You can use Wikipedia for your first foray into a topic. It can be a good place to start to learn more about what has been said and what hasn't been. You can also use the citations in Wikipedia as a place to find previous scholarship on the subject. #lida101
@alenabuis I find it useful to scan the article's talk page to get a sense of its maturity and any topical issues and points of difference among the editors. #lida101