Begin with a general search to get a sense of your Republic/topic.  The Graded Paper #1 guidelines provide basic questions.  After talking with several of you, I would strongly suggest the following to add some necessary “depth” to your papers:  add at least one peer-reviewed article as a source of information on any aspect (historical or contemporary) of your republic.

1. Go to the library catalog,  below “one search”  and click on “research databases”
2.  Hit the “J”   to get to the list of databases that gives you JSTOR
3.  On JSTOR,  type in the name of your republic and possibly another term to narrow your search. This will bring up a list of peer-reviewed articles on specific issues.
4.  When in doubt, given the current local controversy about monuments (i.e. what to do with the Confederate monuments in Richmond/Charlottesville?),  type in “monuments” as your second keyword. For many former Soviet republics, the monument issue is very relevant.