Since my Victorian and Postcolonial Webs receive more than 500,000 hits per day and I maintain them without any technical assistance, I can answer few inquiries in detail, so I have put together this form response.
Libraries of printed books contain many thousands more sources of information than are available on the Web (and will continue to do so for a good while to come). Therefore, you should first consult the reference librarian at a nearby public or university library. They are trained to advise people about how to go about doing scholarly detective work.
One good way to begin a research project involving Victorian materials is to consult the annual bibliography issues of Victorian Studies, published by Indiana University; they contain sections arranged by topics, such as social history, the arts, and individual authors. Another is to read around in Victorian newspapers and periodicals, many of which are available in British and North American libraries and on microfilm. The justly famous Wellesley Periodical Index lists authors and titles of articles in famous Victorian periodicals. A few hours with Victorian Studies and the WPI will head you in the right direction and give you many hours -- maybe months -- of enjoyable reading
Good hunting, and if you compile a useful bibliography on the subject about which you asked, send it along to the Victorian Web!
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21 December 2002