library's Subject Guides (choose a subject related to your topic), or ask a librarian for other recommendations!