When beginning the research process, the hardest part can be in choosing an article database. Especially for a topic as broad as monuments and memorials, you should start with the main Art History databases but also try many different searches in a broad range of resources.
For a broader search, the history databases are a good place to start. For topics in American history (i.e. Vietnam memorials), use America: History and Life. For topics outside the U.S. (i.e. Holocaust memorials in Germany), use Historical Abstracts. Where the subject is also political in nature (as above), International Political Science Abstracts or Social Sciences Abstracts would be good to consult.
Next, triangulate using the subject of a database as a component of your search. For example, if you are studying representations of women in memorials, try a search for monuments or memorials in Women's Studies International. Finally, the philosophical nature of the subject matter leads naturally to philosophy databases. Philosopher's Index will give a very focused search, while Humanities Abstracts will take in articles in philosophy and the humanities more broadly.
Citations are to scholarly research as links are to the web. Every piece of scholarship, whether a book, journal, subject encyclopedia, etc. will cite relevant and related works. As you follow the citations, they will lead you to resources you might not have found otherwise, and in directions you may never have imagined.
As you gather citations, you may want to store them in a citation management tool or in your own system of organization. Unlike links on the web, following citations can be time consuming, especially if the item has to come from another library. So, be sure to start the research process early, to give yourself enough time to get and read the cited works you find.
You are probably familiar with primary sources (first-hand accounts, autobiographies, letters, works of art) and secondary sources (book reviews, scholarly articles). Tertiary sources are works about secondary sources, such as:
These are a further step removed from the subject of your study, and can help you get an overview of the topic. Common to all of these items is that they give you citations to secondary and primary sources, which can get you started quickly on the process of citation following.
Reference librarians are available to help you with your research. Contact Christine Ménard, library liaison for Art & Architecture for a research appointment, or drop by the Research Help Desk in Sawyer Library.
You can also find more research tools in the Art History Subject Guide and in the Art History Article Indexes & Databases.