If someone has already done research on a topic you are investigating you are encouraged to seek out the same sources. Sometimes you may find an abundant amount of material that wasn't important to them, but is perfect for you. Other times you may find you disagree with their interpretation, which will give you something to write about from a fresh perspective.
Theses and dissertations are a great place to find bibliographies (sometimes called literature reviews) Many can be found in this database-
Searches scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts, and technical reports.
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Background research is often needed when you are getting started on a topic and need an overview or when you encounter terms or events that you need to learn more about as your research progresses. Examples of sources for background information are-
NOTE- Credo Reference has a link to JSTOR database, which is a great source for scholarly secondary sources.
The library subscribes to many other Reference databases which may be useful in finding background information, in addition to Credo Reference.