First: Google If I can't find specific stuff on Google, then I start hitting specific forums/sites, sitepoint. Com, stackoverflow. Com, msdn, asp.Net, etc.
First - StackOverflow of course! For ASP. NET I go to 4guysfromrolla.com/ and asp.net/.
I don't know if you mean only free sources, but Safari Online Bookshelf is great. You pay a small monthly fee but it lets you download chapters in pdf for later, and being a Computer Science student... paying $10 a month for 5 books is awesome compared to banking on a library not carrying the book or paying retail for a new one.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.