Your committee's background guide should be your first step in beginning your research. Written by the chairs of the committee, the background guide will be a "guide" to the "background" information relevant to your committee and the issues it will be discussing (well named, huh?). You will be able to access your guide from the conference website a few weeks prior to the trip. The document will usually provide a history of the region(s) or conflict(s) of concern, along with material related to the current debate surrounding the issue. Oftentimes, the guide will outline what your committee hopes to accomplish during the conference
      The background guide will also be a great help in showing you where to continue your research. It may provide you useful resources, websites and news outlets to give you more insight into your topic.