Use the online reference sources listed here to get brief background on your topic.
Look for important keywords, people, places and dates that you can use in subsequent searches.
Remember to follow the references/bibliography at the end of the pages to find more sources.
Online Resources to get started
Primary Sources
A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art. Primary sources include:
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze, evaluate, summarize, and process primary sources. Secondary source materials can be articles in newspapers or popular magazines, book or movie reviews, or articles found in scholarly journals that discuss or evaluate someone else's original research.
Subject Heading can help you find books specifically focused on your topic. Look at the examples below to get some idea of how they work.
