Reference sources like those listed below will guide you through the recent scholarly thinking on a topic and then point you to related primary and secondary sources.
Handbooks & encyclopedias
This is a sample of the titles you can find using the following search in the library catalog:
Regularly updated annotated bibliographies. University of Chicago Library subscribes to many sections of Oxford Bibliographies Online such as African Studies, Anthropology, Art History, Atlantic History, Buddhism, Childhood Studies, Chinese Studies, Cinema and Media Studies, Classics, Environmental Science, Geography, International Law, International Relations, Islamic Studies, Latin American Studies, Medieval Studies, Military History, Music, Political Science, Renaissance and Reformation, Social Work, and Sociology.