Improve your library search
Use keywords and phrases, NOT full sentences.
For example, a good search term is:
identity and ethnicity and Britain
While a bad search term is:
what does ethnicity have to do with identity in Britain
Use filters to narrow down your results.
When you've stated a search, you'll see filters on the left side. Use these to narrow your results to see the most recent publications, or to see just articles, or just ebooks.
Use bibliographies (reference lists).
Found a relevant book or article? Use the bibiliography (the list of sources at the end of the work) to see what evidence the author used in their work, and track this evidence or authors down.
Think like a detective.
Once you've started reading in your topic, identify the "big names" in that field or topic that keep coming up, and then research them.
Getting more out of the library
Use Advanced Search
This gives you the chance to refine your search and get better results.
The advanced search means you can search by keyword AND title, or title AND author, or some combination of these. It's a more powerful search function.
Futher down the screen, you'll see more search tools which give you the option to narrow your results by year of publication and more.